Classic City Vibes

The Athens Film Festival: Where Community Meets Cinema

• Athens Regional Library System • Episode 89

Share episode

Send us a text

Step into the vibrant world of independent cinema as the Athens Film Festival makes its triumphant return for a second year! Founder Chuck Griffin and PR coordinator Blaire Mars take us behind the scenes of this rapidly growing celebration of film that's quickly becoming a cultural cornerstone in the Classic City.

For more information on the festival go to athensfilm.com

Bio:

Chuck Griffin - I'm a Grady Alumni (2009), and studied Telecommunication Arts (now known as "Entertainment and Media Studies"), and got my degree with a concentration in screenwriting. I worked as a script reader for various companies. Despite my main career in software development, I carried my love and appreciation of film into my later years by founding and creating ScriptMother, a screenwriting platform for writers to workshop their script and collaborate with one another. And of course starting the Athens Film Festival in 2024.

Blaire Mars - I’m a Public Relations professional with experience spanning the mental health field, ancient history, and sports reporting - each rooted in my love for storytelling, community building, and authentic connection. Currently, I serve as Screenwriting Coordinator for the UGA Industry’s Writer’s Room, where I manage workshops, writer showcases, and creative collaboration. I’m also the writer and director of the short film Lonely is the Muse, set to release this winter, and the PR Coordinator for the Athens Film Festival, where I help amplify local voices and give creatives an audience. I see film festivals as the peak celebration of storytelling and the Athens Film Festival sets the standard to meet.

Speaker 1:

All right, welcome to Classic City Vibes. This is James, and we have with us today Blair Mars and Chuck Griffin. Chuck is the founder executive director of the Athens Film Festival and Blair Mars is the PR public relations person for the Athens Film Festival. And this is the second year, so the second annual.

Speaker 1:

Before we start talking about the Athens Film Festival, which will be the majority of this, I just want to talk a little bit about your guys' background in film, kind of where you got started, your love of movies and if you had any experience with other film festivals before you started this one.

Speaker 3:

So I'm born and raised in Athens and went to UGA Grady College for media studies and with a concentration in screenwriting. I guess I was always told I was good at writing throughout school so I just I had gotten into movies very early, I guess as a kid. Really bad movies that you're not allowed to see, like the worst kind oh you gotta give us some names now. I saw like Robocop when I was four. Oh wow Chucky when I was like seven.

Speaker 1:

Some violent films, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3:

But they had a, I guess, positive effect on me as far as loving movies. So you know, I was told I was good at writing. I didn't really believe it but I just got into Grady and wanted to study it. But soon after that, or during college, I kind of realized that I appreciated movies. But I didn't necessarily want to enter the film industry like totally go all in and go to LA, but I always had a love for movies and honoring filmmakers, like sharing films with other people, and so you know, that's kind of where the source of the passion for running the Athens Film Festival is.

Speaker 1:

Were you writing films or scripts?

Speaker 3:

I've written a few scripts, you know, during college. After college I didn't really do too much with it. I was a script reader for a talent agency, so talent agencies need script readers to give feedback and pass it to the boss of the talent agency to consider the writer.

Speaker 3:

So script readers just kind of read through you know hundreds of scripts and then write feedback, you know, and just send it off. So I did that for a couple of agencies in New York but I was always told I was good at giving feedback for scripts, so I enjoy that the most.

Speaker 1:

So you kind of have an eye for what's good and what's not. Because that sounds kind of tedious to read hundreds of scripts.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, like there's a discipline in the science to screenwriting. You have a certain amount of pages to tell a story and you really have to cut out a lot of material. Like, if you write a novel you can spend like 10 pages on one feeling, but you can't do that in screenwriting. You have to say something big within like 10 seconds and you've got to really pick and choose and like it's very, very difficult. A lot of people just think they can write a script. They wake up and think they can write a script, but then they get into it. It's like really there's a lot more to it, a lot more complicated, yeah.

Speaker 1:

What about you?

Speaker 2:

Oh hi, Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1:

I'm happy to be here. What about you? Oh hi, Thank you for having me. Yeah, no problem.

Speaker 2:

I'm happy to be here, jack. I actually didn't realize. I actually am a little bit similar to you. I guess I didn't watch RoboCop. Oh yeah, I was a little.

Speaker 1:

I only watched RoboCop, like last year, oh really yeah, so I only know it's violent, because I didn't even realize that I was like funny, violent, but still very shocking to a kid, sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 2:

All good. Yeah, I was a bit south of that. I guess I grew up on like Barbie movies. But yeah, I think for me I definitely was fostered into thinking. Like people told me, I was good at writing, I liked writing.

Speaker 2:

I actually went to school for classics, which is, you know, the study of like ancient Greece and Rome, and I still have a minor in it and it's really I still am passionate about it. I was passionate about the stories that were told, that kind of repeat throughout history, and how myths are kind of like almost like movies, like the most popular movies in a sense for people throughout history, like folk tales, all of it. They're emblematic of something that society is trying to say. And so I kind of realized that we have a screenwriting program here at UGA too and I was like wait, this is cool. I showed up to a writer's room meeting and I'm now coordinator for it, so that's really cool at the UGA industry.

