2012 RIVER BEND FILM FESTIVAL AWARD-WINNERS

HIGHPOINT AWARD (Tie): “Floyd the Android” by Jonathan Lyons & “Live Outside the Box” by Shu-Hsuan Lin

BEST DRAMA: “Separation Anxiety” by Cole Simon

BEST COMEDY: “The Perfect Skate” by Andrew Dena

BEST EXPERIMENTAL: “A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me” by David Holechek

LOCAL GEM: “Currency” by Brad Rosier

AUDIENCE CHOICE: “Leah, Not Leia” by Kate Chaplin

STEPHEN SUSCO AWARD (Tie): “The Perfect Skate” by Andrew Dena & “The Kook” by Nat Livingston Johnson

Congrats to all!

Another amazing River Bend Film Festival has come and gone!

This year was bigger and better than ever with an additional evening added plus the myriad of events happening throughout the four days of programming. We screened 100 short and feature films throughout all four days. Our new kick-off took place Wednesday evening at Merriman’s Playhouse, a wonderful local venue for jazz music and other performances, as well as film screenings. Devi Snively was our guest speaker, a local filmmaker living in LA who just got her first distribution deal. She shared her wisdom regarding screenwriting, indie filmmaking, and distribution.

Thursday night was at IU South Bend, where our fest was originally founded and hosted at for seven years. We got to see some experimental film work by the college’s interactive media students, who also has video art on display during the following two days during the main festival.

The fest then moved to its main venue at the Century Center for Friday night and all day Saturday. This is where things really got busy! Keynote speaker John Hancock introduces the fest and ran a 2-hour presentation about his work directing films in and out of Hollywood, including his involvement in the original Jaws movies. He provided a great inside scoop on the film industry and the challenges working with studios, and making your own movies. Filmmaker/actor Cole Simon not only was the photographer for our wonderful head shots sessions, but his film Separation Anxiety which he directed screened, as well as a short he performed in. He also ran the Acting in Film workshop. His fellow partners from Glass City Films ran cinematography and post-production workshops which were very well received by attendees. This is their fourth year being involved in the fest and they are a tremendous resource.

Filmmaker Dustin Mills, creator of The Puppet Monster Massacre, shared his experiences in his workshop about DIY filmmaking and screened his films. He is truly inspirational and spoke about not waiting on people or a big budget, but taking the bull by the horns and just doing it yourself with the resources you have.

The IU South integrated media students, under the tutelage of Professor Eric Souther, displayed almost a dozen amazing pieces of video art in our hallway. It was definitely an incredible addition to the festival so see these unique and creative pieces, some of were interactive.

3fest brought kids and families to the fest with their cool 3-minute or less films from around the world, as well as by local students. They also offered some pretty sweet prizes to the winning filmmakers. 3fest was created and run by filmmakers Lynn King and Jessica Chalmers, and this was their third annual screening.

A huge thank you to our numerous sponsors, including Mid America Filmmakers, Downtown South Bend, The University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television sand Theatre, Century Center, Duley Press, Studio One, AV Magic, South Bend Parks, Grass Roots Media, Fun F/X, IUSB Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts, Magnuson Grand Hotel, Kessler Crane and more!

We had a wonderful kick-off tonight at Merriman’s Playhouse in downtown South Bend.  We screened to a packed house! We started with a block of great shorts, followed by a presentation by guest speaker Devi Snively.

Devi talked about her do’s and don’t of filmmaking, script contests, film festival Q&A’s and distribution, as well as figuring out what kind of director you are. She screened her award-winning 3-minute film Last Seen on Delores Street.

The evening concluded with amazing 60’s music in the documentary 7 Years Underground: A 60’s Tale about the famous and former Cafe au Go Go in New York.

Special thanks to Stephen and Mary Merriman. We hope to see everyone Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. for our free screening in Weikamp Hall room 1001 at IUSB. Free parking in the connected garage and also the main lot.

Check out some of the great articles and TV appearances from this week leading up to the fest:

South Bend Tribune - Article 4/8/12

Fox 28 Morning Show – Video 4/9/12

Experience Michiana on WNIT 34 – Video coming soon

Pictured: Joe Haase (Program Chair), Tim Richardson (Festival Director) and host Gordy Young on Experience Michiana.

The Magnuson Grand Hotel in downtown South Bend is offering rooms at the rate of $59 per night! It is located only minutes  away from the Century Center. Contact them and mention River Bend Film Festival at:

Magnuson Grand Hotel Downtown
213 West Washington
South Bend, IN 46601
574-232-3941
574-284-3715 fax
www.magnusonhotels.com/M20488

South Bend, Indiana –The 4th Annual River Bend Film Festival will be held April 11 – 14, 2012 at three different venues in South Bend. The four day event is sponsored by Mid America Filmmakers and Downtown South Bend, and is made possible by an Indiana Arts grant. One-hundred local, national and international independent films in a wide variety of genres will be shown throughout the festival.

The kick-off screening is Wednesday, April 11 from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. at Merriman’s Playhouse at 1211 Mishawaka Ave. South Bend, IN 46615 with short films and a presentation by award-winning local and L.A. director Devi Snively, an alumnus of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. The evening concludes with a documentary 7 Year Underground:A 60’s Tale on Café au GoGo, a New York café that was home to great performances of ’60s legends like Jimi Hendrix.  

Our annual free Thursday night screening is 7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. in room 1001 in Weikamp Hall at Indiana University South Bend, which is sponsored by the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts.  View some work by the college’s New Media students, a variety of shorts, and the feature Finding Xanadu: The Life & Films of Samuel W. Truss, a student-produced mockumentary chronicling the life of an Indiana filmmaker.

