Deadline Today to Submit to the Festival via FilmFreeway:

Great Festival. A must for experimental indie art.

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We had a great time participating in the festival. Excellent organization and friendly atmosphere.

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It was an honor to be a part of such a prestigious and well organized film festival that focused on music and dance! Thank you to all who were involved and for awarding my film “Breaking Out” BEST STORY! Out of all the festivals I have participated in this has been the most enjoyable. The communication is top notch and love how they offer live feedback from several of the participating audience members as well as other services! This has been an amazing experience and is wonderful to know that I was included with such talented artist!

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I am impressed with their support for filmmakers and attention to details. It has been a great experience and i highly recommend this festival.

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We love this festival! Restless Dance Theatre and our collaborators were thrilled to win ‘Best Performance’ for Counterpoise. The festival have shown so much care in supporting us and sharing audience feedback on the film.

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The folks behind this festival really go out of their way to support the artists. They’re personal and involved, and I love their audience feedback videos. I’m really grateful to have been a part of this festival.

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Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?

political oppression in the form of suffocation

2) What motivated you to write this poem?

to draw an analogy between political harassment and the harassment of a mosquito

3) How long have you been writing poetry?

seven years

4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

The painter Francis Bacon

5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

I don’t care to perform myself, but I think poetry readings and performancs fit today’s culture.

6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

Yes, I write memoirs, short stories and scripts.

7) What is your passion in life?

discovering new writers, finding new favorites; seeing a new play

Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?
The theme of this poem is Love.

2) What motivated you to write this poem?
The death of my mother–my origin, the being where I came from motivated this poem. The grief’s thickness allowed no stanzas.

3) How long have you been writing poetry?
I have been writing poetry for decades.

4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
If I could have dinner with one person it would be Queen Nefertiti.

5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I was influenced to have my poetry performed by a professional actor because Cole’s voice is penetrating and so was our sense of loss. Having it verbally out in the world divided our sorrow.

6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Yes, I also write plays, short stories and comedy bits..

7) What is your passion in life?
One of my passions in life is to engage, intrigue, and move others through the power of speech.

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your short story about?

I’m Not Afraid of the Dark is about 9-year-old Andy Watkins trying outrun a fear nearly every child his age has, the dark.

2. What genres would you say this story is in?

Horror and Suspense.

3. How would you describe this story in two words?

Stalking Shadows.

4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?

In a completely opposite tone of this story, I’d say the movie I’ve seen the most over the years would be the SpongeBob 2004 movie.

5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Bohemian Rhapsody with BTS’ Fake Love coming in at a very close second.

6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Alex Rider Point Blanc

7. What motivated you to write this story?

I had a dream one time where I was in Andy’s exact position, including the ending.

8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Kim Namjoon from BTS.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I am passionate about programming, card collecting and music.

10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

Never before have any of my stories been performed and any chance to have one’s work come to life is one worth taking.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

I recommend finding a writing style or technique that fits you and helps your progress as efficiently as possible. Once a writer finds that, nothing can slow down their creativity.

Watch the Screenplay Reading:

An FBI Surveillance Team is surprised to witness the arrival of Colonel Adad, a known Syrian War Criminal, at a local airport. They are more surprised when the Colonel is greeted by Director Armstrong, a senior Bureau Chief.

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

It’s an urban thriller about revenge and justice, but with an underlying subtext about the creeping infiltration of surveillance.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

It’s an action/thriller with a nod to conspiracy theory and the dark side to human nature.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

There is a powerful central character supported by an ensemble crew of diverse individuals; despite an initial sense of unfairness in the world the ending is one of justice being served in a satisfying manner.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Fast moving.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

The third man.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

Six to eight weeks.

7. How many stories have you written?

Twelve.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

I love music and can’t state any favorites.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

Not enough coffee

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Music

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

This is a good platform and the user interface of the site is really friendly.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I had previously won an award here for a horror/SciFi script and found the feedback very useful and encouraging.