Speaker 2:

So I'm really passionate about just good stories, I think and I do PR because it's like you get to make the story and get the word out about good stories and you find the best way to tell it and I love it. I have directed and I love that too. I love content creation. I love storytelling. Pr I think can be really fun. Even if it's, you know, kind of seen as like a tedious, kind of not real job to some people, I really enjoy it. I think letting people know about you know the cool projects in town and like the projects going on in Georgia and films being made, is really important and really cool.

Speaker 1:

I would think being PR would be like for an artist is super important. Like, no matter what you do as an artist, you got to get your name out there and get stuff out there. So the skill set I would think would be perfect for a filmmaker and writer and anything to do with arts, I would think.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I actually think it kind of is really connected Absolutely. I feel like. I feel like it's a very similar skill set of knowing what information to keep and what to put in, like you were talking about with scripts. You have to be very decisive about what we show, what we don't, what people need to know about. And I really like it. I think it's like if you're doing it right, people don't notice how good it is.

Speaker 1:

So, since y'all both read scripts, can you read a script one time and know if it's going to be a good film or not, or does it take more um?

Speaker 3:

usually you, you have to know by the first read, um, because it's kind of like re-watching it, but, um, if you're like analyzing it and really breaking it down, yeah, you can read it a few times because, uh, like, like dialogue can take a long time to just Give feedback on. There's so much if, if there's too much exposition and dialogue, obviously that's just will wear an audience out and.

Speaker 3:

You never want the die, you never want, like the dialogue to narrate the story. Like if the character feels a certain way, they can't just say oh, I feel this way, yeah, yeah, show it and you can point that. They can't just say oh, I feel To this way, yeah, yeah, show its mouth and you can point that out pretty easily upon the first read, I guess yeah, Is that kind of one of the most common mistakes you see in young kind of writers?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, every time anyone who starts writing they're not like yes, yes, yes, yeah any time you write like your first script you're going and it's going to look like that, then you realize it can change drastically. Screenwriting is all about rewriting, not writing. So it's all about the rewrite because you can rewrite. Some people have rewritten their scripts like 20, 50 times.

Speaker 2:

It looks very different.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, rocky was written in like two days, so it can be written in a couple days. It can be perfect or it can take forever.

Speaker 1:

So film festival-wise, do you all have any experience, before we get into Athens, of previous film festivals you kind of were involved with or went to see? Not really.

Speaker 3:

I mean, as far as events, I've had jobs in the past where I've helped run conferences like major ones. But as far as film festivals, like I always say, I've been to maybe a couple to a handful of festivals in the past and I've been to like countless Athens festivals, which I think is more important as far as you know, having a festival in this town because all the festivals seem very similar and have a common, you know, just a common vibe.

Speaker 1:

I guess I would say what would you say? That vibe is Like what makes it happen?

Speaker 3:

It's kind of open to everyone, like Athens is obviously with UGA and the football. It's like everyone just comes out and when a festival happens, it seems like every venue knows about it and is open and either there's a band playing there or it's just kind of ready for a festival and kind of part of it. So I feel like whenever there's a festival in Athens, it's you know, there's usually music. It doesn't seem like whatever the festival is about is all that's there, if that makes sense. It's like people just come out and want to enjoy the weekend. Yeah, yeah, and you know you have so many bars and it's very— Athens is just social, geographically it's easy to get downtown and around. So it just feels like you know, if there's a festival, everybody just knows about it and they'll just come out, you know, instead of going to, you know, their regular place.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So where did the idea for the Athens Film Festival come for you? Where's the kind of genesis of that?

Speaker 3:

Well, I mean, I guess it's with, I guess, appreciation of film and wanting to share good stories, as far as like deciding on when to do it, think it was, um, like after the, the industry kind of exploded here in Georgia with film and that was, like you know, before COVID and even during COVID it it grew even larger um with production in Georgia and then Athena Studios opened up in Athens and that's I'd been kind of thinking about doing a film festival for a while, because there hasn't been one in Athens or there hadn't been one in, say, like 10 years. So I'd been kind of thinking about doing a film festival for a while, because there hasn't been one in Athens or there hadn't been one in, say, like 10 years. So I'd been thinking about that. But after the studio opened up I was like you know, somebody's going to do a festival. I'd like to be able to choose some movies.

Speaker 1:

So I better do one, so you jump in there before anybody else.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I was afraid that if somebody else did a festival, they wouldn't choose the right movies? I guess I don't know, maybe it came out of just fear of that. Yeah, so that drove me.

Speaker 1:

So that's one of your great skill sets, though, right, you said earlier you've been told that you're really good at kind of looking at scripts and so maybe you have just a great eye for cinema Would you say that.

Speaker 3:

I don't think particularly. I have a good eye, because I'll talk to people who know so much more than me about, like Aaron Strand. He's got his feature film Withdrawal on next Thursday. That's like the big Athens film, but anyways, he knows so much about film and he could just go way over your head. I can't even come close to that, I feel like. But if I see a good story, I think I can pick those out pretty well and I think I guess it's a good thing that I don't have like one particular genre I'm obsessed with. It's just if it's a good story it deserves to be considered. So it's really just focused on story, whatever that is.

