Month: December 2023

Special Guest Dan Mirvish Coming to SGFF 2024

Jason Brown

December 27, 2022

VALDOSTA, GA – South Georgia Film Festival announces special guest filmmaker, author and Co-Founder of Slamdance, Dan Mirvish will be attending the 2024 SGFF in Valdosta. Along with participating throughout the weekend, Mirvish will be screening his Watergate thriller/dark comedy “18½”, about the missing Nixon tapes, which was an “Oscar Contender” in 2023 according to Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire.

The best-selling author of “The Cheerful Subversive’s Guide to Independent Filmmaking” has been intertwined between filmmaking and festivals since he co-founded the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, UT after his film “Omaha” was rejected by the institutional festival, Sundance. In the thirty years since, Slamdance has become its own institution showcasing up-and-coming filmmakers, from Christopher Nolan’s first feature film “Following” to the first films from directors of the Avengers (The Russo Brothers), Star Wars (Rian Johnson), Parasite (Bong Joon-ho) Girls (Lena Dunham)and many more.

“I’m honored and thrilled to be coming to Valdosta and looking forward to seeing some of the the amazing talent on display at the South Georgia Film Festival,“ Dan Mirvish said.

Mirvish’s film “18½” features the work of Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice, The Evil Dead) as President Nixon, Jon Cryer (Two & Half Men, Pretty Pink) as Bob Halderman, Richard Kind (Mad About You, The Goldbergs), and Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher). https://vimeo.com/615607900

Promoting the art and industry of filmmaking, the South Georgia Film Festival has been received a record number of submissions from across the globe since April for the 2024 festival. Along with high school, college, and graduate student submissions, the festival showcases professional film submissions in documentary, animation, and narrative. Along with special guest Mirvish, the festival will feature panels featuring film professionals from the Southeast who will be announced over the coming weeks.

“Film is growing across South Georgia and we continue to be proud to be a part of it,” said Jason Brown Festival Director. “Bringing filmmakers from across the country to Valdosta to engage our community has been our driving force for all of these years.

Winners from last year’s festival include OPAL, the animated feature from France; STAY WITH ME, the narrative feature film from University of Memphis professor Marty Lang; and JACK HAS A PLAN, a documentary feature about assisted suicide from director Bradley Berman and producer Chris Metzler.

To engage with student filmmakers from across the region, host Valdosta State University will be sponsoring a Timed Hour Film competition starting Feb. 16. Completed films will be screened Monday Feb. 19 at VSU, with the winner being invited to this year’s South Georgia Film Festival.

“We are putting on a party for the community,” Jason Brown, Festival Director said. “Showcasing films from across the country and the world, we want to introduce Valdosta to great films, some great filmmakers to Valdosta, and let everyone have a good time. Be a part of party and show the world what you can do.”

Discounted tickets are on-sale now before going full price on Feb. 1.

This year’s festival could not happen without the support of our community sponsors, including Georgia Power, Valdosta State University, the Georgia Film Office, the Turner Center for the Arts, Georgia Production Partnership, and Film Impact Georgia.

The South Georgia Film Festival continues to promote the regional film industry with panelists discussing both the art and industrial impact of film for local businesses. Panelists and guest speakers will be announced soon. For more information about tickets, visit 24SGFF.Eventive.org

For more information on the South Georgia Film Festival, visit SouthGeorgiaFilm.com or contact Prof. Jason Brown at 229-219-1298 or jasonebrown@valdosta.edu.

–  20  –

Submission Deadline Approaches for 8th Annual SGFF

Jason Brown

December 6, 2022

VALDOSTA, GA – The submission deadline for the 8th Annual South Georgia Film Festival is December 18. Professional and amateur filmmakers are encouraged to submit their work through FilmFreeway to participate in the Regional film festival, which includes screenings, networking and educational opportunities, and local entertainment. The 2024 festival will take place March 1, 2, & 3 across Valdosta with a growing number of partner organizations.

Promoting the art and industry of filmmaking here in South Georgia, the festival has been accepting submissions from across the globe since April. The festival has already received a record number of films across all categories. Along with high school, college, and graduate student submissions, the festival continues to receive professional film submissions in documentary, animation, and narrative.

