Arkansas’ El Dorado Film Festival — which kicks off next month with a 40th anniversary screening of the horror classic Fright Night, featuring star and El Dorado native William Ragsdale — announced three workshops for filmmakers trying to break into the film and TV industry.
“We have some incredibly exciting educational opportunities this year,” said executive director Alexander Jeffery. “Several working professionals who are paving the way in independent film have agreed to come to El Dorado Film Festival and share their knowledge with the attending filmmakers and audience members.”
The panels include:
No Bullsh*t Financing and Distribution w/ Benjamin Weissner
Benjamin Wiessner, producer and vice president of Sales & Distribution at Vanishing Angle, will teache attendees “the ins-and-outs of overcoming two of the biggest hurdles in filmmaking,” according to the festival.
Wiessner has produced short films in both hand-drawn animation and live action, and won awards at festivals including SXSW and Sundance. He has also worked on numerous features that premiered at Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, Cannes, and Tribeca, and produced Thunder Road, winner of the SXSW 2018 Grand Jury Prize. He also co-founded the Short to Feature Filmmaking Lab and in 2020 helped launch the Vanishing Angle Post Grant for short filmmakers.
Creating Independent TV w/ Picture Pool Productions
Nicholas Logan, Bridget Regan and Brittany Fallow will discuss how their company, Picture Pool Productions, creates and distributes independent television, and will share a look at their latest project. Logan is an actor and producer best known for his work in Dark Winds, Last Stop in Yuma County, and I Care a Lot. Regan is an actress and producer whose film credits include Devil’s Gate, John Wick, The Leisure Class, The Best and the Brightest, Sex and the City and more. She appears on ABC’s The Rookie. Fallow is a producer and line-producer based in New Orleans whose feature film The Fetch won the Dark Matters Audience Award at the 2024 Austin Film Festival, and whose short film Addie and the Lightning Bugs won several awards on the festival circuit.
Storytelling With Sound
Sound designer Beso Kacharava (Euphoria, Ferrari), filmmaker J.C. Doler (The Fetch) and composer Amos Cochran (Mystery League) will host a conversation about using sound to enhance storytelling.
The Fetch is also among the films that will play at this year’s El Dorado Film Festival.
About the El Dorado Film Festival
The festival, which will include MovieMaker in attendance, takes place February 26th-March 2nd at the South Arkansas Arts Center.
Also Read: Fright Night Anniversary Screening to Kick Off El Dorado Film Festival With Star William Ragsdale
This year’s lineup includes H. Nelson Tracey’s Break Up Season, starring Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) and Wendy Lobel’s documentary Anxiety Club, featuring Marc Maron, Mark Normand, Aparna Nancherla and more. It will also feature the top films from the Louisiana Film Prize in nearby Shreveport, Louisiana, one of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.
Cash awards presented to the winners include the categories Best of Fest ($1,500), Pam Callaway Spirit of the Festival Award ($1,000), Best Narrative Feature ($500), Best Documentary ($500), Best Short Drama ($500), Best Short Comedy ($500), Best Arkansas Short ($500) and Best Southern Made Short ($500).
Established in 2014, the El Dorado Film Festival offers a selection of independent cinema, and is held at the South Arkansas Arts Center, a visual and performing arts center that includes three gallery spaces, a ballet studio, a 207-seat theatre, a scene and costume shop, classrooms, a photography studio, and more.
Main image: (L-R) Picture Pool’s Nicholas Logan, Bridget Regan and Brittany Fallow. Courtesy of Picture Pool.
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