Speaker 1:

Well, let's go ahead and plug right here the dates and kind of give just a general overview of this year's film festival, and we'll dig a little bit more deeper into it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, it's August 14th to 17th. August 14th is opening night and the feature film is at Cine at 8 pm. It's called Withdrawal. It's arguably the best Athens-made film you know ever, I would say, and that's kind of a bold statement, but I can't think of a more Athens film than that. But yeah, no, we have about 100 short films all throughout the festival four narrative feature films, two documentary feature films, a lot of documentary shorts, music videos on the 14th and 15th and just it's really spread out throughout just all the days of the festival.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and what was the process? How many people, how many submissions do you get or did you get this year?

Speaker 3:

Oh, this year we got a little over 3,500. Oh wow.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And how many people are kind of sifting through these making choices Because I mean, obviously you're not watching all 3,500, right? No, no, I'm not. Mathematically I don't think that would work out. That wouldn't be possible.

Speaker 3:

Yeah especially this year, we have about seven screeners. It's like a screening committee and so just mostly local but like film lovers and some are in the film industry but between me and maybe seven or eight people we kind of distributed the. You know the workload as far as watching the films and you know, like any other festivals kind of, they rate the films and then go over them again and kind of filter them through again and you know the top ones that are rated. They're either rewatched or reconsidered and you know we end up doing like the official selections after that.

Speaker 1:

Now are you looking for, like a certain mix of like we're going to choose this mini feature, this mini short, or is it more just like we're going to fill this amount of time slots and whatever's the best kind of rise up? How does that work? Like we're going to fill this amount of time slots and whatever's the best kind of rise up? How does that work?

Speaker 3:

Well, I would say that it's always six to seven feature films because they're so long and throughout three days. It's like you can only do so many. Yeah, do so many. But outside of that, you know, because we use the Globe and Flickr and the Morton Theater as well as Cine, we definitely have like a lot of space for short films. So it's kind of you kind of know that maybe you can show like 80 total to maybe 100. So just kind of trying to do the math, I guess, and hoping that it goes well, I hope it works out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's how the process goes yeah. Is it so? The selection is one process. How do you then decide? Like grouping, like we're going to show these. Like with the Like we're going to show these. Like with the shorts, we're going to show these together and these, oh, it's a lot.

Speaker 3:

I try to find like a common theme between them, like a very, even if it's a very subtle thing, so a block of shorts of like five shorts. It could be about be about like love and loss or breaking up or I don't know chance encounters. There has to be. I think there has to be some sort of theme or feeling. It's like if you put together like a playlist for like an album or something like that.

Speaker 3:

I don't know I'm trying to think of the best comparison, but maybe there's a group of black and white films or a group of films that were shot on a 35 millimeter.

Speaker 3:

Some kind of common thread, yeah common thread and it can be very subtle. I guess that's the fun part about putting them together, because you hope that maybe the audience like subliminally it hits them and that's why they remember it, because it's like you want all the films um, the challenge is to make all the films say something and be a film on their own.

Speaker 1:

like these five films are a film, that sort of thing, yeah what did you learn from the first year, because this is your second year of doing it? What? Because you had it was very successful the first year. I was a lot of people talking about it and I got to see some of the shows and it was a lot of fun, so it was a great. The first year, there was a lot of people talking about it and I got to see some of the shows and it was a lot of fun, so it was a great event. What did you learn from that?

Speaker 3:

I guess what stands out is that filmmakers will try their best to attend the festival, that they're selected, like they feel very honored and they're very hungry for an audience. And it's kind of, I guess, rare in these days because it's all like, I guess, streaming and watching online, so people are isolated, so they don't get to witness people appreciating their films in like real time, like physically. That's what stands out the most to me is that that filmmakers will show up, because that first year I didn't know how many would show up, but, um, I think about 30 to 40 showed up last year, most from Atlanta, but but we had one, uh, show up from Brazil um, we helped her get here and a filmmaker from Montana and New York, LA.

Speaker 2:

So they, they, they showed up, you know, surprisingly, yeah that's great have some people coming like road tripping all the way from like.

Speaker 3:

Michigan to Detroit. Yeah, Michigan, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Like they're taking their cast, like some of their cast members too, and they're just driving the whole way down.

Speaker 3:

I was like that's a testament to how much we love festivals. I know it's like how much they want to, you know, be part of it because their film was selected. So it's kind of cool.

Speaker 2:

Even some international filmmakers have been like we really did look at trying to get to athens, georgia. You know our, our little town in georgia, in the south of the united states and it's like you know some, it's like flights are really expensive but the fact that they're like I really wish I was there.

Speaker 2:

If they're like in croatia or greece or or Netherlands, like that was like really something that spoke to me. I was like this is something that people want to go to, no matter the distance. On some level Like it's, they want to be here. They're hungry for it, like you said.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, From a PR perspective, what is it about? What do you try to communicate most about the film festival? To get people excited about it?