A young oceanographer discovers her gradfather’s plane – part of the Lost Patrol – and is thrust into an emotional journey with a rebellious reporter as the government tries to cover up what really happened that night in 1945. The duo uncovers an extraordinary truth of how water, our most precious resource, has a will and consciousness of its own and is an active, seemingly invisible, participant in its own survival from human destruction.

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

In LIFESOURCE, well known historic events (the disappearance of 5 war planes we’ve come to call the lost patrol in 1945), a government cover-up, mysterious deaths and a romance, all come together when humanity’s killing of its life source (all of Earth’s water sources) reaches a tipping point and humanity and water are out of harmony.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

It’s quite a blend of Action Adventure, Fantasy and Sci-Fi

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

It speaks to what humans are doing to the water sources on our planet and the value systems we’ve chosen to embrace and at the same time it stands on its own as a fun ride while creating awareness.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Timely. Exciting.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

To many to think of just one and in a variety of genres.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

This is a culmination of life long experiences and information. My father invented a water clarification system for industry and when I was a child, he told me that one day water will be more expensive than oil and people will finally realize that it is our most precious resource and needs to be protected and respected.

That was always in the back of my mind when many years ago I was inspired by an article on the Lost Patrol and it’s disappearance over the Bermuda Triangle. I had a research partner who assisted in gathering information for the story I wanted to tell and helped me brainstorm through some ideas. Once I had gone through all the information, I sat down and completed the screenplay in three weeks. It was the fastest I’ve written a feature and it felt incredibly inspired. Then I set it aside for numerous reasons including budgetary and technological constraints. I only recently revisited it and did a rewrite.

7. How many stories have you written?

I have written dozens of stories – novels, screenplays and series. I have three published fiction novels, a published non-fiction book under a pseudonym and two other non-fiction books as a ghostwriter. I have optioned nine screenplays and had one feature and one short film produced.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

This is a difficult question since I listen to such a vast variety of music from classical to blues, to rock and roll to pop. It depends on on my mood and my purpose as to what music will inspire or resonate at any given time.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I love gatherings with family and friends, game nights, putting together beautiful spaces and events, travel, music, yoga and new experiences.

10. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

It’s quite new to me.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I appreciate the work this festival is doing. I have been in the industry for quite a while, know the challenges women face, and I’m happy to see women’s work being encouraged and featured.

The feedback I received has compelled me to check and rewrite in places where I can deliver more clarity.

Watch the Screenplay Reading:

Caught between a suffocating marriage and a passionate affair, Anne Delbridge fights to find her own freedom, independence, and voiceamidst the turmoil surrounding the pro-democracy student uprising in Tiananmen Square, China.

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

I think the logline probably says as much as I would have to say about that In a short form.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

I guess, given the time frame, that it would now be considered a sort of historical drama, though it was just a drama when I wrote.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

I think it’s an interesting story, with a compelling backdrop, that features some pretty good writing and highly castable parts.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

I wouldn’t.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Hard to say. I’ve seen Casablanca quite a few times, and The Apartment. I tend to binge watch films that attract my attention for one reason or another.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

When I first wrote it, it took me about a week to write the first 60 pages, and then about 4 months to write the next 30 because the script was taking me to a place I didn’t really want it to go. When I finally
stopped fighting it, I was able to finish the last act in about a week.

7. How many stories have you written?

I’ve written about 10 that I’ll own up to and a few more that I never finished

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Not sure I have a favorite, but I have a real fondness for Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

As I mentioned above, the script was taking me in a direction I didn’t want it to go. That was a problem I never really resolved.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I’m not sure I’m passionate about writing, but I find it presents some interesting challenges

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

It’s been okay. I normally submit scripts for specific reasons, mostly to get the feedback.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I was looking for feedback on this particular script and the festival offered the opportunity to have reader’s who were looking at similar material weigh in,