2016 Official Selections

A LIFE LIVED
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
The story in the life of a dollar bill and the many lives it passes and impacts along the way.
Written and Directed by Riley Wood Produced by Chris Cashman
Starring: Denise Richards, Brendan McCarthy, Lili Bordan, Marshall Manesh

ABOVE JEWELS
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Two dysfunctional sisters attempt to bury the body of a cheating husband before being discovered by a Good Samaritan passing by.
Directed by Nicholas Rose Written by Ashley Erin Campbell Produced by Nicholas Rose, Ashley Erin Campbell, Holland Olmsted
Starring: Ashley Erin Campbell, Holland Olmsted

ALPHA PHI
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
The film guides the audience on a journey inside the mind of the modern day mass shooter.
Directed by Neil Payne Written by Josh Matt Rivera
Starring: Sascha Ghafoor, Hannah Elder

AN ENTANGLEMENT
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A woman’s world comes crashing down when a stranger reveals he’s been hired to kill her. What follows is a dark proposition: pay double, and she can turn the hit back on her murderous husband.
Directed by Dylan Sanford Written by Yancy Berns Produced by Dylan Sanford, Linda Morel, & Debra Spidell
Starring: Shiri Appleby, Sean Bell, Gary Wolf

ARMY OF GOD
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A terror attack unfolds in New York City.
Written & Directed by Todd Wiseman Produced by Todd Wiseman, Brian O’Carrol, Eddy Vallante, Javier Gonzalez, Milos Silber
Starring: Nicholas Vennekotter, Danny Boushebel, Dean Neistat, Drew Moore, Justin Ahdoot, Logan Bruner

ARTIFICE
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Following an actor’s preparation for a terrifying role. As reality and fantasy blurs, he finds himself lost between both worlds.
Directed by Steven Doxey Written by Steven Doxey & Brandon Sean Pearson Produced by Steven Doxey, Brandon Sean Pearson, Michael Doxey
Starring: Brandon Sean Pearson, Kent Hadfield, Chris Persky, Jane Noble, Julia Fae, Benjamin Horatio Garvis, Elena Scarlett Murray

BEING HER FRIEND
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Two wounded souls who form an unlikely friendship in the ward of a 72-hour suicide watch. A bittersweet story about friendship and loss.
Directed by Eva Chen Written by Christina Jun Produced by Chenge Zhang
Starring: Cayla Brady, Michael Cline

BLACK LUCK
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
A legendary killer for the mob disappears, leaving behind his violent past, but when his old boss comes after him, he finds out that you can’t keep your
monsters at bay forever.
Directors: Jason Levering & David Weiss Producers: David Weiss, Garrett Sheeks, Jason Levering, Aaron Smith Writers: Garrett Sheeks & Jason Levering
Starring: Garrett Sheeks, Karrie Bauman, Jeff Gamble, Jeff Luby, Jason Levering

BLOOD BATH
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A reimagined Liz Bathory dips her toe in the modern dating pool.
Directed by Erik Boccio
Written & Produced by Pandie Suicide
Starring: Pandie Suicide, Sid Wilson, Kimberly Ables Jindra, Shannon Crawford

BUDDY SOLITAIRE
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Buddy Solitaire is a struggling comedian on the late night circuit. The only job he can get is teaching comedy to the mentally ill. Buddy discovers, however, that by helping these patients, he can get closer and closer to healing himself.
Written & Directed by Kuang Lee Produced by Leann Lei
Starring: : Brandon J. Sornberger, Sally Kirkland, Dominique Razon, Shaun Clay

COUNTER CLOCKWISE
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
A scientist accidentally invents a time machine and travels to the future where he finds his wife murdered and he’s the main suspect.
Directed by George Moïse
Written by George Moïse, Michael Kopelow Produced by George Moïse, Walter Moïse, Michael Kopelow
Starring: Michael Kopelow, Kerry
Knuppe, Frank Simms, Alice Rietveld, Bruno Amato, Devon Ogden, Joy Rinaldi, Aaron Bowden, Cliff Morts, Caleb Brown

EAR BUDS: THE PODCASTING DOCUMENTARY
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
A documentary exploring the surprising connection between podcasters and fans that doesn’t exist in any other medium.
Directed by Graham Elwood Produced by Graham Elwood, Keith Blomberg Co-Produced by Joseph Levy, Kimberly Browning
Featuring: Marc Maron, Chris Hardwick, Joe Rogan, Aisha Tyler, Doug Benson, Stephen J. Dubner, Wil Anderson, and MORE!