Speaker 2:

Oh gosh, there's so much. I mean this is an Athens-based production, like the whole thing of it, I feel like is so deeply Athens. So I think if you love this city, you want to be here, and if you love film, you definitely want to be here. I think I'm trying to communicate in you know my press releases and radio ads. I guess that we have international films. The submission fees of some festivals make you pay to submit your film to them. I think ours is free and that was something that I think really we got a lot to like a wide pool, a lot of variety because of that. So we have like over 100 international submissions. We have so many countries represented.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's a lot of different countries, and so that's why we got so many, because the submission fee was free.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I guess, just because you know you want the best films. I wouldn't do it if I didn't get like the best films. So that was kind of a bold move, a little reckless, because you can't watch that many by yourself. So, yeah, no, that kind of speaks toward Athens too is wanting art and just being hungry for any sort of art.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're not trying to paywall artists from sharing a great film to this festival and I think that resonates with filmmakers and they also just want to submit to it. I think it's just an amazing celebration of if you love Athens and you know Georgia-based and Athens-made films, come here. We've got them. But also, I, just I have a love for film festivals. I think the first one I went to was Backlight UGA. It's a student film festival. I, I went a few years ago and I remember watching and going to a festival and you know they have these blocks, like you said, that are kind of connected by a certain theme. I remember watching and being like wait, this is this is what I want to do, like, this is the work I want to be in forever, you know. So I feel like I, I, I feel like film festivals have the potential to be kind of life-changing for creatives.

Speaker 3:

so maybe that's that's my yeah it's like a opportunity for filmmakers, whether they're in the festival, whether their film is in the festival or not, to like network and meet other um other filmmakers and um. A lot of times you know they connect and um stay in touch and get involved in projects together. So I think we saw a couple of instances. You know they connect and stay in touch and get involved in projects together. So I think we saw a couple of instances, you know, in the last festival. So filmmakers kind of really know that at a festival they're going to find people to help them make their film or need somebody for their film and they kind of you know trade contacts there. So it's a very big, very big networking event for filmmakers.

Speaker 1:

And you all have some specific networking events right as part of it.

Speaker 2:

We have some networking, specific and like after parties, and panels and Q&As.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they're pretty common in most film festivals. So kind of networking is around Creature Comforts area from like 3 to 6 in the afternoon and then you know you have a few panels and like workshops, filmmaker panels where filmmakers can come and kind of. You know there's one on emerging filmmakers in Georgia and Trillith Institute is coming in to host that and there's another one on Friday. It's called Mental Health and Art and Nucci Space and Aaron Strander kind of collaborating on. You know how to tell your story and how to be responsible for the people you're collaborating with and when you're dealing with mental health narratives I guess.

Speaker 1:

And when was Aaron's film showing again? Is it Thursday night?

Speaker 3:

This is showing Thursday at 8pm, and then there's going to be an encore Sunday at 2.

Speaker 1:

Okay, great, and he will be doing a Q&A at Nucci's on Friday.

Speaker 3:

On Thursday, oh, on Thursday, yeah, yeah and then the panel is Friday, I believe at 5.

Speaker 2:

I think I'm hosting that one Right right.

Speaker 1:

You might need to know in the time where do you, where would you like to see the film festival go in terms of do you have like a vision, or is it right where you want it to be and just kind of keep it?

Speaker 3:

I don't know, that's a good question, um, I, I like to, I like where it's at. Honestly, I, I mean, I guess the most special thing to me is that people came out and enjoyed the films and you know, the feedback I heard was that they really loved the films and remember them, which is just like the most. I could possibly ask for other people appreciating the same films I appreciate, or that we selected um, so that was special to me. Um, I guess if I had to answer that question, um, just for it to be another, a staple in Athens as far as festivals, I mean, you have like AthFest, porchfest, which is probably the most unique talked about festival in town, and then you have Twilight, and I just think that a film festival fits right in at the right place and you know, it's a different medium form of art that Athens has, I guess, been without as far as festivals for quite a while.

Speaker 3:

So it's just the idea of keeping that going and having the best films in there each year, because I think if the content went down then people would know it once they got their fill the first couple of years, the third year if we don't get the best content. So that's the main challenge, I think, and the goal for me it's keeping the content.

Speaker 1:

As long as the quality stays high, then everything else will work out.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Where do people get tickets? Where's the best place?

Speaker 2:

Athensfilmcom. You can get our schedule and our tickets on there. You can get day pass or you can get the full package. You can choose which slots you want to go to.

Speaker 1:

I think our after parties are free yeah, they're mostly open to the public, basically like anything a festival outside in Athens so it's pretty open and for those who haven't been to a film festival before, it's most important to remember if you buy a ticket to a movie, that doesn't mean you get into the movie necessarily. It's like first come, first serve.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's first come, first serve, I mean individual tickets we just keep track of and you know, in the event that something is full, we try to show it right after. Oh, we're doing encore. So it's kind of hard to keep track of, but you know we try our best to like show something again if we can.

Speaker 1:

Nice, all right.

Speaker 3:

And I know we have a lot of filmmaker interviews on YouTube. Now that was something new we did and Blair's been hosting probably hosted how many filmmakers.

Speaker 2:

Like 20 at this point.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so long long interviews about their film and filmmakers were just like dying to be, interviewed. So it's like some of the interviews are like 30 minutes long 40 minutes long.

Speaker 2:

I wasn't expecting so many people to even email me and say I want to be interviewed. I thought like we'd get maybe like five or six and be like, oh cool, we can make an Instagram reel and put that up, yeah. And then I got like ten emails a day.

