Fifty-four Film Fest, in conjunction with the Premiere 6, Positiffitea and Creative DCP, is hosting its second annual Murfreesboro film event this month.
The 54 Film Fest, which includes a weekend-long film competition (Feb. 28-March 2), a screening, awards ceremony and networking gathering, expects over 200 filmmakers, family members and independent film enthusiasts to attend this year’s screening and award ceremony at Murfreesboro’s Premiere 6 on Tuesday, March 18.
Festival founder and CEO James Thayer said that after competing for years as a freelancer, he wanted to create a better environment in which filmmakers could stretch their creative muscles.
“The 54 Film Fest was born out of the culmination of my experiences with similar film competitions,” Thayer said. “We ditched the bad, kept the good and put a little spin on things.”
That spin includes unique genres, such as Live Action Video Game and Super Villain, additional time to compensate for computer issues, and feedback from judges.
Fifty-four Film Fest is built around a shootout format. Teams have 54 hours to write, film, edit, produce, and submit their short films. On the Friday of the event, the city producer assigns a genre, prop, line of dialogue and an action for each team to include in their films. The challenge presents an unforgettable weekend of education, excitement and exploration as teams work to create movies from story inception to finished product.
In addition, teams can attempt to complete the Curveball Challenge, in which an additional element must be incorporated into a film 24 hours into the project.
“The Curveball Challenge is meant to reflect the strains of real-life filmmaking,” Thayer said. “Your investor or producer may decide to change things around on short notice, halfway into production. It’s rough, but the winner receives a unique prize.”
The 54 Film Fest began in 2012 in Knoxville, with 170 independent filmmakers producing 23 short films within 54 hours. Two weeks later, the festival sold out its inaugural screening. The competition has expanded development across 11 cities in the southeastern United States, many of which are only in the beginning stages. Murfreesboro and Knoxville are set to hold festivals in March of 2014, and Wilmington plans to kick off its inaugural festival this year. Through an exciting new partnership, selected films from this year’s competitions will screen at the Nashville Film Festival in late April, with another screening at The Avenue in Murfreesboro.
Tickets to the March 18 screening are $8. Premiere 6 is located at 810 N.W. Broad St.
For more information about 54 Film Fest, including how to enter or attend the festival, visit facebook.com/54filmfestmurfreesboro or 54filmfest.com, or contact Ben Jones, city producer for Fifty-four Film Fest Murfreesboro, at ben@54filmfest.com or (615) 478-5512.