FRIENDS EFFING FRIENDS EFFING FRIENDS
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Recklessly blurring the lines of friendship and sex, each Friend tries to find love within the group, all while internally battling their own egos to find happiness.
Director: Quincy Rose
Writer: Quincy Rose
Producers: Quincy Rose, Victor Warren
Principal Cast: Tyler Dawson, Christina Gooding, Jillian Leigh, Graham Skipper, Vanessa Dubasso

GHOSTLAND BOYS
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Two best friends start a ghost hunting company as a scam to make quick cash when their plans to road trip to California are foiled by an expensive engine repair.
Directed by Chris McElroy Written by Chris McElroy & Corey Schmalzle Produced by Chris McElroy & Corey Schmalzle
Starring: Matt Parham, John McCord, Aaron Lively, Sage Blalock, Tucker Shull, Hannah Swayze, Chris McElroy

GOODWOMAN
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Wrongfully arrested for filming the police during a benign incident with a homeless person, Debra Goodman takes on the NYPD and city of New York in an attempt to enshrine a person’s legal right to film the police.
Directed and Produced by Chris Fiore

HOW TO BUILD A FORT
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Two people struggle to hold on to a life long love in a world represented by the building of a fort.
Director: Adam Bowman Producers: Adam Bowman, Jennifer Webster Writer: Jennifer Webster
Starring: Brian Johnson, Aidan Grimm, Zoe Reynolds, Megan Kinney, Matt Gardner, Jennifer Webster, Jonathan Fredrick, Carol Holstead, and James Ortlieb

JULIAN PRICE
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Driven by the beauty of its landscape and the potential in its vacant Art Deco architecture, Julian Price searches Asheville for the brave, hardworking dreamers, and provides them with a miracle — capital for expansion in exchange for improving downtown with their presence.
Directed by Erin Derham
Soundtrack arranged by T Bone Burnett, Van Dyke Parks, and Michael Bearden

LET THERE BE PEACE
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
This a film about changing yourself for a better world.
Directed by Donald Watson Written by C. Richard Miles Produced by Donald Watson & Jackie Lee
Starring: Donald Watson, Julie BrettKey

LOVE MEET HOPE
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
When a grandfather’s love stories enlighten a jaded man and a moonstruck girl about the realities of love, they find that once you choose hope, anything is possible.
Director: Bennie Woodell Writer: Bradley Fowler
Starring: Ed Asner, Amanda Markowitz, and Bradley Fowler

MARTYR
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A hardworking young man bent on saving his sick son must convince a stranger to kill an innocent student or an unknown group will detonate the bomb strapped under his coat.
Director: Michael Vaughn Hernandez Producers: Michael Vaughn Hernandez & Avery Anthony Writer: Jean-Pierre Chapoteau
Starring: Matthew Hancock, Kally Khourshid

MONSTERS
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Jenn lives in an underground bunker with her family, protected from the monsters that now ravage the world. This is the day that she goes outside…
Directed by Steve Desmond
Written by Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman Produced by Michael Sherman, Aaron Billet, Ryan Lewis & Joe Russo
Starring: Caitlin Carmichael, Ione Skye, Christopher Wiehl, Joey Luthman

NO WAY TO LIVE
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
A teenage interracial couple in the 1950’s rob and steal to escape the bigotry of the American South, but when things turn violent, they are forced to confront the dark secrets of their own.
Written and Directed by David Guglielmo and Nick Chakwin
Executive Produced by Andrew van den Houten & Katie Morrow
Starring: Freya Tingley, Tom Williamson, Timothy V. Murphy, Larry Fessenden, Justin Arnold, Paul Rae