Speaker 3:

once I was like oh my gosh, you had a waterfall of them, yeah, and I was like Chuck, can you maybe take one of these? Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I just don't have enough hours in Do you edit, like your recording and editing and all that, or is it pretty strict like I'm going to record and throw it up there kind of thing, because that's a lot of interviews, especially video?

Speaker 2:

I was originally going to edit them if it were a smaller number.

Speaker 1:

That's too many yeah.

Speaker 3:

We had our other, you know, editing assistants. Yeah, yeah, team members just helping out with the editing. Okay, good, good, just kind of the platform we used.

Speaker 2:

I'm grateful to them. I'm sorry they have had to see my face and hear my voice for hours at this point.

Speaker 1:

And where can people find that? On our YouTube page you can go to.

Speaker 3:

Athens Film Fest. But if you just go to AthensFilmcom, you'll find the link there.

Speaker 2:

If you find our Instagram, it should be in our link tree linked in there. But yeah, very exciting, I love doing it. I'm not the most experienced in interviewing people, I guess. Most of the time I just watch something and I kind of make my own deductions, without another person present, I guess. But yeah, we're Athens Film Festival on YouTube. Oh my gosh, that's me, oh, that's me.

Speaker 1:

I just saw myself. Well. The good thing about interviewing a filmmaker, though, is like they're ready to talk about their film and like they have a lot they want to say yeah yeah, they want to talk as much as possible about it.

Speaker 3:

They really just appreciate the time they get to kind of put themselves out there and like promote their film.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I also liked asking them. I asked kind of a fun question. In all of them I was like there's a Letterboxd 4 kind of trend where you have people like what are your top four movies on Letterboxd?

Speaker 2:

And I asked them not quite that question, but if you had to recommend four movies that were like inspirations to you, like a Letterboxd 4 for people even like to lead up to this, to give them a taste, or after if they want more, and I got a lot of really cool film recommendations asking that question, so you can have fun with it.

Speaker 1:

Let's do that. We're going to make you answer the question Really.

Speaker 2:

Number one RoboCop.

Speaker 1:

Barbie and RoboCop are off the list. We can't use those two. Okay, now, if there's a mashup of those two later, we'll have someone do it again.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I guess top three. Now I'm kidding.

Speaker 1:

What's your four?

Speaker 2:

My four and I'm very passionate and I will staunchly defend one of these choices that people kind of side-eye me for. But I like Gone Girl, the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, last year's Anora. And my last choice, a little controversial, is the first Twilight movie by Catherine Hardwicke. Oh really I find that movie profoundly interesting for so many reasons. I think culturally that's the closest we have to like an ancient Greek myth in some ways because of how big of a phenomena that was.

Speaker 2:

Yeah that's true. I think that teenage girls kind of dictate some of the culture and some of the desires of the culture at the time. I think it's really fascinating that a Mormon wrote it and that there's some religious elements that show. I think there's some really interesting themes about the seduction of monstrosity, attraction to death and extreme religion and you know, vampirism as a metaphor for everything. So I'm very staunch about that. People are like why do you like Twilight? And I'm like that's what I watched when I was like four Right.

Speaker 1:

That's a good deep dive into it. That's great.

Speaker 2:

I really should like make a thesis because, I'll go to a party and they'll be like what are your favorite movies? I'm like deep breath.

Speaker 3:

I have a thesis.

Speaker 2:

But Chuck, what are yours?

Speaker 3:

I guess four movies come to mind Chongqing Express, Paris, Texas, Brokeback Mountain, City of God.

Speaker 1:

Nice, so he's got both. They're all very different, they're all very different from each other.

Speaker 3:

They don't really have time to extrapolate.

Speaker 1:

Well, we'd be here all day if we, like I know, ask a filmmaker about movies.

Speaker 2:

You'd be here all day if we, like I know, ask a filmmaker about movies you'll be here a minute, that's like part of the interview is like five minutes dedicated to just that question in a lot of them. Just talking about a film that inspired them or that they like.

Speaker 1:

Do you have to reign that in a little sometimes?

Speaker 2:

No, I let them go wild. Oh, okay, I'm like people want to talk about their favorite films. So much you about their favorite film, so much you know if they made it or if it's something else they want to talk about it. Obviously, that's what I was just doing. Yeah, no their eyes get wide.

Speaker 3:

They love that question.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I like it. I like getting people excited. My favorite is when someone says that's a good question.

Speaker 3:

I'm like yes, oh, yeah, yeah, that's always good. I succeeded.

Speaker 1:

You should start your own podcast and name it. That's a good question. No, that's actually. That is a cute name.

Speaker 2:

I would actually consider that. That's what we'll call it next year. We'll call it the, that's a Good Question segment.

Speaker 1:

You can't leave until you say that's a good question.

Speaker 2:

They don't know that, but that's written in my rules. The interview ends when I have a good question. That's the last one.

Speaker 1:

It's been a long time, that's cute. Hey, we'll hire you. What are y'all looking for? Do y'all have a particular film or short or something like you're really looking forward to seeing the audience see from this year?

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's tough. I'm not saying a favorite.

Speaker 1:

We don't want to pick favors for our children.

