Cine-Fest 2008
New
festival in Louisville aims to
promote filmmaking in the area
Festival
features submissions
by amateurs, professionals
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (December 2008) – Attracting
film production to Kentucky has been a goal for Tamara Lee Fulkerson
for many years. By aiding in a new film festival-expo in the area, she
hopes to highlight Kentucky along with like-minded individuals.
Fulkerson’s film industry colleagues at Jefferson Community and
Technical College asked her to be an advisor for Cine-Fest because of
her connections to the film industry.
Cine-Fest ’08 will “feature film and video submissions from
professionals, amateurs and students,” said Terry W. Lutz, professor
and Communication Arts Program Coordinator for JCTC. “We will also
have seminars, demonstrations, film screenings and discussions.”
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Tamara Fulkerson |
Cine-Fest will be held Dec. 5-6 in the Hartford Building
at First and Broadway at the JCTC Downtown Campus. Tickets are $10 for
students and $15 for general admission. All tickets will be sold at
the door.
This will be the second year for the film festival expo. It was begun
in an effort “to help inform filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers
about opportunities in the area as well as to (inform) them to ways
they can pursue their education,” said festival director Scott
Davis. Davis is an independent filmmaker and faculty member of the Communication
Arts Technology Program at JCTC and founded the first Cine-Fest with
fellow filmmaker David Heavener.
“The festival is a means of providing the community with a look
into the process of the new Video and Filmmaking Associate degree option
in the Communication Arts Technology Program at JCTC,” Lutz said.
There has been quite a lot of interest in this program, according to
Lutz.
During the expo, professionals will provide seminars in a variety of
topics ranging from screenwriting to production to sales. The three
categories for entries are Feature Film, Documentary and Short Film.
Both students and professionals were able to submit works.
Although there are four main advisors, Davis, Lutz, Fulkerson and Pete
Robertson, students at JCTC are actually putting on the festival, said
Davis. Students have worked hard to organize two days of film screenings
and panel discussions, said Fulkerson.
“Kentucky is currently losing its film program graduates to other
states,” Fulkerson said. “Most people don’t realize that
there are many established film/media programs in colleges and universities
all over the state.”
“Students aspire to be professionals,” said Lutz. “The
more exposure we can provide the better.”
A Round Table Discussion about recent film incentive legislation that
filmmakers have tried to pass will kick off the festival-expo at 3 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 5.
Attempts to pass House Bill 756 have failed and as a result, “Owensboro
lost two major motion pictures with budgets of approximately $10 million
each,” said Fulkerson.
“Film incentive legislation is about jobs for Kentuckians,”
she said. Fulkerson is passionate about the film industry, having over
24 years of experience in the advertising and entertainment industries.
She is also on the board of Lights…Camera…Kentucky!, a coalition
of companies, associations and individuals interested in creating a
sustainable and profitable motion picture industry in Kentucky.
Fulkerson has been a past director for the Bluegrass Independent Film
Festival. The festival, which was considered a success, was not held
this year nor will it be held next year “because of the International
Film Festival that has been developed since the BIFF departure last
year,” said Kim Buckler, Oldham County Tourism Director. “We
were hoping to be able to revive BIFF for next year, but with the economy
the way it is in regards to fundraising and the competition with the
Louisville film festival with the nationally know sponsors I obtained
last year, we decided to pass.”
But such venues have raised awareness about film festivals and their
possible significance to the industry. The First Lady, Mrs. Jane Beshear,
is supporting film incentive efforts and has implemented The Kentucky
Green Team Online Film Festival, Kentucky’s first online film festival
with celebrity judges, said Fulkerson.
Cine-Fest ’08 has requested film submissions with Kentucky connections,
in an effort to promote Kentuckians in film. “All film festivals
in Kentucky help to showcase our state,” said Fulkerson. Cine-Fest
’08 is making an effort to show legislatures in Frankfort “the
talent that this Kentucky industry has.
“We need all the publicity we can get to compete in the highly
competitive film industry.”
• For more information on the event, visit: www.cine-fest.com.