The impressive soundstage should do much for local film production and amp up the potential for film jobs in Northwest Arkansas thanks to the trio of investors, including Jason Netter (Kickstart Entertainment), along with Zak and Tom Heald (Intercut Productions) that joined forces to create Farm Studios.
Here are a couple quick thoughts about Bart Weiss, the head of Dallas Video Fest and all of its film festival parts: He IS the film tastemaker of Dallas and Fort Worth and North Texas. He just is. Bart has his eyes, and ears, and heart, and most importantly – his brain On. The. Screen. Taste-wise, finger on the filmmaking pulse-wise, and eye out for what’s coming down the pike-wise, Bart Weiss is the benevolent leader we all take the lead from. Bottom line.
EarthxFilm’s Artistic Director, David Holbrooke, added, “The proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico is already such a complicated issue but Ben Masters’ film manages to examine and attempt to understand a critical aspect that’s easy to forget – the abundant wildlife that know no borders.”
Oxford Film Festival Executive Director Melanie Addington, said, “We pride ourselves in celebrating the work of actors’ actors with the Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award each year, and Roger Bart could not fit the bill more perfectly.
aGLIFF Board President Ashley Marshall, said, “Jim has thoroughly and completely earned the title of Artistic Director of aGLIFF. Under his creative and pragmatic stewardship as Program Director, we have strengthened the reputation of aGLIFF and the view of the films we offer in the eyes of the critics, filmmakers, and our film fans.
“A common myth is that women aren’t making films or they’re not submitting to festivals,” said Heartland Film Film Programming Coordinator Julia Ricci. “That is far from the truth. The talent is out there and they have something to say; it is important for film festivals to amplify these voices and provide equal opportunity across the board. Heartland’s track record of recognizing and honoring female filmmakers is growing stronger each year, and I’m thrilled that we are officially committing to this initiative.”
Netter, an Emmy Award-winning producer of films like WANTED, and TV series like “Preacher”, sees the potential for major film and television projects like those being drawn to the area. The rapid ascension in the film industry’s eyes of the Bentonville Film Festival, with filmmakers from around the country and the world attending the festival with their films each year, is another indicator of the potential for business and entertainment industry synergy for the creative film community.
Wang manages to orchestrate the proceedings with a warm, knowing humor born out of character and the characters, as opposed to falling back on slapstick or anything broad or wacky.
DIRTY GOD purposefully takes a long, winding and jagged road toward Jade’s efforts to heal and find her own way to a new life she never asked for. This is not an easy redemption story that can take us comfortably across the finish line without the barest of emotional investments. Jade was assuredly not an angle cast down from the heavens, but rather, a working class beauty that is forced to overcome a fate she didn’t deserve.
Skye Borgman’s ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT is a dream of impossibility for the true crime documentary enthusiast. Tracing the two abduction/kidnappings of a pre-teen Jan Broberg by Bob Berchtold with the arguable permission of her parents, the film begins with a reality that is hard for one to wrap their head around, even acknowledging that the events of the film took place in the 70s and to a naïve Mormon family in Idaho – that two parents would stand by and more or less give permission to a man to take their little girl and even “marry” her.