Speaker 3:

There's a really unique short film by this production company. It's called Canada and it's from Spain. It doesn't really make sense but they make a lot of amazing commercials like unbelievably impossible to fathom where they came up with the idea. But there's a short film about a director who has trouble conveying something in the scene she's directing and it's like about stress and just like I don't know and it's just very wild. It's very choreographed and just colorful and extremely intense and it's pretty amazing visually that I think people would enjoy it. It would. It would stick with them for quite a while.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, do you remember when it's playing?

Speaker 3:

it's playing I believe thursday at eight o'clock um. It's called the cause of the accident that started the fire. It's a very long title but it's and it's. If you check the schedule on AthensFilmcom. It's playing two other times, so we're replaying it, I think Saturday and then Sunday.

Speaker 1:

Now have you seen a lot of them? As the PR person Now, you've probably seen less than Chuck.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, a little less, but I watched every one that I had to interview for One person even was like these are such specific questions Like, thank you, you actually watched it.

Speaker 2:

I was like why would I come in here and ask you something I've never seen? But yeah, I've seen a good bit of them and I might have favorites, but I won't say them. I am, though, really excited for the animation at Block and to see some international film, how those are received. Um, in particular, there's one actually international animated short that really sticks with me. It was by felix lip.

Speaker 2:

It was no char oh yeah and it's this black and white animated one minute, like one and a half minute short um about this cow's life and I think about about it. Sometimes I'm like I was like that was just a really profound interview I had. It's like I thought it was beautiful the first time I watched it, but when I talked to him and he was like you know, it's about respect for the food and where it comes from and the way we consider consumption and like he just broke down all these details, I didn't even pick up on the first time I watched it, and so I'm kind of excited to see how that and a couple other animated shorts are shown. I really love animation. I think there's some really cool stuff that we have. We have one gentleman who animated something by himself for like two years and all that work really shows yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we have another like stop motion animation, yeah, short from, I guess, a former student in like Georgia State, and so she'll be there for the Q&A. But it's really some of these filmmakers I mean all of them, I'm sure they have really I don't know interesting stories and like it's kind of cool when you get to ask them like why they're obsessed with telling it and you know that stop motion animation like it's a long journey, yeah, it's a lot of work Like it's very

Speaker 3:

interesting to hear how they got all the products and went to thrift stores and just always have an eye out for what they need for that animation yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

In one of my interviews I talked to a gentleman who had done a claymation I think the claymation felt music video. It's called Old Violence and he was talking to me about it. He's like wait a minute, I think I have them. And he turns around and he picks them up out of a box and he shows them to me. I was like, oh my God, I'm getting the exclusive. He's like, okay, this is made of felt, this is made of this and this is the paint that's coming out. I was like, oh my God, they're here. It was kind of like I got the celebrities of the short.

Speaker 1:

I got the cast and crew. Now, when you're selecting animated films, is that kind of its own separate category? You select a certain number of those, or is they kind of all competing in one big bucket?

Speaker 3:

I guess yes and no, they are their own category. For sure there's an award for it like Best Animated Short, and we always want to put most of the animated shorts that we select in the blocks. There's like two blocks this year, there were two blocks last year, and I feel like between those two you get enough of an amount of selections. That is just kind of the right amount, like you know 20 to maybe 30. Some are very short. There are some animated shorts that do belong in another category, like ones like horror and animation, very much so. So it's one like maybe a couple Horror Fest recently, and so Horror Fest will select animated shorts, but it kind of, you know, if it really fits in another category, you put it there.

Speaker 1:

Wherever it fits, you put it there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah exactly A lot of discernment.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

A lot of discernment for a lot of films.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Which is why you have to love it to do it.

Speaker 1:

Right, right, yeah, yeah, oh yeah. I can't imagine how many hours you have to put in for this, like four-day event it's.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I guess, I don't remember. You blocked it.

Speaker 1:

Let's not talk about that. When are the? Well, you said there's two segments. Do you remember when they are?

Speaker 3:

if someone is interested in animation, yeah, Thursday at 5 pm and then Friday at around 6 o'clock at the Morton Theater. They're both at the Morton.

Speaker 1:

Theater yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, the Thursday one is at Flickr. Thursday at Flickr and then.

Speaker 1:

Morton, yeah yeah, the Thursday one is at Flickr. Thursday at Flickr and then Morton, yeah, yeah, is that the cartoon block? Oh, there's the Saturday morning cartoons that we're doing.

Speaker 3:

That's open to the public, so it's kid-friendly animation, but they're incredible animation shorts from like Europe, all over the world, and that's Saturday at 1030, which will be a really cool addition to the festival. It's open to the public and it's not child-themed, but it's kid-friendly. Some are child-themed.

Speaker 2:

I hope a kid shows up and is like I want to do this. That's what I like about film festivals it's something they won't see on.

Speaker 1:

I guess YouTube or.

Speaker 3:

Nickelodeon.

Speaker 2:

I guess it's YouTube now. Yeah, you get to see some really good films and it's what was it called like serial?

Speaker 3:

Yes, like we will have like cereal to pass out A cereal bar.

Speaker 1:

Yes, maybe some tricks, I'll be there.

