THE STORY OF BELLA

Since its early days, the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (AmDocs) has featured as part of its marketing campaign -- both locally and worldwide -- a girl who's grown up before our eyes.

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"Seeing the Bigger Picture" didn't merely start out as AmDocs' theme. It's become the story of Bella, the public face of our Film Festival. She's now known to many who look forward to our television commercials and advertising that have traditionally featured the cute little girl with her signature red beret and reddish-pink hats.

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Bella Sheehan is the daughter of Palm Springs residents - and longtime Friends of the Festival - Patrick and Danae Sheehan. And she's also the goddaughter of AmDocs Founder and Director Teddy Grouya.

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When Grouya and the AmDocs team were brainstorming, trying to come up with a marketing concept in the early days of this Film Festival devoted to documentary programming, the decision became clear: What better way to emphasize our theme of "Seeing The Bigger Picture" than to feature this wide-eyed girl making her way into the world?

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And the story of Bella, the AmDocs girl, was complete. She's now appeared in our TV and print advertising, graced our posters and our Festival programs, and become a prominent fixture at the Festival over the years. And gauging from the amount of applause she receives at various Festival events, audiences love her.

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Bella's become perhaps the most recognizable face of our Festival, and she often appears at our Opening and Closing Night events, and has even handed out trophies at past AmDocs Awards Ceremonies.

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Simply put, our Festival wouldn't be the same without her.

 

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