Silverscreen Film Festival showcases Missouri filmmakers

The films will be screened Friday in Memorial Union.

By Emily Willroth

Published April 13, 2010

Up-and-coming filmmakers from across Missouri will unite at the Silverscreen Film Festival on Friday.

Submissions range from whimsical comedies showcasing the shameless flirt tactics employed by desperate co-eds to tearful dramas delving into filmmakers’ personal heartaches.

Created in 2008 to provide an outlet for MU filmmakers in lieu of a film studies major, the festival has expanded to include filmmakers from colleges and universities statewide.

“After receiving some films from outside of Columbia, we decided to market it to as many places as we could,” said John Shealy, Department of Student Activities Special Events senior chairman.

The seven-minute films, three minutes shorter than last year’s limit, will show starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Jesse Wrench Auditorium. Awards and a special presentation from guest judge and acclaimed film critic Richard Roeper will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts.

Roeper will speak about the state of American pop culture and harness his expertise to help choose the winning film. Joining him are director and cinematographer Nate Truesdell, True/False Film Fest co-director Paul Sturtz, MU film studies director Roger Cook and Kim Sherman, vice president of Film Production at Arable Entertainment.

Together, the judges will choose one winner who will receive a one-day HD shoot at Spectrum Studios. In addition to the chance to compete for the grand prize, entrants will have the unique opportunity to network with other filmmakers and members of the film industry.

A networking session will be held Saturday for filmmakers, ad agencies, talent agencies and production companies. Events such as this provide filmmakers with the opportunity to meet potential project partners.

“Young filmmakers often call in favors from their parents to hold the camera or the microphone,” said Jay Johnson, former DSA Special Events senior chairman and the brain behind Silverscreen. “But when it comes to making a really solid piece of work, you need a lot of people dedicated to the craft.”

The festival, which is in its third year, is the first of its kind in Columbia. Johnson created the festival in hopes of cultivating and expanding Columbia’s filmmaking talent.

As a member of MU Students for Film in 2005, he worked with MU’s engineering IT department to provide student filmmakers the opportunity to meet and interact.

The Silverscreen Festival then developed as an outlet for those students already working together from the two departments to display their work.

“There aren’t many outlets, especially in Columbia, for students to showcase their films,” Shealy said.

DSA has no plans for expanding the festival to include filmmakers outside Missouri in the near future, but the interest garnered by this year’s event confirmed the continuation of statewide eligibility. Johnson hopes to forge relationships with other Missouri institutions and encourage them to sponsor festivals similar to Silverscreen.

“These festivals give filmmakers the opportunity to network, receive peer and judge review and use that feedback to improve their films,” Johnson said. “Young filmmakers aren’t provided with many opportunities for that, especially in Missouri.”