The inaugural Festival was launched in 1993 with the support of a special grant from the City of San Luis Obispo, along with the key involvement of Jim Dee and the Palm Theatre.
The George Sidney Independent Film Competition was introduced in 1996, in honor of the first recipient of the festival's King Vidor Memorial Award.
[1] The Central Coast Filmmakers Showcase is open to films that were produced, directed, or written by residents of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, or Monterey counties.
[2] Many entries to this competition come from students who take part in the Youth Filmmaking Workshops held by the festival each summer.
[4] [5] [6] 2023 – Rick Carter 2022 – Dale Dickey 2020 – Lawrence Kasdan 2019 - Alfred Molina 2018 - Pam Grier 2017 - Josh Brolin 2016 - Ann-Margret 2015 - Peter Bogdanovich 2014 - Jeff Bridges 2013 - John Hawkes 2012 - Sir Richard Taylor 2011 - Greg Kinnear 2010 - Alan Arkin 2009 - Malcolm McDowell 2008 - Peter Fonda 2007 - Norman Jewison and James Cromwell 2006 - Morgan Freeman 2004 - Eva Marie Saint 2002 - Elmer Bernstein 2001 - Howard Keel 2000 - Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz 1999 - Jim Dee 1998 - Stanley Kramer 1997 - Ernest Borgnine 1996 - Robert Wise 1995 - Edward Dmytryk 1994 - Delbert Mann 1993 - George Sidney In 2012, the festival arranged for a historic screening of Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle.
[9] In 2015 the festival arranged to show Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle again, but this time in the house's own original 50-seat screening room, as a $1,000-per-ticket fundraiser, with Ben Mankiewicz as host.