Speaker 2:

I'll be taller than everyone. I don't care, get out of the way, kid. I'll be taller than everyone. I don't care, get out of the way, kid. I need calcium, I need grains.

Speaker 1:

What about sponsorship? That's got to be. You know We've got some cool ones. Yeah, we want to talk a little bit about the challenge when you're first starting getting sponsors and who your sponsors are this year, and that's a part of it that probably people don't think about as much, but it's a huge part of any festival, oh yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know the sponsorship we do is similar to most other film festivals, like different levels. With a film festival like what I experienced is, you know, we have Nucci Space as a sponsor of the film Withdrawal and they're tied to it because this film is about addiction and recovery, mental illness. All those things are tied into the film. So Nucci Space was just a perfect fit for that as a sponsor.

Speaker 3:

I think that is a touch that other festivals maybe don't have, that film festivals have, and it happens naturally when you reach out to these sponsors and kind of when you do, a lot of times they're just very interested.

Speaker 3:

You know it's a very unique opportunity for a sponsor to be involved in a story, you know that's being shown to an audience. And then there's this other documentary, hockey Town, and the Rock Lobsters is sponsoring that and they're just very excited, like the filmmakers are coming in from Alaska and so you know the Rock Lobsters is sponsoring that and they're just very excited, like the filmmakers are coming in from Alaska and so you know the Rock Lobsters will be there and kind of maybe introduce the film but also just, you know, just be present for it and just in support of the film festival. So it's like it's very special to me to see that you know, especially like local organizations, like companies you know being involved with the film festival and it helps to have sine like an independent yeah and seen as the presenting sponsor and that's where we kind of where the kind of headquarters of the festival is and where most of the mingling and the red carpet is there, and we just want to have kind of everything centralized.

Speaker 3:

It's CNA, especially the red carpet, where kind of coverage and the media will be and all that stuff and they definitely have. We always want to feature films to play there because it's just the best by far. You know, obviously the best picture quality, the best presentation and you know CNA is like kind of award winning as far as their theater picture goes. You know the presentation, everything.

Speaker 1:

You were lucky to have them, because there's so few of those left? Oh for sure.

Speaker 2:

When Beachwood went down I almost cried. You know, it's like it's important to have like movie theaters. I'm so like COVID really stressed me out. I was like, oh my God, please, I need my AMC to stay open. I love seeing it. I was just there last night.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, no, it's a lot of different and the curating is just amazing over there. So for a film lover, it's just perfect, downtown, everything amazing over there. Um, so for a film lover, it's it's just perfect downtown everything you know.

Speaker 1:

What do you wish you saw more of in athens that would like as far as film supporting filmmakers is there anything. We're kind of missing. Here we have a, now we have athena studios, which wasn't before. You have a good, a great theater like cine. Of course you haveGA, which also has its program. Is there anything you would like to see in Athens to help filmmakers?

Speaker 3:

And now we have a film festival.

Speaker 1:

A film festival is also part of that as well.

Speaker 3:

I'd say that I've seen a little bit more of like movie screenings, like special movie screenings around different places in Athens, movie screenings like special movie screenings around different places in Athens. I wish I was more aware of that sort of thing. You know, sometimes I don't really know what's going on in Athens, especially music-wise, but I guess what I'd like to see is, I guess, more of that. I mean, it's hard to get people to come out to the movies now because they have so much we're almost programmed to like watch it on our phones or while we're doing something else and isolated away from other people. So it seems pretty rare that people get in a theater and pack out a theater and, you know, share the experience with each other. So definitely that's probably the most important thing I would hope to see, actually a pushback against maybe watching things isolated.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I actually would like to say, like, as I was just out last night at CNA and Aaron Stern was the host and he has this great podcast Behind the Slate and I think something distinctive about that too is that, yeah, we want to just watch things alone and be isolated, but he did like an audience discussion and Q&A and gave us like a foreword on the film, so it was a bit more interactive. I think people really like the music scene in Athens because it's an event. You're going out, you get to interact with it a bit more, you go with it a bit more. You go to flickr, you can talk to people. I think you know, honestly, as much as everyone's a little anti-social, we kind of want socialization obviously. Um, that's kind of the drawing point for a lot of athens entertainment, um. So I think like special screenings, like that too, um, just making getting the word out for that and in more and more filmmakers just talking about it and holding social kind of centered events.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, that's a pretty unique podcast. He does. I think he has that desire to have people participate and come out Like he knows how important that is.

Speaker 2:

And we do like fun little, like interviews in the lobby, like that's what I was doing. I was asking people about Godzilla. I was like, can you do a Godzilla impression? They're like, ah no, fair enough, honestly.

Speaker 1:

That's a hard one. That's harder than your four pick four films, kind of thing, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Not as good a question. Get that answer. I'll tell you that.

Speaker 1:

No one said that's a good question. No.

Speaker 2:

They were like wow, that's really insightful. I haven't thought about that before. Let me put some into that.

Speaker 1:

Does it kill you just a little bit as a filmmaker to have people watch the film on a phone?

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah, yeah, I guess. So I mean I would imagine that, yeah, a filmmaker. Well, I don't want to speak for any filmmaker because I've never made one. Well, you've made one, I've never been to the process, but yeah, what's your take on it?