The main festival takes place at the lower level of the Century Center on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14.  It opens Friday night from 7 p. m. – 11 p.m., starting with an introduction by keynote speaker John Hancock, the director of Bang the Drum Slowly, Weeds, and the locally-filmed Christmas favorite Prancer.  Following a wide variety of shorts, the evening showcases the award-winning feature Separation Anxiety, directed by Notre Dame graduate John Klein of Glass City Films.

Saturday’s daytime events run from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. where five simultaneous screening rooms assure there is always something amazing to be seen. Highlights include local and regional films The Autopsy of Sleeping Beauty, Door to Door, Leah, Not Leia, and the feature Currency, as well as a block of Notre Dame Student shorts. Brilliant national and international films abound, including …und Exitus from Germany, where a suicidal man finds himself on a supernatural journey with his own personalized, cynical Death sporting a clown costume.  A new feature this year is the inclusion of 3fest , which screens films 3-minute or  less, including general shorts, and films by and for children, all of which are family friendly. IU South Bend New Media students will also have a display of video art throughout the weekend lining a main hallway.

During Saturday morning and afternoon, festival-goers will have the opportunity to learn more about film production, directing, visual effects, editing and acting through five different workshops.  Actors may pose on-site for professional head shots provided by Glass City Stills for the fee of $25, plus the cost of a weekend or day pass – which must be ordered online in advance. Hancock will host a 2-hour seminar on his experiences in television and Hollywood productions. His company FilmAcres is based in LaPorte, IN.  

Saturday night’s program is 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. and includes some fun animation with Floyd the Android, the experimental Mugs with morphing celebrity mug shots, and The Perfect Skate with spinning wheels and teenage love.  The feature Weeds stars Nick Nolte and will have an introduction and Q&A by Hancock.

Wednesday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.)  – $10 regular, $8 student/senior (Limited ticket, purchase ahead online)
Thursday (7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – FREE
Friday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.)  – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday (9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) – $5 regular, $4 student/senior
Saturday (12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday Day Pass (9 a.m. – 11 p.m.) – $20 regular, $18 student/senior
Weekend Pass (Friday 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $30 regular, $25 student/senior

For detailed information regarding the festival schedule, listings and description of films, workshops, and purchasing tickets please visit the website at www.riverbendfilmfest.org.

The River Bend Film Festival is again offering on-site head shot photography for actors’ portfolios from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14.  Cost is only $25 per person,  plus purchase of a weekend pass ($30) or Saturday day pass ($20) We offer student/senior discounts on all tickets.

Photography is provided by Chicago-based Glass City Stills and photographer Cole Simon.  You can see more of their work at www.glasscitystills.com and below. Members of Glass City Films will be running three workshops and screenings several films as well.

Tickets for head shots and for the festival go on sale on through this website on March 15.

For our special, limited ticket event at Merriman’s Playhouse on April 11 at 7 p.m., award-winning local filmmaker (and current LA resident) Devi Snively will present some of her work and talk about making movies in the Midwest and Los Angeles. Details coming March 15!

DEVI SNIVELY (Writer/Directrix, Deviant Pictures)

A former ballerina, Devi graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York with a bum knee and a broken heart.  She quickly recovered at the Academy of Art in San Francisco where she earned her MFA and found a new passion in cinema.  She’s been writing and making films ever since.  In 2007,  Devi was selected as one of only 8 participants in the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Directing Workshop for Women. Her screenplays have placed in numerous competitions including Slamdance, Austin Film Festival and as a finalist for the 2011 Sundance Screenwriters Lab.   Her short films and micro-budget feature have been officially selected to screen at over 200 festivals worldwide, garnering over 50 awards and critical acclaim.  Her ouevre to date has secured distribution and will be released on a compilation DVD via Camp Motion Pictures in Spring 2012.     When she’s busy not making her own, Devi enjoys teaching film at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood and the University of Notre Dame. Websites:  www.deviantpictures.com / www.devisnively.com

Dustin Mills is a self-taught DIY filmmaker from Portland, Indiana. He writes, directs, shoots, edits, creates special effects, and sometimes even acts in his films. He specializes in bizarre no-budget horror films.

His first film was the award-winning The Puppet Monster Massacre: an all puppet homage to the glorious horror films of yesteryear. It was filmed on a shoestring budget in his living room with the help of his friend and collaborator Brandon Salkil. It was picked up for worldwide distribution, has screened at festivals, is available through various VOD providers, and even had a small theatrical release in Belgium.

In 2011 he established Dustin Mills Productions in Maumee, OH. A tiny production company focused on creating low budget independent Horror, Sci-Fi, and experimental films. In 2012 they will release Zombie A-Hole, Night of the Tentacles, and several other genre films.

Dustin will present a workshop discussing the creation of The Puppet Monster Massacre, followed by a screening of the one hour film. He will be accompanied by one of the film’s actresses as well as some of the puppet cast!

WARNING: The film contains adult language and situations and is not for children.  The workshop may also contain language from clips of the film. Here is a link to their website showing  the trailer, which has adult language and puppet nudity:  http://www.puppetmonstermassacre.com

We are proud to announce this year’s festival will include a gallery of video art produced by IUSB’s New Media students!

For more about their program and frequent media events and screenings visit www.iusbnewmedia.com. A big thank you to Prof. Eric Souther for his support and enthusiasm!