Bay Area Indie Romantic Comedy Filmed on iPhone to Have California Premiere at San Francisco Short Film Festival on October 23 at Beloved 4 Star Theater
San Francisco, CA, October 14, 2024 –(CarryOnHarry.com)– After a sold-out premiere at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, Eat Surf Love, an ultra-low-budget romantic comedy, returns home. Starring Tyler Ritter (Painkiller), Molly Wood (Everybody in the Pool), and Laura Yumi Snell (Soho Shakespeare Co), the film depicts a writer and a surfer navigating the murky waters of a first date, while a podcaster tracks their “meet awkward.”
The film, coming to the San Francisco Short Film Festival October 23, sparked conversations about contemporary city life, filmmaking, and romance. After the Oregon premiere, an audience member said the film made her “nostalgic” about her days in the Bay. Others were surprised to learn the film was shot on phones due to the quality of the cinematography. Preview audience and Oakland resident Beccah Rothschild said, “I related to the film. I loved the vulnerability. This film’s for anyone who has ever gone on a date, lived in San Francisco, or had hopes for love.”
The project received strong local support. The San Francisco Film Commission, Manny’s Cafe in the Mission, Nook Cafe in Russian Hill, and Live Oak Studio in Berkeley provided locations. Over 40 Bay Area donors helped fund post-production for this Filmmakers Collaborative project. The majority woman crew included a Foothill-De Anza College film instructor and her students. San Francisco-based producer Mayra Padilla wore many hats, including second camera, photographer, and location scout. Filmmaker Nada Djordjevich, producer Vera Djordjevich, and associate producer Michele Rabin, who all attended the same Peninsula high school, previously collaborated as editors of the Bay Area based magazine, On the Page.
The director has strong roots in the Bay Area arts community. Djordjevich raised $2 million to expand arts in local schools; participated many times in San Francisco’s Litquake Literary Festival; and taught writing at San Francisco’s City College. Her first film, the award-winning animated short California Pie, premiered at the 2023 Sonoma International Film Festival. Her inspirations include filmmaker Lynn Shelton (Inside Out) who began directing at 39, and the new wave of Bay Area storytellers, such as Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal (Blindspotting) and H.P. Mendoza (Colma: The Musical), who have created place-based and personal films. Producer Mayra Padilla reflected, “The film is about connections. The ones we have with ourselves; with each other; and with the worlds we inhabit. Making this film helped me rediscover what I love about San Francisco.”
The 2024 San Francisco Short Film Festival plays at the 4-Star and Balboa Theaters (Oct. 17-24) and online (Oct. 17-27). Eat Surf Love screens Wed, Oct. 23, at 8:15 pm. Tickets are available at the websites of SF IndieFest website and at Eat Surf Love website at eatsurfloveproductions.com.
Eat Surf Love Productions LLC, of Santa Monica, produced the film.
Readers who appreciate structured, realistic approaches to healthy living will be excited to know that a new Kindle book, Clean Eating Nourishment: Ten Clean Eating Systems for Daily Wellbeing, has just been released by wellness author Ruby Dosanjh.
This book introduces a clear, system‑based method for clean eating — created for individuals who want simplicity, balance, and sustainable habits without restrictive dieting. Instead of trends or complicated rules, Ruby presents ten repeatable clean‑eating systems that fit naturally into daily routines and support long‑term wellbeing.
nside the book, readers will discover:
A simple, structured approach to clean eating
Daily wellbeing systems that reduce overwhelm
Balanced meal ideas and practical frameworks
A calm, organised guide for building healthier habits
If you’ve enjoyed the clean‑eating articles on CarryOnHarry, this book offers a deeper, more comprehensive roadmap — designed to help you create a healthier everyday life with clarity and confidence.
👉 Read the Kindle book here:
Clean Eating Nourishmentis written to be a long‑term companion — a guide you can return to whenever you need structure, motivation, or a fresh start.