“Film is growing across South Georgia and we continue to be proud to be a part of it,” said Jason Brown Festival Director. “Bringing filmmakers from across the country to Valdosta to engage our community has been our driving force for all of these years.

Winners from last year’s festival include OPAL, the animated feature from France; STAY WITH ME, the narrative feature film from University of Memphis professor Marty Lang; and JACK HAS A PLAN, a documentary feature about assisted suicide from director Bradley Berman and producer Chris Metzler.

To encourage submissions from local high school students, students who register for the Feb. 12, Valdosta State University Student Experience will receive a fee waiver. Registration is available on the SouthGeorgiaFilm.com website.

“We are putting on a party for the community,” Jason Brown, Festival Director said. “Showcasing films from across the country and the world, we want to introduce Valdosta to great films, some great filmmakers to Valdosta, and let everyone have a good time. Be a part of party and show the world what you can do.”

This year’s festival could not happen without the support of our community sponsors, including Georgia Power, Valdosta State University, the Georgia Film Office, the Turner Center for the Arts, Georgia Production Partnership, and Film Impact Georgia.

The South Georgia Film Festival continues to promote the regional film industry with panelists discussing both the art and industrial impact of film for local businesses. Panelists and guest speakers will be announced soon. For more information about tickets, visit 24SGFF.Eventive.org

For more information on the South Georgia Film Festival, visit SouthGeorgiaFilm.com or contact Prof. Jason Brown at 229-219-1298 or jasonebrown@valdosta.edu.

–  20  –

Looking for 2024 SGFF Screeners

Jason Brown

We have a great joy this year that we have more submissions than ever before – just shy of 600! And our deadline isn’t until Dec. 18.

Oh wait – we need people to help watch all of these films!

We would really appreciate your help going through all of these amazing films to get down to the approximately 100 films that will screen at the South Georgia Film Festival.

What does this mean

As a screener, you’ll watch a bunch of films from professional and student filmmakers. You’ll rate them. From there, we’ll make our decisions on which films will get into the festival. Your opinions help us make the final decision – so if you love something tell us! And if you don’t like something – tell us that, too!

We aren’t expecting you to be the Valdosta version of Roger Ebert. Just tell us what you think.

What do you get

For being a screener, we are happy to reward you for your hard work.

I personally will give you:

  • My undying gratitude
  • A Day pass to one day during the festival.

If you watch over 8 hours of films

  • My undying appreciation
  • A Festival Pass for the whole weekend

If you watch over 20 hours of films

  • My Undead Gratitude & Appreciation
  • Uncomfortable fawning on the social platform of your choosing
  • A Festival Pass and a t-shirt from a previous year’s festival

If you watch over 40 hours of film

  • This is your present to me for my 50th birthday. Bless you!
  • Uncomfortable fawning on ALL social platforms that SGFF is currently on – even if you couldn’t get a code to that BluSky thing people are talking about
  • A VIP Passes for you with a t-shirt from this year’s festival

Keeping Track

As a screener, you’ll create a free account on FilmFreeway.com. It makes it easy for you to see the films from home – and keeps track of all the wonderful work you do for us.

If you’ve done this before, you know the drill.

  • Go to Film Freeway & Log-in
  • Watch a film (if you see two other people have watched a film, pick another one)
  • Rate a film
  • Note if there is sex, drugs, language or violence
  • Repeat

Our rules ask for ONLY PG-13 type films.

Very Very FAQ

We screen approximately 100 films every year during the South Georgia Film Festival. And while we received a lot of great films, the difference between the top 25 films that everyone is talking about during the festival and that 250th film that was submitted isn’t as close as you think. We’re not Sundance (which by the way received 10,000 short films this last year – and screened 64).

If you like a film – tell us. In the rating section, there are 10 categories – tell us why you like the film.

And if you don’t know why – you just do …. GREAT! You’ve watched tons of stuff, you know when you like something.

But … and I hate to say this … you’re not going to like them all. Even if you have a heart of gold like my wife, sometimes you’ll know – that’s not what we want.

And don’t worry – if you only kinda like films, the ones folks LOVE will rise to the top. Math is like that.

So, Now what?

If you’re ready to go – sign-up below

https://mailchi.mp/3b06af2ce848/zxzfqvwnk5