‪#‎AskSparky‬, is Slamdance's Q&A series where you can ask ‪#‎Slamdancers‬ questions on Twitter. Our second session took place on June 12th at 11am PST. Josh Mandel, producer and Slamdance alum & programmer was online to answer, in 140 characters or less, questions about filmmaking and programming for Slamdance. The new film he produced, UNCERTAIN TERMS, premieres at LA Film Fest on 6/14. In case you missed the Q&A, here's how it went down: JM: Hi guys! @JMMandel here. Today I'm talking @Slamdance programming & producing films. Look forward to your questions. Use #AskSparky hashtag. Q: First as a filmmaker and then as a Slamdance programmer what advice would you give a filmmaker starting out today? JM: To kick off our #AskSparky, I'd like to offer a valuable piece of advice to all filmmakers starting out today: watch movies. Lots of them. How can you know what festivals, distributors, audiences are looking for if you don't watch films being made around you? Q: How do you find the films/filmmakers you produce with? JM: One of the perks of programming for Slamdance is getting to meet exciting new filmmakers on the verge of breaking out. I found the director of my latest film, UNCERTAIN TERMS, through Slamdance. Nathan was a Shorts alumnus. Q: What are you most excited about in 2015 programming for Slamdance? JM: Slamdance 2015 is about expanding the scope and reach, giving more opportunities to filmmakers to connect with audiences. Q: In terms of time, effort and money, do you think people understand what is involved in the the making of a film? JM: It's easier than ever to start a film. Crowd-funding, cheaper gear, etc. But, many underestimate one cost: time. Q: What is the most important part of a short film, for you? JM: A great short is never too long. Length, style, are secondary. What you're trying to say in your film is key. Voice. Q: What qualities do you look for in a writer/director you'd consider working with? JM: Many qualities I look for in a director I want to work with: fresh voice, passion, vision and being a collaborator. Q: You're the co-captain of Beyond at Slamdance, can you explain to everyone what that category is? JM: Beyond section showcases films from emerging filmmakers working just beyond their 1st feature, but yet to break out. Q: What advice would you give to a young filmmaker about how they should distribute their work? JM: Best advice for distributing your work goes back to watching current films. See which distributors took similar films. Q: Are you seeing any major trends in your current submissions? JM: We're early in submissions to note trends. But, we always see trends every year that reflect the state of filmmaking. Q: Money is a tricky web in film, what are your rules for financing small films? JM: They say more money means more problems. Micro budget has its own problems. But, major benefit of making small films is the control. Q: Have you ever found your work available for free online without your permission? How did you feel about that? JM: I've found earlier films available free online. I'd rather see them on legit sites with higher quality, even for no money. Q: Any stats on how many Slam films use crowd-funding campaigns? JM: We'd love to get more stats on Slamdance films using crowd-funding, and not limited to just Kickstarter. Q: There are some who say that the way to reach audiences today is to give your stuff away for free. Thoughts? JM: Filmmakers already make too little. Giving away films for free hurts. But, exposure can lead to next film and more money. Q: What's the most important thing a filmmaker can do to be true to their vision? JM: Filmmakers can draw inspiration from other films/filmmakers, but should experiment a lot to find their own voice. Q: If there were one ineffective trend in current indie filmmaking that you could eradicate, what would it be? JM: Ongoing & ineffective trend in indie film that should die: underwriting characters such that stories lack purpose. Q: Should young filmmakers still invest in short films or strive for producing their own feature right away? JM: Shorts are still valuable. Some filmmakers go from directing 1 short to 1st feature. Others need 5 shorts. No rush. Q: How best for filmmakers who live outside of major film centers to meet collaborators? JM: Filmmakers are everywhere. A good way to connect with other filmmakers when not in LA, NY etc is at film festivals. Q: How beneficial can a festival like Slamdance prove to be for foreign filmmakers? JM: Foreign films shine at Slamdance & introducing foreign filmmakers to US distributors and audiences. Bong Joon-Ho, Marc Forster... Q: How has Slamdance helped you since your premiere in 2005? #RingersLordoftheFans JM: Slamdance gave my filmmaking career a jump start with RINGERS. The exposure I got led to distribution and more films. One thing that makes Slamdance unique among other top festivals is that it's programmed 100% by working filmmakers. As a programmer & producer, I work year round to support indie film. UNCERTAIN TERMS was made with the same spirit as the films I program. Q: So you've got a feature script, a trailer and a package...what's your advice for finding the money to make it come to life? JM: A good package is important for financing. Seek investors that know your work or like the kind of film you want to make. JM: Thanks for all the great questions! UNCERTAIN TERMS plays at LA Film Fest on 6/14 & 6/17. Hope to see you there! http://bit.ly/1nLjxQO  This concluded our 2nd round of #AskSparky! Thanks to Josh Mandel & for all the questions, if yours wasn't answered, join us next time! Stay tuned @Slamdance for our future #AskSparky Q&As!

(PARK CITY, UT – September 2nd, 2014) The Slamdance Film festival, celebrating its 20th year and still running concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, will bring special independent feature film events to Utah, on September 10 in Salt Lake City, and September 11 in Park City, as part of its critically acclaimed annual Slamdance On The Road series. Slamdance On The Road is a worldwide, year-round, and rapidly growing traveling celebration of Slamdance filmmakers and their bold vision for independent film. The series brings Slamdance films to unique venues across America and internationally, to audiences that would otherwise not have the chance to experience them. Next month, the 2014 Slamdance On The Road presented by CreativeFuture will have completed thirteen successful events in eight months, in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, and Vancouver, among others. On September 10th, Slamdance On The Road in collaboration with the Salt Lake Film Society, brings Academy-Award nominated animator Bill Plympton’s new feature film Cheatin’ to the Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City. Cheatin’ features a lush, hand-drawn animation style designed for a dramatic film-going audience. "I'm so excited to have my feature film Cheatin' premiere at the Slamdance On The Road in Salt Lake City. It's the kind of film that will make Walt Disney roll over in his freezer," states director Bill Plympton. On September 11th, Slamdance On The Road will showcase Pat Kiely’s Slamdance feature film selection Three Night Stand as part of the 2014 Park City Film Series at the Prospector Theater. Three Night Stand is a comedy of errors that plays out as a married couple’s romantic vacation is diverted by the husband’s ex-girlfriend. The feature film will be preceded by Matthew Salleh's short, Pablo's Villa. Feature filmmakers will be present for Q&A’s via Skype at both events. "There's nothing quite like coming home to Utah after a successful On The Road tour and presenting your final program at the Tower and Prospector Theaters,” states Slamdance’s Peter Baxter who will be in attendance for both screenings. "We're thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase Slamdance films at the Park City Film Series and kick off our 2014/2015 season with a celebration of truly independent film and filmmakers," states Katharine Wang, Executive Director of the Park City Film Series. "As the only mission-driven Art House Cinema in Summit County, this is a great opportunity to introduce our patrons to the breadth of talent that comes out of the Slamdance Film Festival." "Salt Lake Film Society loves working with Slamdance because we have similar goals: fostering filmmakers and exhibiting independent films," states Amy Beth Leber, Director of Operations & Community Programs at the Salt Lake Film Society. The Slamdance Film Festival will return to Park City, UT for its 21st edition, taking place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060. Film submissions are currently open until October 16th, 2014. ABOUT SLAMDANCE & ON THE ROAD Slamdance is a year-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The film festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. Slamdance Studios released earlier in the year Nicole Teeny's Bible Quiz theatrically and in partnership with Virgil Films on Netflix, other VOD platforms and DVD. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award-winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour is presented by CreativeFuture. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival is currently open for submissions until October 16th, with its regular deadline on September 5th. Submission categories include Narrative Features & Shorts, Documentary Features & Shorts, Beyond Features, Animation & Experimental Shorts. Although the features competition is reserved for first time filmmakers only, the Beyond Features section is for filmmakers working beyond their first films. The festival program is selected entirely from blind submissions. 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors included Blackmagic Design, Gawk, MixBit, the Directors Guild of America, Vimeo and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar and Cafe. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about Slamdance is available at www.slamdance.com. Connect with Slamdance: twitter.com/slamdance | facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival

Slamdance is delighted to announce the 100 quarter-finalists for the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Congratulations to these writers for making it to the final 100! The semi-finalists will be announced on September 10th. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements on our website! 2014 QUARTER-FINALISTS(in alphabetical order)Feature: 3 Faces of Hunger & Thirst by HF Crum A Lush Life by Jesse Knight Book Worm by Candace Rivera Buraq by Maazin Kamal The Cedars of Lebanon by Charlotte Gajek The Distance by Neil Kirby Erotic Romance by Rachel Kempf The 1st Voyage of Sinbad by Jack Davidson Hardliners by Rob Nemeth Jackpot! by Nancy Zafriz The Last Babinski by Andrew Siara Last Known Location by Jeremy Rush Le Chat Noir by Paula Sewell Little House by Claire Fowler The Man on the Bridge by Craig Pentak On the Gulf by Jackson Bentele Sherwood, GA by Katrina Albright Short. by Paul Brewer & Katherine Acosta Something Pure by Ayanna Makalani Southern Knights by Scott Bloom & Myra Turley Tater Tot & Patton by Andrew Kightlinger Three Months by Jared Frieder Tween the Ropes by Elizabeth Oyebode The Virgin Abby by Amy Whittenberger Wake Us and We Drown by Sofia Drummond-Moore Horror: Call Me Joker by Billy & Jamie Evans Catching Icarus by Liz Kerin The Chapel by Ben Botwick Darkscope by J. Carson Black The Devil's Hammer by Craig Walendziak First Person Shooter by D.C. Sayre The Hounds of House Rearden by Sean Patrick Geraghty House of Sand by Cristiano Mangione Inside by John Schlirf Iron Dogs by Neil Chase It Came From Grand Central Station by Stephen Jon Whritner The Lesson by Jon Gardner Monstrous by Melody Cooper Mother's Milk by Kacie Stetson & Sam Shore Narcosis by Chris Drzewiecki The Prodigy by Tommy Trull The Quarry by John E. Galbraith Rattle the Cage by Ruckus & Lane Skye Roulette by Paul E. Undari Sangre de Cristo by Chris McLaughlin Secrets of Jeremiah Valley by Landis Aponte Underbellies by Stephen Dackson & Andrew Friedman Vietzombs by Brian Tasch Xodus by A. Z. Ocoza Zombie Kong by Jason Walter Vaile Short/Webisode: 41 Pruebas Drive by Elease Patrick Antiquities by Dial Jones The Ants Go Marching by Charles Dillon Ward Bungalow Fever by Pogo New Caballero by Jay Reid Deep Trouble by Ward Edmondson The Donation by Liam Johnson Elixir by Colin Scott Encounters by Agelita Tsougou ERAe by Ande Cunningham The Gift by Clark Kokich Half Day by Nydia Colon Lady Day by Melissa Henry Pratt The Lighthouse by Andrew Akada Luke and Eric by Charlie Purdom & Wayland Bell Miss Moscow by Michele Atkins National Pastime by David J. Lieto Outside Harmony by Tim Casto Over the Line (And Far Away) by David Shushan Parable from Calcutta by Thom Newell Scallywags by Donna Mae Foronda Sentinel by Juan del Rio & Jose Iglesias Shadow Figure by C.J. Wells The Shard by Sussu Laaksonen Starlings by James Arrigan Original Teleplay: Ana in Between by Julie Wong Awareness by Sean Corrigan Called by Sundi Lofty Cartella by Brianna Janes Chronology by Julie Restivo & Oren Kaplan Colony by Scott Cameron Drought by Russel Simpson The Fifth City by Lydia Joy Cowdery The Fixers by Joe McClean The Girl From Here by Jackson Wickham History Killers by Simon Bell Hunted by Ariel Schmiedhauser Hypnotized by Taylor Carlson Ice by Estella Gabriel Immersion by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt Occupation by Scott Robert Waldvogel Peculiar Institution by Kendell Courtney Klein Please Remain Seated by David Radcliff Ruins by Marissa Harkness & Matthew Harvey Search For Life by Andrea Janakas Start-Up by Lane Berness Genee Steamtowne by Mischa Pfister The Tenderloin by Peter LiCalsi This Is My Family by Rachel Caris Love Thread by Dane Anderson

Slamdance is delighted to announce the 32 semi-finalists for the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Congratulations to these writers for making it to the final 32! The finalists will be announced on September 17th. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements on our website! 2014 SEMI-FINALISTS(in alphabetical order)Feature: The 1st Voyage of Sinbad by Jack Davidson 3 Faces of Hunger & Thirst by HF Crum Book Worm by Candace Rivera Le Chat Noir by Paula Sewell A Lush Life by Jesse Knight Short. by Paul Brewer & Katherine Acosta Southern Knights by Scott Bloom & Myra Turley Tween the Ropes by Elizabeth Oyebode Horror: Call Me Joker by Billy & Jamie Evans Catching Icarus by Liz Kerin The Chapel by Ben Botwick The Hounds of House Rearden by Sean Patrick Geraghty Inside by John Schlirf Monstrous by Melody Cooper Narcosis by Chris Drzewiecki The Prodigy by Tommy Trull Short/Webisode: Encounters by Agelita Tsougou ERAe by Ande Cunningham Outside Harmony by Tim Casto Over the Line (And Far Away) by David Shushan Parable from Calcutta by Thom Newell Scallywags by Donna Mae Foronda Shadow Figure by C.J. Wells Starlings by James Arrigan Original Teleplay: Cartella by Brianna Janes Chronology by Julie Restivo & Oren Kaplan Colony by Scott Cameron Hunted by Ariel Schmiedhauser Immersion by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt Search For Life by Andrea Janakas Steamtowne by Mischa Pfister Thread by Dane Anderson

On September 20 @ 9pm, Slamdance will present HAACK by Slamdance Alumni, Philip Anagnos, a look into the underground world of Bruce Haack, a genius and musical futurist whose past work continues to garner recognition with time. The event takes place at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles. RSVP now on Facebook. Various musicians of many genres have joined in the making of HAACK, showing worldwide support for Bruce’s goal of “obtaining a telepathic following”. As for the digital music world, its future king is coming from the past. Accompanying the film will be a live cameo performance by Money Mark, a producer and musician who has worked with the Beastie Boys, Sean Lennon, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Die Antwoord. This is a special kick-off event for HAACKFEST, an upcoming electronic music event in Downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the work of Bruce Haack.

