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Cheryl Allison’s documentary HONK got a SRO preview hosted by Dallas Video Fest

By John Wildman 4 years ago

offer. Standing Room Only to watch her latest documentary, HONK, about the relationship that grew between the filmmaker and a goose who had been abandoned in a local park. Allison’s videos of their encounters caught the imagination of people around the world, the press couldn’t get enough of progress reports and updates on Honk’s journey thanks to Allison’s publicizing his plight. So, prior to the film’s official film festival debut, Bart Weiss’ Dallas Video Fest hosted a special sneak preview screening.

Sound Unseen comes to Austin Film Society for the first time with Bobbi Jo Hart’s FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK and Todd Rohal’s THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE, more

By John Wildman 4 years ago

And the success of that venture, meant the next step was ready to be taken: Sound Unseen was finally going to Austin. So, on October 27 and 29, Bobbi Jo Hart’s documentary FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK and Todd Rohal’s seminal indie classic THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE were set to test the waters at the Austin Film Society’s theaters. Better yet, Fanny guitarist Patti Quatro was lined up to talk to filmmaker Lisa Donato (GOSSAMER FOLDS) on Thursday, and Todd Rohal agreed to attend his screening and have a conversation on film with friend and fellow director Jeff Nichols (TAKE SHELTER, MUD).

Dorie Barton’s WELCOME TO THE SHOW brings the show back home to the Richmond Film Festival

By John Wildman 4 years ago

Well, the film and the filmmakers all returned to the scene of the…scenes..? Part of a Virginia and Richmond-specific Opening Night presentation, Barton and her team literally brought “The Show” to the Richmond Film Festival’s audiences by taping invitations under random seats in the theater for “lucky” patrons to participate in the immersive experience paralleling what the main characters in the film experience, and also saw the Andrew Bonieskie and Dillon Douglasson perform music from the film’s soundtrack live later that week.

Big Bear Film Summit’s first in-person fest brought filmmakers up to the mountains

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Film festivals always take their personality from the people in charge and in this case, the Big Bear Film Summit was one of the friendliest, most supportive film festivals at its core that you could ever hope to experience. You can always streamline, increase budgets, perfect systems, but you just can’t buy that underlying feeling of getting the big cosmic hug. For that reason alone, the Big Bear Film Summit holds A LOT of promise as a destination fest going forward, because who doesn’t want to get a big cosmic hug while having their film screened in a prime vacation (and location) spot.

Meital Cohen Navarro’s OVER MY DEAD BODY makes its L.A. debut at Dances With Films

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Meital Cohen Navarro’s short film OVER MY DEAD BODY is mid way through its film festival run that began with a Jury Prize at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival in March, and has included screenings at Iowa’s Julien Dubuque Film Festival, Canada’s Gimli Film Festival, and the Cordillera International Film Festival in Reno, Nevada. However, L.A.’s Dances With Films festival was the first time the cast had joined director/screenwriter/producer Meital Cohen Navarro to see the film on the big screen in front of an audience.

Kat Albert’s Lake Travis Film Festival rolls out the red carpert for 2021 Filmmakers: Lisa Belcher, Hellin Kay, Chantelle James, Olivia Nash, Joel Mendez-Zarate, Lincoln Edwards, and more!

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Kat Albert’s Lake Travis Film Festival has A LOT of ambitions. And founded and directed by a woman who is a filmmaker herself, those ambitions have an eye toward what filmmakers want and hope for in a film festival. And one of those things is getting attention for themselves and their films. Therefore, in its second year, LTFF literally rolled out the red carpet. In fact, while Lake Travis is adjacent to Austin, this was the first red carpet that city has seen since the pandemic had shut things down as far as in-person tests were concerned last year. And Austin has got a couple other film festivals that people pay attention to from what we hear.

Caren Zucker, John Donvan, Anquanizia Hall, Collin Surbeck: Oxford Film Festival 2021 does the red carpet thing

By John Wildman 5 years ago

The Oxford Film Festival took the next step in returning to film festival normalcy (at least as we know it) by doing the in-person screenings and events that filmmakers and film fans were missing so badly over the past year or so. The red carpet presentations are a HUGE part of that experience we enjoy at the film festivals Wildworks PR does its thing at, so guess what..? Socially distanced and careful with the mask protocol (basically, we trusted our filmmakers and their teams that they were okay within their filmmaker “bubbles”, but beyond that it was masks on while moving about – and as you’ll see, there were some groups that really “pushed” that protocol…). So we limited he press participation, spaced out the photos and interviews, took a little more time with the entire process and voila! Red Carpets are back!

Christina Huff, Jonathan Smith, Ann Rapp: Oxford Film Festival 2021 brings back the in-person experience with photos and interviews

By John Wildman 5 years ago

The 2021 Oxford Film Festival was one of the first to dip its toes into doing the in-person screenings this year (March 24-28) which meant a return to doing red carpets and more. Under circus-style tents, in a convention center, in a hotel lobby, and outside a multiplex, filmmakers had their films screened, did Q&As, interviews, red carpet photos and more. The film festival weathered two separate tornado threats, rain, and brought the community of Mississippi film fans and filmmakers (many of whom made the trip from various spots around the country) back together in a warm and friendly return to the film festival world so may of us have missed for a year.