Visions Response

Visions Film Festival & Conference is truly a remarkable event, and it is arguably the flagship course within the UNCW Film Studies curriculum. I have now been a part of Visions for three years now (1 year as an attendee, and 2 years as a Visions employee). Over the years, I have seen tremendous growth in the programming and execution of the event. After working in the programming department this past year, it was very pleasing to see previous Visions “alumni” submit other works and wanting to be a part of the festival again.

Since I work for Visions, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend all of the blocks that were asked from this course, including the Keynote (Caroline Roberts), Conference Blocks 1 + 2, Film Blocks 1 + 2, and the Video Race + screening.

First of all, I think Caroline did an extraordinary job as far as energizing the crowd and providing wonderful insight and advice for breaking into the film industry. Then, I think the momentum carried into Conference Block 1 in which there were excellent papers being presented. If I had to choose one, Julia Petuhova’s presentation on the copycat programming in Russia would be my favorite. As an Everybody Loves Raymond, I was naturally pleased and excited to read her paper when it was submitted; however, I had yet to see Exporting Raymond, the text that she uses as the primary source of her writing. So, I read her paper, bought the film (and watched it), and re-read her paper. She makes some great points throughout her paper and presentation, and I was ultimately pleased with her presentation.

Arguably, one of my favorite experiences of the day occurred in Film Block 2 (right before we closed out the night). There was a sequence of films that generated a response from the audience of which I was hoping. Ceiling Finger and Frogboy both drew sounds of excitement and laughter. I felt the same way when I first saw each film, and I was hoping others would have the same experience. I am pleased that they did.

Film Festival Strategy

Film Festival & Distribution Strategy

Cucalorus Film Festival - Wilmington, NC

Located in Wilmington, NC, Cucalorus offers a unique experience for filmmakers and artists alike. This is an ideal festival of which to submit for many reasons. First, this festival is located in the same city as each of the bands, so it would be nice to be able to premiere the film in a location where all of the subjects and crewmembers can attend. Second, I feel as though the locality of this film will help the argument for accepting this film.

Bastrop Texas Film & Music Festival - Bastrop, TX

Located in southeast Texas just 30 miles from Austin, Bastrop Film & Music Festival accepts submissions from both high school and college students. They ask that each student film be under 50 minutes, which our film will definitely meet. Their festival also stresses music, and our topic is fitting for this festival.

Student Art Festival - Goldenrod, Florida

Located in Goldenrod, Florida, the Student Art Festival screens exclusively high school and college student films. This festival accepts documentary films with up to a 30-minute runtime from college students. We want to submit this film to this festival in part due to its exclusivity regarding exhibitions.

Sacramento Film + Music Festival - Rancho Cordova, California

Located in Rancho Cordova, California, the Sacramento Film and Music Festival programs a substantial amount of music-related films, which will most likely increase our chances of acceptance.

42nd Annual Student Academy Awards - Hollywood, California

Because why not?

Music Films - Missoula, Minnesota

Music Films Festival is a unique event in that it is an online festival that exclusively programs music-related films. In addition to the screening of films, this event offers a short film competition once the selections have been made.

Riverrun International Film Festival - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Riverrun International Film Festival offers another regional festival to which we can submit. Riverrun has a category for films specifically made by college students in North Carolina. I feel as though this may increase our chances of acceptance into the festival.

Indie Grits Film Festival - Columbia, South Carolina

Located in Columbia, South Carolina, the Indie Grits Film Festival is yet another region-specific film festival that accepts films from specific regions in the southeast, including submissions from college students in North Carolina.

Visions Film Festival & Conference - Wilmington, North Carolina

Because Visions is AWESOME!!!

April 5 - April 12

This week has been exciting and nerve-racking. We are excited because we are about have a big social media launch for our film. This past week, I have been prepping the social media and website that we plan on using. I created a Weebly page that we will use as the domain for our site (www.writeformefilm.weebly.com). Also, we have a Facebook page and Twitter handle. I know that Twitter handles aren't that popular with "student" films, but I think this appropriate for our project because our film's subjects have twitter handles and a decent-enough follower-base to the point where we may benefit to engage with them, particularly when we launch our GoFundMe campaign this week. Our crowdsourcing will be different from other projects in that we are only asking for money to submit to festivals. We will be asking for around $400 for submission fees. We're able to do this because, fortunately, the project has not incurred much costs. This week has been nerve-racking because we were having trouble locking down dates to shoot B-roll earlier in the week with the bands, particularly Signal Fire and Down In It. But, they have responded and we're currently setting dates to film next week, so we will have everything ready for the picture lock due date.

Also.....VISIONS is this FRIDAY, APRIL 17!!!

Expert Interviews: #1-2

Expert Interview #1:

Stray Local: Stray Local is a young folk band that originated in Wilmington in 2013. The band is comprised of Jamie (Vocals, Guitar, Banjo), Hannah (Vocals, Mandolin, Keyboard, Tenor Guitar), and Nick (Percussion, Washtub Bass), all of whom come from varying musical backgrounds. They currently reside in Wilmington, NC.


10 Questions:

1) How did each of you meet?
2) What is the biggest influence behind your decision to form a folk band?
3) How have you seen yourselves grow since 2013?
4) To what do you attribute your band's success?
5) Have you noticed a particular interest in folk music around the Wilmington area?
6) How has the support from the local area affected the development of your band?
7) How do you want your music to affect your audience?
8) At which venue have you had the most support/attendance by your audience?
9) Please describe your songwriting process.
10) Where would you most like to perform, and why?



Expert Interview #2:

Signal Fire: Signal Fire is a local reggae/rock band that currently resides in Wilmington, NC. The band is comprised of Sean (Manager, lead vocals, guitar), Kenneth (Drums), Cullen (Bass, vocals), Rob (Guitar, vocals), and Carl (Keys). You can find their debut album, "Ignite," on iTunes and Spotify.


10 Questions:

1) How did each of you meet?
2) What is the biggest influence behind your decision to form a reggae/rock band?
3) How have you seen yourselves grow since the release of your debut album in 2013?
4) To what do you attribute your band's success?
5) Have you noticed a particular interest in reggae music around the Wilmington area?
6) How has the support from the local area affected the development of your band?
7) How do you want your music to affect your audience?
8) At which venue have you had the most support/attendance by your audience?
9) Please describe your songwriting process.
10) Where would you most like to perform, and why?

Budget (Full + Top Sheet) + Shooting Schedule

Budget: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NdK48YTlVNnUERGlaZuEPr0Vr2P60mims61LDhaG1So/edit#gid=499085391

Shooting Schedule / Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fcHcuHVfm60Rl1rrPvrqTnU4ksgDsI1vD5Kw0Yzz9x0/edit#slide=id.p