Slamdance is delighted to announce the 12 finalists for the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Congratulations to these writers for making it to the final 12! The winners will be announced on October 16th. Keep an eye out for the announcement on our website! 2014 FINALISTS(in alphabetical order)Feature:3 Faces of Hunger & Thirst by HF Crum Southern Knights by Scott Bloom & Myra Turley Tween the Ropes by Elizabeth Oyebode Horror: The Chapel by Ben Botwick The Hounds of House Rearden by Sean Patrick Geraghty Monstrous by Melody Cooper Short/Webisode: (there is a tie in this category)ERAe by Ande Cunningham Over the Line (And Far Away) by David Shushan Parable from Calcutta by Thom Newell Scallywags by Donna Mae Foronda Original Teleplay: Chronology by Julie Restivo & Oren Kaplan Search For Life by Andrea Janakas Thread by Dane Anderson

We all know Slamdance is the festival for first-timers, but what about that Beyond section? Some filmmakers seem skeptical of its importance. It’s out of competition, doesn’t sound as shiny as First-Time-Director, and there are only five slots available. So what’s the point in submitting? Slamdance Filmmaker J.R. Hughto was part of the very first Beyond section in 2013. He sat down to answer a few questions about his Beyond film Diamond on Vinyl which premiered at the 19th Slamdance Film Festival in Park City. You can rent the film on multiple VOD platforms and find out more information on their website. Here’s what he had to say. How did you find out about the Beyond program at Slamdance? As part of the first class, the first time I heard about the Beyond program was when Anna called me to let me know I was accepted into it! This is what I said to Ben Umstead of Twitch way back when... "I was coming out of a parking structure, walking from my car, on my way to work. I work right across the street from Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It is a very strange place to work as there is a tremendous number of tourists and all the people dressed up and yelling to try and get the tourists to do what they want. So I couldn't quite hear when I got the call...I knew that there was some good news happening. I was like "Hang on a second, I'm about to walk into the foyer" and then "Okay, can you repeat everything you just said, one more time?" Apolonia [Panagopoulos], my wife, who is also Diamond on Vinyl's editor, well we work together... but we had driven separately that day... So I went into her bay and she looked at my face and asked "What's wrong now?" How would you describe your Slamdance experience? It sounds hyperbolic, but I would say that it was literally life changing. A premiere at that level of festival is incredibly stressful and at times overwhelming, but thanks to the amazing Slamdance family it became an intense learning experience, as well as a place where I made what I'm sure will be lifelong friends - among them filmmakers, critics, and programmers alike. In my life as a filmmaker, there have been few precious experiences as significant as Slamdance. What did the Beyond program do for your film? I had no expectations of distribution when I made Diamond on Vinyl. I was hoping for some festival play, maybe a review or two, but my focus was really to make the best film I could. Thanks to premiering at Slamdance, Diamond on Vinyl was seen by a huge number of film distributors, and garnered a lot of great press from outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Hammer to Nail, Film Threat, Twitch Film, and many, many more. Thanks to these opportunities, Diamond was released by Gravitas Ventures in the U.S. and, somewhat ironically, by The Sundance Channel in nearly 70 countries worldwide. Having people see the film, let alone become fans, in places as diverse as Poland and Indonesia was not something I had even considered. Then it happened. What are you working on now? I just finished a new feature script that I'm hoping to shoot Summer '15, thanks in large part to the relationships that began at Slamdance 2013. What might you say to someone considering submitting to Beyond? Do it! I was initially concerned about premiering outside of competition, in part because Beyond was brand new, but it was such a powerful, worthwhile experience that that worry seems, in hindsight, foolish. I couldn't imagine a better way to have launched Diamond on Vinyl, and I couldn't imagine not being a part of the Slamdance family. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will close on October 16th. Submit here today!

Los Angeles, CA - October 16, 2014 — Search For Life, written by Andrea Janakas, has won the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition Grand Prize. Search For Life tells the story of a widowed man who, when he investigates why his wife’s internal organs are missing, discovers that both she and other human beings are alive - and being replaced! Janakas was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes for her Original Teleplay at an Awards Ceremony hosted by the Writers Guild of America, West last night on October 15th, 2014. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Slamdance recognizes four categories; each top place received additional cash prizes, or in the case of best Short/Webisode, the option to be produced and premiere at the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival. The top Slamdance screenplays in each category are as follows: GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Search For Life by Andrea Janakas $5,000 cash prize FEATURE: 1st Place - The 3 Faces of Hunger & Thirst by HF Crum $2,000 cash prize & entertainment legal service award from Pierce Law Group, LLP Based on a true story, the 116 minutes leading up to the assassination of a visionary Mexican presidential candidate told from the POVs of three would-be assassins. 2nd Place - Tween the Ropes by Elizabeth Oyebode 3rd Place - Southern Knights by Scott Bloom & Myra Turley HORROR: 1st Place - The Hounds of House Rearden by Sean Patrick Geraghty $2,000 cash prize A park ranger is recruited by his father and former senator to hunt a murderous creature which turns out to be nothing like anyone expected. 2nd Place - The Chapel by Ben Botwick 3rd Place - Monstrous by Melody Cooper SHORT/WEBISODE: 1st Place - Over the Line (And Far Away) by David Shushan Option to be produced & premiere at Slamdance 2016, plus entertainment legal service award from Pierce Law Group, LLP Ready to end his life, a man climbs on a building ledge only to discover he has to take a number and wait in line. 2nd Place - ERAe by Ande Cunningham Joint 3rd Place - Parable From Calcutta by Thom Newell Joint 3rd Place - Scallywags by Donna Mae Foronda ORIGINAL TELEPLAY: 1st Place - Search For Life by Andrea Janakas $2,000 cash prize 2nd Place - Thread by Dane Anderson 3rd Place - Chronology by Julie Restivo & Oren Kaplan The Slamdance Screenplay Competition is sponsored by Pierce Law Group, LLP and its Awards Ceremony is hosted by the Writers Guild of America, West. WGAW Vice President Howard A. Rodman states, "The WGAW joins Slamdance in supporting emerging writers. Slamdance's annual Screenplay Competition has always found writers of talent and promise, and has helped expose their truly deserving work to the larger community." “This year’s screenplays stood out from the thousands of submissions and impressed us with their originality and strong storylines,” states Festival Director Anna Germanidi. “We are very excited to welcome these talented writers into the Slamdance family and follow their work to the big screen.” The Competition has established a reputation for finding production-worthy screenplays written by emerging talent. Early examples include Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace and The Woodsman written by Nicole Kassel and Stephen Fetcher. Every year finalists' work is acquired for production, such as the Cairns brothers’ 100 Bloody Acres, Chad Crawford Kinkle’s Jug Face and Clayton Sakoda’s Swine. New York animator and Slamdance alumnus Wally Chung is currently in production with the 2013 Short Screenplay Winner, Think Ink by Emily Hu, which is set to premiere as a Special Screening at the 2015 Festival. The 21st Slamdance Film Festival will take place in Park City, UT at the Treasure Mountain Inn, from January 23-29, 2015. About Slamdance Slamdance is a year-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The film festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. Slamdance Studios released earlier in the year Nicole Teeny's Bible Quiz theatrically and in partnership with Virgil Films on Netflix, other VOD platforms and DVD. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award-winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival submissions close on October 16th. Categories include Narrative Features & Shorts, Documentary Features & Shorts, Beyond Features, Animation & Experimental Shorts. Although the features competition is reserved for first time filmmakers only, the Beyond Features section is for filmmakers working beyond their first films. The festival program is selected entirely from blind submissions. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include The Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar and Cafe. 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors included Blackmagic Design, Gawk, MixBit and Vimeo. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Press Contact: Annie Jeeves / Cinematic Red Annie@CinematicRed.com O: 323-834-9733 C: 310-995-3834

Digital Bolex signs on as Premiere Sponsor for Slamdance Film Festival, with exciting competition and alumni judges awarding prize at Closing Night Awards Ceremony in Park City. (LOS ANGELES, CA – November 25, 2014) Digital Bolex, the LA-based cinema camera company has partnered with the Slamdance Film Festival to sponsor this year’s festival, and to celebrate small films on the big screen. Digital Bolex will present FEARLESS FILMMAKING: ART ON YOUR OWN TERMS, a block of micro-shorts shot on the D16 camera that will bring together the Slamdance and Digital Bolex filmmaking communities. The shorts will be judged by a panel of acclaimed Slamdance alumni including Amber Benson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Todd Berger (director, It's A Disaster), Laura Merians (cinematographer for Björk, Atoms For Peace, Sigur Ros), Kent Osborne (Emmy Award nominated writer, Adventure Time, Spongebob Squarepants), and Damon Russell (Oscar-winning producer, Curfew, and director, Snow On Tha Bluff) with a prize presented to the best short film at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on January 29th. In addition to the shorts block, Digital Bolex creative director and camera co-developer Elle Schneider will moderate a “Fireside Chat” panel at the festival on the importance of diverse perspectives behind the camera. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060. "As a camera company 'for filmmakers, by filmmakers,' we're extremely proud to partner with Slamdance, the film festival 'by filmmakers, for filmmakers,'" says Elle Schneider, "Our mission at Digital Bolex is to provide affordable tools that enable artists to create work on their own terms—the fearless filmmaking by innovative voices that Slamdance has been famous for discovering over the last two decades." For the program, Digital Bolex and Slamdance will select pitches from Slamdance alumni and will accept finished films from an open call for entries on the Digital Bolex website. Selected Slamdance filmmakers will receive a Digital Bolex D16 loaner package including a camera, lenses, and post-software to create their film. This is a great opportunity for new work to be shown on the big screen at Slamdance and for filmmakers to have hands on experience shooting with a RAW camera that provides unrivaled latitude in post. Participants will have 6 weeks to create a finished film, which will premiere at the festival. "We are excited to be partnering with Digital Bolex to offer such an inventive micro-shorts filmmaking competition to our independent filmmakers alongside this year's Film Festival. This continues our mission to expand the creative landscape for independent filmmakers," states Slamdance Co-Founder & President, Peter Baxter. About DIGITAL BOLEX Originally funded on Kickstarter in 2012, the raw-shooting Digital Bolex cinema camera was developed by a team led by Joe Rubinstein over 18 months based on the input of the filmmakers who originally backed the project, resulting in the first truly crowd-sourced motion picture camera. Since its release in December of 2013, the Digital Bolex D16 has taken the indie filmmaking world by storm, in use by filmmakers from Spike Lee and Joe Dante to Ondi Timoner, and TV shows from Fox's Glee to Hemlock Grove. Films using the D16 have already played at the 2014 Brooklyn Film Festival, Venice Biennale, and Fantastic Fest. Bolex created the D16 to rival the image quality of the most expensive cameras on the market so that a more diverse pool of filmmakers can afford to get their hands on the cinema-quality cameras that enable confidence in sharing stories on the big screen at a festival like Slamdance. Indie film should be able to thrive beyond the Internet and VOD as it did on screens in the 16mm era; you shouldn't need a big budget to make a film that looks good projected in a theater. About SLAMDANCE Slamdance is a year-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The film festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award-winning and audience favorite films to be concluded by the end of the year; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar and Cafe. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: twitter.com/slamdance and www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival ### Press Contact: Annie Jeeves / Cinematic Red Annie@CinematicRed.com O: 323-834-9733 C: 323-834-9733

Lineup highlights first-time directors from around the globe including Turkey, Brazil, Austria, Italy and Ireland; distinguished casts include: Ashley Benson, Alex Karpovsky, Larry Fessenden, Brian Gleeson, Pras Michel, and WWE Veterans - Jake “the Snake” Roberts, Chris Jericho, and Steve Austin. (LOS ANGELES, CA - December 1, 2014) The Slamdance Film Festival today announced their Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition programs for its 21st Festival edition. As the premiere film festival by filmmakers for filmmakers, Slamdance's showcase of emerging artists includes 11 narrative and 8 documentary films. The 19 feature film competition includes a record 18 premieres – 13 World, 2 North American, and 3 US premieres. Slamdance is proud to present the best of first-time feature filmmakers pushing the boundaries of filmmaking with innovation and unique talent. All competition films are feature film directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million and without US distribution. All films were programmed entirely from blind submissions by the Slamdance filmmaking community. “It’s very exciting to bring this dynamic lineup to audiences in Park City. We are proud to help launch these filmmakers’ careers and celebrate the success we all believe these films deserve,” states Anna Germanidi, Festival Director. Jury Awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for Audience Awards as well as the Spirit of Slamdance Award, judged by the filmmakers themselves. "Our success in showcasing emerging artists is most obviously linked with American talent, but increasingly at Slamdance, we want to also support new international talent," states Co-founder and President, Peter Baxter. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060 NARRATIVE FEATURES PROGRAM Across the Sea - Directors & Screenwriters: Nisan Dağ, Esra Saydam (Turkey/USA) North American Premiere Young, beautiful and pregnant, Damla has to confront her first love in a Turkish summer town before she can fully embrace her new life in New York. Cast: Damla Sönmez, Jacob Fishel, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Hakan Karsak Asco - Director: Ale Paschoalini; Screenwriters: Ale Paschoalini, Rafael Baliu (Brazil) World Premiere Needs and desires are simplified in this experimental, black and white portrayal of the poisonous destruction of a broken heart. Cast: Guto Nogueira, Sol Faganello, Acauã Sol, Danielle Rosa, Ligia Franchini, El Alberto Body - Directors & Screenwriters: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen (USA) World Premiere After three twenty-something girls break into a mansion and inadvertently murder the groundskeeper, they slowly self-destruct as they decide what to do with the dead body in the living room. Cast: Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, Larry Fessenden Clinger - Director: Michael Steves; Screenwriters: Michael Steves, Gabi Chennisi Duncombe, Bubba Fish (USA) World Premiere When her possessive high school boyfriend dies in a gruesome accident, Fern Petersen's life is thrown into turmoil. Things go from bad to worse when he returns as a love-sick ghost to kill her so they can be together for eternity. Cast: Vincent Martella, Jennifer Laporte, Julia Aks, Lisa Wilcox, Debbie Rochon Darkness on the Edge of Town - Director & Screenwriter: Patrick Ryan (Ireland) US Premiere A troubled teenage sharpshooter decides to avenge the death of her estranged sister after she is found murdered in a public bathroom. Cast: Emma Eliza Regan, Brian Gleeson, Maura Foley, Emma Willis, Sam Monaghan Diamond Tongues - Director: Brian Robertson, Pavan Moondi; Screenwriter: Pavan Moondi (Canada) World Premiere Edith Welland is an actress. Things haven’t been going very well. When her ex-boyfriend becomes an actor on a whim and almost immediately books a leading role, Edith decides if she’s going to get ahead, she’ll need to get ruthless. Cast: Leah Goldstein, Nick Flanagan, Leah Wildman, Adam Gurfinkel, Noah R. Taylor High Performance - Director & Screenwriter: Johanna Moder (Austria) US Premiere Rudi wears a suit, Daniel rides a bike, and they are both interested in Nora for very different reasons; the story of two grown up brothers who still know how to hurt each other. Cast: Marcel Mohab, Manuel Rubey, Katharina Pizzera Ratter - Director & Screenwriter: Branden Kramer (USA) World Premiere Emma is being watched by a stalker who has hacked into all of her personal technology – laptop, cell phone, and other web connected devices – to record her most intimate moments. Eventually the video feeds aren’t enough and the stalker moves from the virtual to the physical. Cast: Ashley Benson, Matt McGorry, Rebecca Naomi Jones, John Anderson, Kaili Vernoff They Look Like People - Director & Screenwriter: Perry Blackshear (USA) World Premiere Suspecting that those around him are actually malevolent shape-shifters, a troubled young man questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself. Cast: MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, Margaret Drake, Mick Casale, Elena Greenlee Tired Moonlight - Director & Screenwriter: Britni West (USA) World Premiere Combustible dreams fail to ignite as lonely, middle-aged, Dawn is confronted by lost love in a glorified-pit-stop town. Cast: Alex Karpovsky, Liz Randall, Paul Dickinson, Hillary Berg, RainLeigh Vick Wendell and the Lemon - Director & Screenwriter: Lawrence Krauser (USA) A young man finds a lemon on the sidewalk, takes it home, and becomes inordinately fond of it. Complications ensue. Cast: Todd d'Amour, Rebecca Hart, Jay Smith, Lia Aprile, Danton Stone DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM 20 Years of Madness - Director: Jeremy Royce (USA) World Premiere Twenty years after the success of a 90s cult TV show, 30 Minutes of Madness, founder Jerry White Jr. brings the rag tag team of misfits back together to film one final episode – only to find the majority of his cast now suffer from a variety of personal struggles. Cast: Jerry White Jr., Joe Hornacek, John Ryan, Jesus Rivera, Matt Zaleski Alberi che Camminano - Director: Mattia Colombo; Screenwriters: Erri De Luca, Mattia Colombo (Italy) US Premiere A meditative look at the two distinct lives of trees and their deep relationship with human beings. Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang - Director: Colin Offland; Screenwriter: Matt Baker (UK) World Premiere An intimate behind the scenes look at Dennis Rodman's unlikely friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and the staging of the most controversial game of basketball the world has never seen. I Am Thor - Director: Ryan Wise (USA) World Premiere Before Chris Hemsworth, there was Jon Mikl Thor – the original hammer-wielding, steel bending, brick smashing rock star of the 70s band THOR. But does he still have the magic to thunder a comeback? Cast: Jon Mikl Thor, Rusty Hamilton, Mike Favata, Steve Price, Keith Zazzi My Fathers, My Mother and Me - Director: Paul-Julien Robert (Austria) North American Premiere Twenty years after leaving the Austrian commune where he was raised, Paul-Julien Robert embarks on a personal journey to confront what went wrong and explore ideas of family. On Her Own - Director & Screenwriter: Morgan Schmidt-Feng (USA) World Premiere A woman and her family try to save their 5th generation family farm during the Great Recession. The Resurrection of Jake the Snake - Director: Steve Yu (USA) World Premiere Legendary wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts charts his personal and professional comeback while battling crippling addictions. Cast: Jake Roberts, Dallas Page, Chris Jericho, Steve Austin, Adam Copeland Sweet Micky For President - Director: Ben Patterson (USA) World Premiere With the help of Pras Michel of the Fugees, presidential candidate Michel Martelly, aka Sweet Micky, campaigns against all odds in Haiti's third ever democratic election. Cast: Pras Michel, Michel Martelly, Wyclef Jean Film stills are available for press use only and can be downloaded below. Narrative Features: http://bit.ly/1rGGsCb Documentary Features: http://bit.ly/1FGYNS3 All Access, Industry, Local's, and Student Festival Passes are available now online. Individual tickets will be available shortly. To purchase, click here: http://showcase.slamdance.com/Passes-and-Tickets The 2015 Slamdance Artwork was created by festival alumnus Steve Girard. About Slamdance Slamdance is a year­-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The film festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award­ winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America, Pierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Different By Design, Carhartt, Final Draft, Salt Lake City's Beehive Distilling, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar and Cafe. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance and http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival PRESS CONTACT: Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 Annie@CinematicRed.com

Slamdance brings powerful films from Israel, Iceland, China, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, South Korea and Greece, with San Francisco’s Batkid, Olympic veteran Stella Walsh and acclaimed German architect Gottfried Böhm; casts include Zach McGowan, Sophie Thompson, Fran Kranz, Joel Murray, Pedro Pascal, Yvette Yates and Joey Kern. (LOS ANGELES, CA - December 8, 2014) – Slamdance today announced their Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts programs for their 21st Film Festival. The programs present thought-provoking films by a variety of acclaimed and visionary filmmakers from all over the world and include 26 World, 12 North American, and 7 US Premieres. This year, many Slamdance Alumni return with strong feature presentations in the Beyond Program, including Gary Walkow (The Trouble with Dot & Harry), Steven Richter (Birds of Neptune), and Jiyoung Lee (Female Pervert). The Festival will open with Special Screening Brian James O’Connell’s Bloodsucking Bastards, followed by an Opening Night Party presented by Red Bull & Live Style Ent. Special Screenings also feature Alpha, the second feature from up-and-coming Greek director Stathis Athanasiou and Greece’s first fully crowdfunded film. Additional Special Screenings include short animations Footprints by Bill Plympton, shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards®, and the 2013 Slamdance Screenplay Competition Short winner Think Ink, written by Emily Hu and animated by Slamdance alumnus Wally Chung. The 2015 Shorts competition showcases 42 American and 26 International productions in the Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Anarchy and Experimental sections. All Slamdance films are programmed entirely from blind submissions by the Slamdance filmmaking community. “We’re constantly amazed by the cinematic diamonds we discover every year through our blind submissions,” states Anna Germanidi, Festival Director. “There’s so much talent behind these films we’ve announced today, and we can’t wait to see what these Slamdancers do next!” Films in the Beyond program, made by emerging narrative and documentary filmmakers working beyond their first features, are eligible for the Audience Awards. Jury Awards are presented to short films in all categories and every 2015 Slamdance film is eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award, judged by the filmmakers themselves. “This year’s film slates continue to show the diversity of powerful indie filmmaking around the globe," states Co-founder and President, Peter Baxter. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060 SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM Alpha - Director: Stathis Athanasiou; Screenwriters: Stathis Athanasiou, Pedro Olalla (Greece) North American Premiere A conforming bourgeois woman, Alpha, refuses to help a fugitive in fear that her life will be put in danger, a 21st century retelling of Antigone's myth about the current, political status quo. Cast: Serafita Grigoriadou, Tasos Karakyklas Bloodsucking Bastards - Director: Brian James O’Connell; Screenwriters: Ryan Mitts, Dr. God (USA) World Premiere When an office worker at a soul-crushing company loses his coveted promotion to his longtime nemesis, he begins to fear for more than his job as strange disappearances and bizarre deaths suggest the office is turning into a haven for the undead. Cast: Fran Kranz, Pedro Pascal, Joey Kern, Joel Murray, Emma Fitzpatrick, Yvette Yates, Justin Ware, Marshall Givens Footprints - Director: Bill Plympton (USA) A gullible man goes on a quest to find a mysterious, destructive monster, only to arrive at a surprising revelation. Think Ink - Director: Director: Wally Chung; Screenwriter: Emily Hu (USA) World Premiere A young coffee stain dreams of becoming a professional inkblot for psychological testing. BEYOND PROGRAM Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World - Director: Dana Nachman; Screenwriters: Dana Nachman, Kurt Kuenne (USA) World Premiere 5-year old Miles Scott has spent half his life battling leukemia. Now, it's his wish to be Batman. Why not turn San Francisco into Gotham City? Cast: Miles Scott, Natalie Scott, Nick Scott, Patricia Wilson, Eric Johnston, Mike Jutan, Jen Wilson, Teresa Clovicko Birds of Neptune - Director: Steven Richter; Screenwriter: Steven Richter, Flavia Rocha, Michael Lea (USA) World Premiere After the death of their parents, Mona builds an illusory image of herself while her sister Rachel finds solace in her music – until a man enters their world and sees an opportunity to assert control. Cast: Britt Harris, Molly Elizabeth Parker, Kurt Conroyd, Christian Blair, Lauren Monet Luiz Concrete Love – The Böhm Family - Director & Screenwriter: Maurizius Staerkle Drux (Germany) North American Premiere A look into the complex dynamics within the family of Germany’s premiere architect Gottfried Böhm, as they lose their emotional center, Gottfried’s wife Elisabeth. Cast: Gottfried Böhm, Elisabeth Böhm, Stephan Böhm, Peter Böhm, Paul Böhm Female Pervert - Director & Screenwriter: Jiyoung Lee (USA) World Premiere Phoebe is a lonely video game designer seeking a true connection in the modern world, but her perversions are hard to suppress. Will she be able to change? Or will she accept her fate as a female pervert? Cast: Jennifer Kim, Skizz Cyzyk, Brian Cafferty, Joshua Mikel, Jesse Price, Kate McManus, Taylor Proctor, Eddie Ray The Trouble with Dot & Harry - Director & Screenwriter: Gary Walkow (USA) World Premiere An American writer finds himself caring for two ridiculously smart and articulate British children and discovers an unexpected sense of purpose in life. Cast: Neil Morrissey, Theadora Walkow-Foster, Harry Walkow-Foster NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAM 09:55-11:05, Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B - Directors & Screenwriters: Cristine Berglund, Sophie Vukovic (Sweden) North American Premiere Ingrid has decided to deal with cancer on her own, but when home care employee Frida knocks on her door she awakens feelings that Ingrid can't shut out. Cast: Lisbeth Zachrisson, Cristine Berglund, Hélene Parment 2580 - Director & Screenwriter: Bryce Richardson (USA) A man's memory fails him, derailing his plans to work out. Cast: Vince Edgehill, Irina Brovina, Max Bernstein Detritus - Director: T.J. Misny; Screenwriter: Kaija Matiss (USA) North American Premiere A girl emerges from the depths, carrying with her an unusual burden. Cast: Kaija Matiss Drama - Director & Screenwriter: Guan Tian (USA) A couple is having sex in the car when they realize there are no more condoms left. Cast: Ni Yan, Guan Tian, Shi Sun, Yanyu Dong Hitori - Director: Raymond Carr; Screenwriters: Raymond Carr, Wade Tilton (USA) In a world made entirely out of puppeteers, a boy is trying to get back to where he came from. Cast: Wade Tilton, Kiera Robbins, Melissa Brewer, Tim Hand In Search of the Miraculous - Director & Screenwriter: Sam Kuhn (USA) World Premiere A seventeen-year-old aristocrat, expecting to be married to a rich claimant by her mother, falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated _______. Cast: Erik Jensen, Marta King, Daiva Z, Michael Harmon Intruders - Director & Screenwriter: Santiago Menghini (Canada) In the aftermath of a deadly haunting in a small suburban home, an omnipresent entity causes havoc in the private lives of a young boy, an unsuspecting teen and an absent minded inspector. Cast: Joshua Young, Charles Sirard Blouin, Sarianne Cormier, Alain Gendreau Invaders - Director & Screenwriter: Jason Kupfer (USA) A pair of home invaders consider their potential character choices just prior to their planned invasion. Cast: Ricky Wayne, Jordan Woods-Robinson Last Base - Director & Screenwriter: Aslak Danbolt (UK/Norway) North American Premiere Joachim is retiring from base-jumping to become a father for the first time, but first he will stop at nothing to pull off his very last jump. Cast: Petter Width Kristiansen, Kenneth Åkerland Berg, Edda Grjotheim, Richard Olsen Models - Director & Screenwriter: Jérémi Roy (Canada) World Premiere An exploration of the tortuous relation between a photographer and her model. Cast: Léa Roy-Bernatchez, Dominick R. Chartrand Off Season - Director & Screenwriter: Elinor Nechemya (Israel) Wandering through a mysterious seaside resort, Zohar seeks clues for her father's absence from a family vacation. Cast: Mika Altman, Kareen Ophir, Itzik Arviv, Tamir Lyfshiz Peter On Your Mind - Director: Joe Pickett; Screenwriters: Joe Pickett, Larry Pierce (USA) World Premiere Larry Pierce, the raunchiest country music singer in America, confronts a cheating wife, his painful memories, and every country music video cliché known to man. Cast: Larry Pierce, Cassie J. Sneider, Al Robinson Que La Nuit Soit Douce - Director: Frédéric Recrosio; Screenwriters: Frédéric Recrosio, Jean-Luc Barbezat (Switzerland) World Premiere 8-year old Alice and her 5-year old brother visit their dying grandfather in the hospital and take matters into their own hands. Cast: Alice Barbezat, Anthony Bubloz, Claude Blanc Role Play - Director & Screenwriter: Brynach Day (UK) North American Premiere In rural Wales, three children explore the adult world. Cast: Leah Ponchaud, Dan Middleton, Sam Caple, Elizabeth Healey Running Season - Director: Grayson Moore; Screenwriters: Grayson Moore, Nigel Turgeon-Mannion (Canada) Arthur Zimmer attempts to sell his late father’s house on Prince Edward Island, just as severed feet have been turning up on the island’s shores. Cast: Peter Spence, Richard Clarkin, Sarah Orenstein, Mike Wilmot Salad Days - Director & Screenwriter: Will Welles (USA) World Premiere Just a normal couple out on a normal picnic on a normal nice day. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here...nothing at all. Cast: Nick Fesette, Kira Pearson Salt - Director: Ugla Hauksdóttir; Screenwriters: Ugla Hauksdóttir, Markus Englmair (Iceland) North American Premiere A lonesome boy who has just moved to a small village tries to befriend a mysterious girl, but their encounter leads to unexpected consequences. Cast: Alex Elí Schweitz Jakobsson, Diljá Valsdóttir, Pálína Jónsdóttir, Haukur Ingi Jónasson Stay Awake - Director & Screenwriter: Jamie Sisley (USA) World Premiere Two brothers, a mother, songs from the seventies, Xanax, and a woman named Vicki. Cast: Owen Campbell, David Rysdahl, Rebecca Harris, Lori Brown-Niang A Tenista - Director: Daniel Barosa; Screenwriters: Humberto Palmas, Daniel Barosa (Brazil) North American Premiere Troubled by a deep secret, Ju runs late for her tennis class. Cast: Bianca Melo, Gabriel Godoy, Renata De Paula, Stefane Eskelsen The Tide Keeper - Director & Screenwriter: Alyx Duncan (New Zealand) An aging fisherman dreams the spirit of the sea right into his bed. Cast: Lee Stuart Topography of a Hotel - Director & Screenwriter: Cedric Cheung-Lau (USA) World Premiere A boy working at his parents’ hotel meets a woman waiting for her lover. Cast: Shondale Seymour, Joe Salling Unknown Unknown - Director & Screenwriter: Ed Flynn (USA) World Premiere An errant ginger sends a peckish man on an existential journey through the bowels of a twenty-four hour grocery store. Cast: Ed Flynn, Susan Monts-Bologna, Jack Bronis, Sarah Jane Murray Viking - Directors: Sam & Ben Callis; Screenwriter: Sam Callis (UK) World Premiere Armed with aphorisms and a need for revenge, a woman’s childhood lies buried with her father’s corpse until she finally digs up the cause of her miserable life. Cast: Sophie Thompson, Andrew Lancel, Joe May Waterfall - Director & Screenwriter: Charlie Cole (USA) World Premiere A young girl is haunted by her inability to help her brother while he's drowning. Cast: Dulcey Culotta, Holden Culotta, Kevin Michael Barbaro Working Title - Director: Irina Arnaut (USA) A filmmaker emboldened and tormented by her creative ambition, her artistic and cinematic predecessors, and even by her DP, careens through a cavalcade of cultural influences before erupting in a deceptively charming slapstick routine. Cast: Irina Arnaut, Justin Drobinski DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAM The Columbarium - Director: Tyler Trumbo (USA) As the long-time caretaker of close to 80,000 deceased at the San Francisco Columbarium, Emmitt Watson cannot help but see life in the midst of death. Cast: Emmitt Watson Dolphin Lover - Director: Kareem Tabsch (USA) World Premiere The true story of a man with a porpoise. Cast: Malcolm J. Brenner Love Song for the Apocalypse - Director: David Ridgen (Canada) World Premiere Urban explorers, or urbexers, illegally enter abandoned places and make use of them in a variety of creative ways. Cast: Jerm IX, Ninja IX, Terapr0, Rashomon Marie - Director: Jadina Lilien (USA) A portrait of Marie and her daily visits to the local diner as she philosophizes about life. Cast: Marie Lytwn, Andrew Tsatsimas Mujer - Director: Sofia Canales (USA) Three Latinas of different generations take pleasure in helping each other bathe, dress up, and cook dinner. Cast: Rosa Emma Estrada, Rosa Emma Canales, Emily Judith Canales N6-4Q: Born Free - Director: Sasha Gransjean (USA/Japan) World Premiere As it falls apart, Kyoto's life becomes the vehicle for a message seen through the lens of technology. Cast: Takuto Kawabe The Solitude of Memory - Director: Juan Pablo González (Mexico/USA) US Premiere A meditative portrait about a Mexican father mourning the untimely death of his son. Cast: José Bolaños, Jesus Bolaños Stella Walsh - Director: Rob Lucas, Screenwriters: Rob Lucas, Steve Felix (USA) Almost fifty years after her stunning gold medal win in the women’s 100 meter dash, Stella Walsh was shot and killed in Cleveland, Ohio, exposing the truth about her ambiguous gender. Cast: Stella Walsh, Grace Butcher, Dan Coughlin, Chuck Schodowski ANIMATION SHORTS PROGRAM Busking Tales - Director: Adriana Copete (Colombia/USA) North American Premiere A patchwork of memories about undesirables, cheap-goods-hustlers, and buskers in a city undergoing constant transformation. Cast: Juis Garay, Camilo De La Espriella Butter Ya’Self - Director: Julian Petschek (USA) US Premiere A banana and a hot dog bun are famous. Cast: Katrina Recto, Jacob Gibson, Julian Petschek Cruising - Director: Zachary Zezima (USA) The chaotic and cacophonous world of forced fun aboard an insular cruise ship seen through the eyes of a young boy. Defragmentation - Director: Saebyul-Hwangbo (South Korea) US Premiere A woman's lifetime of emotionally-charged events are altered to retain only the happy memories, in a process similar to the defragmentation of a computer hard drive. Cast: Jinwoong-Moon, Saebyul-Hwangbo Half Wet - Director: Sophie Koko Gate (England) North American Premiere “We are all born as wet as a banana, about 75% water” – the whimsical ruminations of a love-stricken man in a surreal, watery landscape. Cast: Keiran P Chantrey, Paul Williams Hipopotamy - Director: Piotr Dumala (Poland) North American Premiere Naked women and children bathe in a river. They are secretly observed and gradually approached by a group of naked men. Hopkins & Delaney LLP - Director: Sean Buckelew (USA) A drily humorous look at mundane workplace culture, as an important client visits a law office to discuss his copyright infringement suit. Cast: Chris Sullivan, Ethan Clarke Horse - Director: Shen Jie (China) US Premiere Five chapters about a horse are repeated and cut with escalating, violent revelations. La-Gar-To - Director: Miguel Jiron (USA) US Premiere Traveling to Nicaragua with his family, a young boy finds the world a weirder, scarier, and more iguana-filled place. Cast: Daniel Jiron, Gabriela Jiron Myszochujek * - Director: Kristof Babaski (Poland/UK) A lost 1957 sexually provocative Polish animation, about a mouse with a very playful body part. *Out of competition The Pride of Strathmoor - Director: Einar Baldvin (USA) Extracts from the journal of Pastor John Deitman, Strathmoor, Georgia. June & July, 1927. Cast: Geoffrey Gould Sports - Director: Brian Smee (USA) Observe the conclusion to today's marathon, told from the grotesque and colorful point of view of a proud burger flipper. Cast: Sean Buckelew, Rachel Ho Tears of Inge - Director: Alisi Telengut (Canada) A cloud of tiny particles forms a shifting, emotionally-charged vision inspired by the phenomenon of mother camels rejecting their offspring after a painful childbirth. Cast: Qirima Telengut Upon the Rock - Director: James Bascara (USA) A man leading a Sisyphean life suddenly has a euphoric vision, then undergoes a dysphoric transformation. EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS PROGRAM Agrabagrabah - Director: Calvin Frederick (USA) World Premiere September 11, 1991/2001/2057. Fort Morgan - Director: Alexander Stewart (USA) Following an intricate geometric diagram, a star-shaped fort grows of its own accord like an oyster shell or a crystal. The Handeye (Bone Ghosts) - Directors: Anja Dornieden, Juan David Gonzalez Monroy (Germany) A distinguished flea hypnotizes the ghost of a distinguished man. I've Got The World On A String - Director: Spencer Holden (USA) World Premiere I only had a string, a camera, and a need to create. Nothing - Director: LJ Frezza (USA) The nothing moments from a show about nothing. Pure Concentricity - Director: Evan Mann (USA) World Premiere Shaving cream concentrically envelopes the organic world. Red Luck - Director: Mike Olenick (USA) Anonymous notes, a jump rope, an overgrown yard, a crumpled piece of tinfoil, a baseball bat and a drill guide a group of individuals towards violence, sexual perversion and an inevitable encounter with Red Luck. Cast: Andrew Cherry, Barry Horschakt, Todd Finney, Andy Pak The Take-Up - Director: Patrick Tarrant (UK) US Premiere An A/V mystery is unspooled when a digital camera looks through the take-up reel of the instructional film we hear. ANARCHY SHORTS PROGRAM Cosmic Egg - Director: Matt Reed (USA) North American Premiere A journey through other realities