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Mattteo Servente, director of WE GO ON, Winner 2017 Memphis Film Prize[/caption]
The 10 film finalists for the 3rd annual Memphis Film Prize (August 3-5) with the top award of $10,000 cash were announced today. The ten finalists will play at the Memphis Film Prize Fest, August 3-4 at the Malco Theater in Overton Square. The ten shorts will play throughout the two days of the festival, and a combination of judges and the audience help determine the Grand Prize winner.
The 10 films (and filmmakers) that will compete for the $10,000 Grand Prize include; Daniel R. Ferrell’s DEAN’S LIST; Donald R. Meyers’s HYPNOTIC INDUCTION; Kevin Brooks’s LAST NIGHT; Will Robbins’s MINORITY; Robb Rokk’s OUTSIDE ARCADIA; Kyle Taubken’s PATRICK; Jason S. Lockridge’s THE STIX; Drew Fleming’s TRAVELING SOLDIER; Arnold G. Edwards II’s WAYWARD SON; and Marcus Santi’s YOU DON’T KNOW JACK SQUAT: THE TRIAL.
“Across the board, these filmmakers poured their hearts and souls into their projects and put the indie film spotlight on Memphis and Shelby County,” said David Merrill, the Memphis filmmaker liaison. “I couldn’t be prouder of the work that was done and of our ten Memphis Film Prize finalists.”
Gregory Kallenberg, founder and executive director of the Film Prize Foundation, said, “This was our largest group of participating filmmakers and, by far, our best crop of rough cuts to choose from. While I don’t envy their task, I can’t wait for our Memphis Film Prize fans to help choose our $10,000 winner in August!”
2018 Memphis Film Prize Jury
Thelma Adams (Journalist and Film Critic – Real Clear/Life, contributing writer for Variety)
Nelson Kim (Journalist and Film Critic – Hammer to Nail)
Victoria Negri ((Writer, Director, Producer, and Actor – GOLD STAR; Director of 2 WEEKS, Producer of THE FEVER AND THE FRET)
Brandon Oldenberg (Academy Award-winning filmmaker – THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE)
Farah White (Producer and Actor – DAYLIGHT’S END, THE LADIES OF THE HOUSE)
The
Memphis Film Prize combines elements of a film competition and festival, inviting filmmakers from all over the world to create and present a 5-15 minute short film with just one rule – it must be shot in Shelby County, TN. Filmmakers shot their films beginning in February and submitted them in June, when a rough cut of the films were due to contest organizers.
2018 MEMPHIS FILM PRZE FINALISTS
DEAN’S LIST
Director: Daniel R. Ferrell
Running Time: 7:02 min
A young college student who is coming off his best semester has to deliver a backpack to his eccentric associate so he can attend college for the next year.
HYPNOTIC INDUCTION
Director: Donald R. Meyers
Running Time: 15:00 min
A hypnotherapist helps a man quit smoking, but there appears to be something else he needs to quit.
LAST NIGHT
Director: Kevin Brooks
Running Time: 9:47 min
A man spends his last day of freedom with his wife and daughter.
MINORITY
Director: Will Robbins
Running Time: 6:07 min
A convenience store clerk is frightened by a man minding his own business.
OUTSIDE ARCADIA
Director: Robb Rokk
Running Time: 15:00 min
Decades after tragic events, a brother and sister use a peculiar machine to break free.
PATRICK
Director: Kyle Taubken
Running Time: 14:58 min
Two strangers with different backgrounds get to know one another over crummy coffee and shared struggles in an old church basement.
THE STIX
Director: Jaron S. Lockridge
Running Time: 9:48 min
Two rural county sheriff detectives work a day on patrol due to a manpower shortage. With only 30 minutes before end of shift, they get a call that will forever change their lives.
TRAVELING SOLDIER
Director: Drew Fleming
Running Time: 7:28 min
After a shy, lonesome soldier strikes up a conversation with a young waitress, they find themselves wrapped up in an unexpected romance while he’s at war.
WAYWARD SON
Director: Arnold G. Edwards II
Running Time: 14:46 min
A PTSD-stricken vet must choose between peacefully waiting out the final days of his house arrest and breaking parole to save a befriended teen from an abusive stepfather.
YOU DON’T KNOW JACK SQUAT: THE TRIAL
Director: Marcus Santi
Running Time: 14:51 min
Jack Squat reluctantly takes on the worst team at his University (women’s soccer). He may or may not have crossed lines.
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Memphis Film Prize 2018 – Prize Presentation – David Merrill, Ricky D. Smith, Kevn Brooks, Gregory Kallenberg (Photo by Wildman)[/caption]
Last Day directed by Kevin Brooks is the winner of the 3rd annual Memphis Film Prize, along with the Film Prize’s coveted top award of $10,000 cash. Brooks’s Last Day centered on the plight of a young man facing a sentencing for a crime he did not commit, and the manner in which he and his wife deal with that potentially devastating news, while shielding it from their young daughter. The short film featured exemplary performances by Ricky D. Smith as the father and Rosalyn R. Ross as the mother.
Last Day was also one of four films among the ten finalists to be helmed by black filmmakers that also dealt with timely socio-economic and political topics in a dynamic and affecting manner (including Daniel R. Ferrell’s Dean’s List, Will Robbins’s Minority, and Jaron S. Lockridge’s The Stix).
“In our third year, the Memphis Film Prize films, once again, raised the bar in both ambition, vision, and technical skill, so Kevin and the cast and crew of Last Day sincerely earned our $10,000 prize,” said Gregory Kallenberg, founder and executive director of the Film Prize Foundation. “This year showed remarkable growth both in the number of filmmaker submissions, as well as the number of audience members turning out to watch the films and cast their votes. It’s become very clear that Memphis has embraced our mission at the Film Prize to inspire great filmmaking, and then reward it in a very direct and profitable way.”
This year, the rapidly growing event nearly doubled their audience numbers from last year with close to 1300 people attending the screenings throughout the weekend in Memphis. In three short years, Memphis Film Prize has not simply rewarded the winning films with their famously large checks, but has also influenced other film festivals to offer filmmakers more concrete benefits, be it cash prizes or paid residencies.