Speaker 2:

I think I'm a proponent of going to a theater. I watched Interstellar for the first time on an iPhone 6.

Speaker 1:

Really, it was probably better than that I went later for like a 10-year anniversary and.

Speaker 2:

I saw it in theaters, which was amazing and IMAX and awesome, and it's like I still have that emotional connection. I can't help but always think like I would have cried my eyes out if I saw that in the theater. I think I think watching it a movie, in a movie theater kind of helps you feel it more. I also think our attention span is a little too low to be watching it on our phone. I mean, netflix even said that their movies are made with you being on your phone in mind for there to be a second screen. So that's why they repeat information over and over again. So I think there's something worthwhile for us to go to a theater and put our thought into, you know, this piece of media that we're seeing and you know not splitting our focus between two different things. And also, I'm a big proponent of how powerful music is in film and you can hear it and feel it so much better in a theater. I think sound design is hugely important too.

Speaker 1:

What do you think film does better than any other artistic medium?

Speaker 3:

I mean I guess it's just pictures, sound music, everything rolled into one. I mean it's only been around for you know 100 years give or take. So it's a baby compared to by far. You know, every other medium, music, writing, poetry, everything is like at least 6,000 to a million years old.

Speaker 1:

This is the baby, this film thing.

Speaker 3:

Sure, yeah, I mean, it's just obvious. Like you know, you can, especially nowadays, you can put anything on a screen special effects, just what have you? It's just a thing on its own, and for obvious reasons.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love this medium so much and you're right, it's very new. I've studied things that have existed since ancient Greece and what I love about this is the level of detail that you can make symbolic of the story itself that you're trying to say that's why we love cinematography, that's why we break down colors and costuming and all of these because you have a level of control over the details that could subliminally tell your story as well, if not overtly, in the dialogue that people have too much of in their first draft of something I remember watching so many movies, like when I was first getting to movies and I was like like every detail is kind of coming harmoniously into the theme itself and that's something that you can't really get with things that don't have a visual element, um, or an auditory element.

Speaker 2:

Um, like in a lot of songs, like the production though, like it's a romance song, I've had an artist I know like did like their heartbeat in it. You know you could have like a cool amount of details, the more like sensory experiences I think you layer into it. And I think film it's like you can control the angle, you can control how close you are and that can convey the intimacy of the moment or the tension. You just have so much control over how many details you can show. And that's like when somebody puts the amount of time and effort into maximizing and taking advantage of every aspect of that and telling a great story. Just in the script and in the theme itself. It's like you've made a perfect story. You've made something near perfect at least, and that pursuit at least is just something so incredible to see.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's like some sense of magic as well, because it's very collaborative and film costs a lot of money compared to any other medium. But yeah, I mean, you know you need the right actors and performances and like movie magic is, you know, real? I'm sure to any filmmaker that kind of experiences it, where they get the right people and everything just somehow works. So you, know, that's hard to capture in any other medium or form of art because it's a little more isolated.

Speaker 2:

I guess the creative process it's also like a complete time capsule of the moment it's like you can write a book and that gives you a lot of insight, right?

Speaker 3:

I mean film is like slice of life. You can say everything about life within an hour and a half. You know in this film.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, everything's a mark of its time, like the people in it, the technology being used. I think they're really interesting, like historic kind of capsules to me.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's go back and just say wrap up again with kind of where people when the film festival is where people can go to get tickets and kind of hit some of the high points for people again.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you've got to come, you've got to be there, I think.

Speaker 1:

Not on your phone. See it in person, not on your phone.

Speaker 2:

See it in person. Come on, get cereal with me.

Speaker 1:

Do we know what kinds of cereal Maybe that's going to be? Do we know what kinds?

Speaker 2:

of cereal. Maybe that's going to be. We can get you Lucky Charms if you buy right now. If you buy right now, we'll fund it.

Speaker 1:

You need a Kickstarter for that.

Speaker 2:

Exactly. But seriously, if we haven't sold you on this, just on this podcast with you know some great questions. Please consider just bringing some friends. Like it's a great time. I feel you can't have a bad time watching some good movies. You know, bring some friends, get some food, talk to some cool people. If you love creative endeavors, if you're even just like a huge music person, I think you can get in touch with composers. At this type of event you can hear some cool soundtracks. All of it, I think, has something to bring that's worthwhile for you, no matter what field you're in, honestly, and if you're not a creative, it's just an incredible experience and a celebration of, you know, the art that we love in life. But tickets are on sale at AthensFilmcom. That's Athens, the town we're in filmcom and our schedule's there. Our tickets are there. There you can find out more about the films we're screening as well, and it's a great time, I think.

Speaker 3:

um, if we haven't sold you yet, um, come get some lucky charms, yeah and we'll be at um seeing a registration like ticket pickup, but you can also get your ticket there too if you like. You know, if you don't want to buy online.

Speaker 1:

So you can get weekend passes and day passes and also passes, yeah, and individual tickets as well.

Speaker 2:

It's happening from the 14th through 17th Come all one, mostly all days.

Speaker 1:

Lots of options, all right. Well, thank you all so much for coming in today.

Speaker 3:

Thanks so much for having us.