Third Annual Wheaton Film Festival returns on Friday, November 10, with a wide variety of entries including short films involving Wheaton and panel discussions to help emerging filmmakers

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 2, 2017

Screenings and seminars will be held at Chuck Levin’s Music Center

The third annual Wheaton Film Festival, featuring short film screenings, informational panel discussions, and networking events, will be held at Chuck Levin’s Music Center in Downtown Wheaton on Friday, November 10. The festival will begin with three-panel discussions starting at 2:30 p.m. and will continue with screenings of films starting at 7 p.m. The festival will conclude with an awards ceremony starting at 9 p.m.

Chuck Levin’s Music Center is located at 11151 Veirs Mill Rd. in Wheaton. Tickets are available through the event’s website at wheatonfilmfestival.com. An all-day ticket is $30.  Tickets to attend only the panel discussions or only the screenings are $18 each. However, by using the code “DCFM,” tickets can be purchased for a 25 percent discount. Space, which is limited to fewer than 100 people for the discussions or the screenings, sold out at previous festivals.

Among the sponsors of the film festival are the Wheaton Arts and Entertainment District, the Montgomery County Department of Parks and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

The festival is the creation of entertainment attorney Brian Frankel, who lives in Silver Spring. The South Florida native’s passion for filmmaking led him to take leadership of the D.C. Filmmakers group about seven years ago. The group quickly attracted 200 members and has grown to more than 6,000.

“This festival is a great opportunity for people to get active as filmmakers and to meet outstanding producers, entertainment attorneys, and industry professionals,” said Frankel. “At large film festivals, you may see some great industry people, but meeting them one-on-one may be a challenge.  At the Wheaton Film Festival, it feels more like talented friends talking about making films.”

About 60 films were submitted for consideration to be shown at the festival, which judges narrowed down to less than a dozen films that will be screened. There were three categories of entries: Collaborative Films, Student Films, and Main Competition.

Earlier this summer, filmmakers were invited to make collaborative films of up to three minutes in length, with the film involving a Wheaton area connection.  The movies had to be completed within a month and filmmakers were offered guidance by the festival organizers.

Films entered in the Student Films and Main Competition categories could be up to 15 minutes in length.

Filmmakers will get to introduce their films to the audience and answer brief questions about them.

Awards (selected by a jury) include the "Levin Grand Prize" for the best overall film; the "Wheaton Award" for best community story; and the "Kamen Grand Prize" for best student film. Films were judged by story, creativity and style, cinematography, sound, involvement with Wheaton (for one category) and overall quality.

The panel discussions will provide information on filmmaking and the film marketplace.

A panel discussion on the “Filmmaking Process” will be led by Erica Ginsberg. “Entertainment Law 101” will be presented by John Mason and Sandra Aistars of the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA).

A discussion on the “Future of Filmmaking” will talk about the technological advances that affect filmmaking, how to adapt to changing situations and what to expect for the future of filmmaking. The discussion will touch on the use virtual reality and other key developments. Chris Petracco will lead that panel.

The film lineup for screening will include November 19th; Graduates; The Scholar & the Sailor; Mustard Quest; The Fabric of America; Encaustic: It's All the Buzz; Liberty's Hollow; Odyssey; The Wallet; and Obscure Lines.

The Wheaton Film Festival is supported in part by Arune, Chuck Levin's Music Center, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Adobe Software, Final Draft Software, Red Giant Software, Jungle Software, Write Brothers, iPitch TV, Filmstro,  WALA,  Creative Edge, Docs in Progress, DC Shorts, Pro Cuts Editing, Quick Film Budget, DC Filmmakers, TIVA, Montgomery Parks, Copyright Counselors, Yelp, FilmConvert, Studio Unknown, Craig William Dayton, Ledo's Pizza, Capital Bikeshare and Buredo.

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Release ID: 17-439
Media Contact: Neil H. Greenberger 240-205-1915, Sonya Burke 240-777-6531