ORION
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
On a routine mission that goes south, two US soldiers in Afghanistan must come to grips with the sacrifice they made and rely solely on each other, despite boiling tension, to make it to safety or else face inevitable death.
Written & Directed by Spencer Currie Produced by Gary Plummer, Jeff Ackerman
Starring: Gary Plummer, Drew Macias, Amelia Brain, Brandie Evans, John Wells, Kristine Veta, Ruby Plummer

OUR TIME
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
After Chris and his friends graduate from high school, he plans to leave town and escape the legacy of his father’s criminal past. He must navigate through a dangerous web of betrayal, violence, and drugs in order to escape the grasp of the local gangster and arrive to his true destination.
Written, Directed, & Produced by Marc Lucas
Starring: Robert Gorrie, Marin Hinkle, Craig Walker, Keenan Jolliff

PAPA
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A stay at home dad tells his daughter to go to sleep until she mentions she’s not the only one in the room.
Directed, Produced, & Written by Joshua Ojeda
Starring Michael Robinson, Magali Briand, Carli Pretorius, Milo Robinson

PASSPORTS
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Tanya returns after six wild years of traveling abroad. To help her settle in, her mom and grandma set her up on a bizarre online date.
Written, Produced, and Directed by Adam Linkenhelt and Jeremy Pion-Berlin.
Starring: Ekeobong Utibe, Tom Fugedi, Darlene L. Hampton, Monique Geri Wildee, Francesca De Luca,
Coty Galloway, Allison Sharpe, Penny Pollak

THE CATCHER
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Based on a true story: 1930’s professional ball player, Moe Berg, is recruited by the burgeoning U.S. intelligence department known as the O.S.S. and sent on a mission that would impact the greatest war the world has ever seen.
Directed, Produced, & Written by Jamie Brindle
Starring Keith Edie, David Carey Foster, John Houston

THE HUNTER
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A troubled hunter is staked out in a remote bunker determined to prove to his drinking buddies that the elfin girl he has seen is real. But when the elfin girl is startled and takes flight through the woods, his adrenaline surges and he is plunged into a sinister realm.
Director: Miri Stone Producers: Jonathan Case, Miri Stone and Kylie Walchuk Principal Cast: Tessa Archer, KC Guyer and Conner Marx

THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENT
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
An allegorical tale of a couple who attempt to renew their dying relationship by plugging directly into recordings of their memories
Written & Directed by James Siewert Produced by Chris Skotchdopole
Starring: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Schuyler Helford

THE SETTLING
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Torn between his past and future, a husband is forced to say goodbye to his wife and children while spending one last weekend at their family cabin.
Director: David Russell Producers: Brad Douglas, Mark Baird Writers: David Russell; Story by Brad Douglas
Starring: John T. Woods, Hannah Barefoot, Lindsae Klein, Dylan Hall, Bill Valentine, Amara Ketchum

THIS IS HOW
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
A woman tries to allow herself intimacy and normalcy in a budding relationship while trying to hide her unique form of self harm.
Director: Brian White
Producer: Paulina Lagudi & Max Landwirth Writer: Paulina Lagudi & Ian Hock
Starring: Paulina Lagudi, Tim Fox

TRUNK SPACE
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
When Anna and Priss pick up a hitchhiker in the middle of the desert, their road trip takes a turn for
the worse.
Written and Directed by Max Silver Produced by Rachel Sklar
Starring: Jessica Jade Andres, Kate Krieger, Jordan Turchin

WEST VIRGINIA STORIES
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Three stories examining what it means to live, find connection, deal with trauma, and do more than just exist, in the rural landscape of small mining town in West Virginia.
Written & Directed by
Preston Peterson & Jason Boesch Produced by Colleen Kelly, Isabel Junie Hildebrandt, Richard Moon
Starring: Peter Van Norden, John T. Woods, William Thomas

WHEN MY EYES GO DARK
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Clinically declared dead on five separate occasions. Lazaro Ruben Torres inherits psychic abilities after tragedy leaves his daughter dead. Lazaro is determined to deepen his gift, in the process discovering the man who killed her.
Directed by Tim Aguado Story by Zachary Laoutides Produced by Monica Leon, Tim Aguado, Marius Iliescu Starring: Zachary Laoutides, Emmanuel Isaac, Samual Younan, Monica Leon, Galilea Mendoza