Portland, OR, November 27, 2025 –(CarryOnHarry.com)– The FAN EXPO Portland celebrity guest list has always featured great variety, and five new additions to the 2026 lineup for the pop culture extravaganza are further proof of that. Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw), Gates McFadden (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard), Walter Koenig (Star Trek, Babylon 5), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Star Wars: The Acolyte) and “Peggy the Dog” (Deadpool & Wolverine) will now attend the event set for January 16-18 at the Oregon Convention Center.
Elwes gained wide acclaim for his portrayal of “Wesley” in the 1987 classic The Princess Bride and reached new audiences by headlining the Mel Brooks spoof Robin Hood: Men in Tights and later Saw. He also recently appeared in the Tom Cruise features Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning and portrays “Mayor Larry Kline” in Stranger Things 3.
McFadden had the key role of “Beverly Crusher” in TNG, reprising the role in Picard, Prodigy and other iterations of the franchise. She is also a stage actress, choreographer, director, teacher, and was the host of more than 300 episodes of the podcast “Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?”
Koenig is best known for his recurring television portrayals both of the hated, intensely driven “Alfred Bester” (Babylon 5) and the likable, perpetually cheerful “Pavel Chekov” (Star Trek). Koenig’s film work includes the first seven Star Trek feature films, for which he earned two Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor nominations. His many other films have been independent projects with challenging roles.
Jacinto played “Jason Mendoza” on the full four-season run of The Good Place (2016-20) and later appeared as “Lt. Fritz Avalone” in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Also among his more than 50 TV and film credits are runs on the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers and the animated series Hailey’s on It!
Peggy, earning the title of “Britain’s Ugliest Dog” in a national competition there, has gone on to stardom as “Dogpool” in the Marvel Universe in Deadpool & Wolverine. A portion of proceeds from her appearance at FAN EXPO Portland will support a local charity in the Pacific Northwest.
The five bolster an already impressive FAN EXPO Portland celebrity roster that includes: • The Lord of the Rings headliners Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan • Mike Colter (Luke Cage, Men in Black³) • Josh Holloway (Lost, Yellowstone) • Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation) • Harry Potter duo of Matthew Lewis and Bonnie Wright • Judith Hoag (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Armageddon) • Robbie Rist (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Brady Bunch) • Ernie Reyes Jr. (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) • Brian Tochi (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Revenge of the Nerds) • Kenn Scott (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, director/Adventures of Johnny Tao) • François Chau (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Lost) • Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!, American Dad) • Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!, The Goldbergs) • My Hero Academia standouts Eric Vale, David Matranga, J. Michael Tatum, Brandon McInnis and Clifford Chapin • Hazbin Hotel regulars Christian Borle, Joel Perez and Krystina Alabado
More FAN EXPO Portland guest announcements will follow from the worlds of film, television, streaming, art, literature, gaming, cosplay, anime, animation and more in the coming weeks.
Adult, Youth and Child Single-Day Tickets, Three-Day Passes, Family passes, and Ultimate and VIP Packages for FAN EXPO Portland are available now at www.fanexpoportland.com. Advance pricing is available until January 1.
Portland is the second event on the 2026 FAN EXPO HQ calendar; the full schedule is available at fanexpohq.com/home/events.
About FAN EXPO HQ FAN EXPO HQ is the largest comic con producer in the world. Collectively it hosts over one million fans annually at FAN EXPO New Orleans, FAN EXPO Portland, FAN EXPO Vancouver, FAN EXPO Cleveland, MEGACON Orlando, Toronto Comicon, CALGARY EXPO, FAN EXPO Denver, FAN EXPO Philadelphia, FAN EXPO Boston, FAN EXPO Chicago, FAN EXPO Canada, FAN EXPO Dallas, VIDCON Anaheim, EDMONTON EXPO, Dallas FAN FESTIVAL and FAN EXPO San Francisco. The latest schedule of events is available on the website, along with up-to-date ticket information. Discover. Celebrate. Belong.
