Chris Lyon

Gregory Kallenberg from Louisiana Film Prize Announces Call for Entries for 2020 Film Competition/Festival with largest grand prize for a short film in the world

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“There was so much excitement surrounding the competition in 2019 that we wanted to open registration immediately to capitalize on that energy,” said Gregory Kallenberg, founder and executive director of the Film Prize Foundation. “With finalists last year coming from across the country, as well as Australia and London, we also want to ensure that filmmakers have as much time as possible to complete their films.”

James Harlon Palmer ‘s ANNIVERSARY: The 2019 Louisiana Film Prize’s Big $50K Winner is a home-grown musical

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“This year was marked by epic growth – more films entered in the competition, another steep climb in audience numbers, our first competing finalists coming from another country, a wider range of genres and styles, and more,” said Gregory Kallenberg, Founder and Executive Director of the Film Prize Foundation. “This record setting year was not only a banner year for the Film Prize, it was also a banner year for independent filmmaking at its highest level.”

Mindy Bledsoe’s THE IN-BETWEEN led awards at Women Texas Film Festival 2019 announces Filmmaker Awards after big year for the fest

By John Wildman 7 years ago

Women Texas Film Festival Founder and Artistic Director Justina Walford said, “I am in love with this jury. Each juror added wisdom and gravitas, but most importantly used their love of filmmakers to be the focus of their decisions. As always, we want to not simply screen films envisioned and created by women, but to push forward the risk takers. And this group of films and the filmmakers that created them earned the right to be singled out via these awards.”

FILMS GONE WILD: 10 Film Festival Programmers to Watch

By John Wildman 7 years ago

In the meantime, now that I have probably exhausted everyone’s patience by blathering on and ranting like an old man carrying a crumpled paper bag and out of date newspaper outside a deli, here is a quick list of ten people that I work with and for that I would suggest filmmakers, film industry types, and people reading the movie industry tea leaves SHOULD be paying attention to:

FILMS GONE WILD: WAYWARD SON, JACK SQUAT, PATRICK, The 2018 Memphis Film Prize teaches the rest of the film fest world how to do it right

By John Wildman 8 years ago

Gregory Kallenberg kicks off the Film Prize. This is the way you “baptize” your filmmakers and give them a kick in the pants to start off a fest. He sets the tone of “We’re all in it together, filmmakers, jurors, staff, and film fans – all of us.” If you’re not onboard after Gregory’s opening remarks, the filmmakers first “pitches”, and the legendary Film Prize tequila toast, then it’s possible someone should check your pulse.