All NC State student filmmakers, regardless of major, have the opportunity to showcase their work at a film festival on Nov. 8. This is the first time Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, a drive-in in Henderson, has hosted this event.
Tickets for the festival are $10 and include entry and food options. Emily May, marketing coordinator for Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, said that this is the theatre’s first time doing anything like this.
“If attendance is good, this is something we would love to host for NC State students every year,” May said.
Viewers will be asked to vote on their favorite submission and the student with the winning film will receive a $150 gift card to the theatre, which May believes further incentivizes students to submit their films.
May explained how the voting process will work.
“When people come in and get their tickets, we are going to hand something out where they can vote on their favorite film, and then we will have a place for everybody to submit them at the end,” May said. “We will announce at the end who the winner is.”
According to May, the theatre doesn’t have any guidelines for the submitted films.
“We definitely don’t want to restrict it too much as far as length and content go, but it is a family theatre, so we can’t do anything too intense,” May said. “People can submit what they want, and we are going to screen them beforehand and if it’s too explicit then we just won’t allow it.”
May said that she believes this festival is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their pieces, as well as a great experience for students who are not submitting films to come out and view their peers’ work.
“Raleigh Road Theater is the oldest operating drive-in in N.C., and so there is a little bit of a historical, nostalgic vibe when you come out there,” May said. “… It’s a great time and I think the students would really enjoy it, and it would be a cool way for them to showcase their work and expand their audiences.”
NC State screenwriting professor Susan Emshwiller emphasizes the importance of student filmmakers seeking out opportunities to have their work seen.
“You need to be good at what you do, you need to be unique in some sense because there are so many people out there,” Emshwiller said. “I encourage people to realize that nowadays, you can make your own work and get it out there. You can make feature films or short films, and it’s not just YouTube that you can put it on. You can put it on Amazon and have people download them for a fee. You can put it on iTunes and have people download it for a fee. You can use these places as a distributor.”
Emshwiller said that this festival will be a good opportunity for students to not only have their films viewed, but also get valuable feedback from members in the community.
“I think if you’re at that school and you’re making films, this is a way that you can actually show your work, and also get feedback directly from people in your own community, the NC State community,” Emshwiller said. “It’s kind of a nice stepping stone for if you want to go on and keep making films and submitting them to other festivals across the country or internationally. This is maybe the first step where you can get your feet wet and see how it works and see how film festivals work.”
In order to submit a film, students can email their pieces to the theatre in any digital format, such as MP4 or DCP. The submission deadline is Oct. 26.