leads to a familiar place. Day 40 - Director: Sol Friedman, Screenwriters: Evan Morgan, Sol Friedman (Canada) An animated retelling of the Noah’s Ark story, where various unholy activities fill the great ship as the animals discover the darker side of their nature. Cast: John Boylan, Rowie Huberman Deviance - Director & Screenwriter: Aron Kantor (USA) The proprietor of a corner store entertains a rich fantasy of each of his customers in this celebration of the perversity that lies just below the surface in even the least suspecting people. Cast: Larry Kitagawa, Courtney Trouble, Jerrod Littlejohn, Andy Clements Gun Shy - Director & Screenwriter: Sam Goetz (USA) World Premiere Every cop has that one event, that one memory they just can't shake. Cast: Jason B. Nicholas, Michael Goetz, Joseph K. Gannon Ill Will - Director & Screenwriter: Lester Brown (UK) An old man gets revenge after being assaulted by a local teenager for seeing something he shouldn't have. Cast: David Kirk, Quesy Yankey Ocean Five - Director & Screenwriter: Vito Trupiano (USA) A young tourist's night in Miami. Cast: Gordon Maxwell, Alan Rodriguez Out of Reach (Rain Night) - Director & Screenwriter: Pablo Diartinez (Belgium/Netherlands) US Premiere A nameless poet wanders through Brussels, seeking shelter from the rain. Cast: Hein Wollants, Colum Hatchell, Victoria Giraldo, Erik Parys A Peaceful Man - Director & Screenwriter: Harrison Norris (Australia) Beaten within an inch of his life, a peaceful man has a gruesome epiphany through violence. Cast: Judd Wild, John Walton, Zach McGowan Pond - Director: Josh Shaffner (USA) Two mythical creatures inhabit a forest where uncomfortable truths manifest themselves through deformation of figure. Sea Devil - Director & Screenwriter: Dean C. Marcial, Brett Potter (USA) In the summer of 2012, an unmanned fishing boat surfaced on the Biscayne Bay in Miami. Its passengers were never found. Cast: Antoni Corone, Mario Ernesto Sanchez, Taylor Rouviere, Moise Brutus Thinking About - Director: Stephen Engstrom, Screenwriters: Stephen Engstrom, David Rowson, Catherine Engstrom (Australia) World Premiere An experimental game show goes awry as a mysterious apparition infiltrates a contestant's mind. Cast: Stephen Engstrom, Manon Ouimet, Brenton Douglas, Aurora Legget Unicorn - Director & Screenwriter: Grace Nayoon Rhee (USA) World Premiere Girl and Boy meet little strangers. Cast: Jason Davis, Meghan Tryon Viscera - Director: Lauren Morrison (USA) As houseguests blissfully ignore the provenience of their food, the reality of their consumption takes on a monstrous form. Cast: Eva Sinotte, Rose Arscott, Gyasi Silas, Jesse March Zerogon - Director & Screenwriter: John Mattiuzzi, Joshua Planz (USA) World Premiere A lonely creature, on a lonely planet, abducted into the false allure of a computer generated world. Cast: John Mattiuzzi Film stills are available for press use only and can be downloaded below. Special Screenings: http://bit.ly/12qRf70 Beyond: http://bit.ly/1tNR3pV Narrative Shorts: http://bit.ly/1ytyqwQ Documentary Shorts: http://bit.ly/1vScwBk Animation Shorts: http://bit.ly/1I6Pugo Experimental Shorts: http://bit.ly/1zrFdpf Anarchy Shorts: http://bit.ly/1rVKvuu All Access, Industry, Local's, and Student Festival Passes are available now online. Individual tickets will be available shortly. To purchase, click here: http://showcase.slamdance.com/Passes-and-Tickets The 2015 Slamdance Artwork was created by festival alumnus Steve Girard. About Slamdance Slamdance is a year­-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award­ winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America, Pierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Different By Design, Carhartt, Final Draft, Salt Lake City's Beehive Distilling, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar and Cafe. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance and http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival PRESS CONTACT: Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 Annie@CinematicRed.com

The Sublime and Beautiful, Blake Robbins' directorial debut that premiered at 2014 Slamdance, will be available on VOD by Candy Factory Distribution starting 12/16. To celebrate the film's release, a special screening at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC will take place at 7pm tonight. Robbins directs and stars as a father coping with the death of his children. Wrestling with his morality and desire for retribution, he finds himself battling one question - Can we forgive? A year after his film was selected to premiere at Slamdance, Blake Robbins sat down to answer a few questions about his film and his Slam experience! Q: We just announced our 2015 feature competition lineup. How did you feel when you heard the news about The Sublime and Beautiful last year? A: It was tremendous. A moment of relief and joy thats hard to summarize. As a first time filmmaker who had made an adventourously independent film, I was still wondering if the film would find its audience. To have a festival like Slamdance with their amazing 20 year track record, well it was an out of body experience of excitement. The personal email I got from Drea was so specific to my film and her experience of it... it turned into a precursor of just what a wonderful celebration of films and fimmakers that Slamdance is. Q: How was your post-Slamdance life and how did you end up with a distribution deal? A: It's been a whirlwind. After leaving Slamdance last January with rave reviews from Film Threat and Filmmaker Magazine among others, we've gone on to play 11 major film festivals from Portland, OR, to Cleveland, OH, to Milan, Italy - picking up 8 Grand Jury Awards including a clean sweep at Newport Beach Film Festival where we won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Special Mention Best Actress Awards. We made a distribution deal with a wonderful new company Candy Factory and through them we've played theatrically in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Massachusetts and we're about to have a special screening in NYC on December 16th which will be the same day we are available everywhere digitally. Q: As a Slamdance alum you are eligible to program for Slamdance the following years. This was your first year doing that! Was it what you were expecting? A: I'm not sure what I was expecting but it turned out to be fantastic. First as a developing filmmaker it was effectively a PHD course. As someone who'd had his film go through this process a year earlier to now be hearing these programmers discuss films it made me incredibly proud to have had my film selected. I did expect tremendous passion from people who love films and I found that to be the case. It was nice to have it wrapped up in so much respect and thoughtfulness. Q: Any advice for new Slamdance filmmakers for the next few months? A: Sure...hire A GREAT publicist. I'm working with Matt Johnstone Publicity, who did an incredible job at Slamdance, put together our digital / theatrical campaign, and has been instrumental every step of the way in advising and guiding me through the landscape for indie films. There are alot of films being made these days and its more and more important to find a way to get your film some attention and even playing in a fantastic festival on its own isn't enough to stand out - its a tremendous opportunity to help people find out about your film that you should seek to maximize. Keep writing and developing your next projects - you always want to be ready to make more content. Enjoy this whole thing. It's an incredible achievement and yes there's a lot to do, but the biggest thing is that you made a film, you finished a freaking film, and it was good enough to be chosen out of many, many films - some great films didn't get in but yours did- so keep it all in perspective and enjoy your moment of triumph. View the trailer here and order the film on iTunes. Buy tickets for tonight's screening in NYC here.

  Slamdance explores DIY world of filmmaking according to James Franco in a "Coffee With" event, followed by the World Premiere of his latest film collaboration Yosemite, on Thursday, January 29th. (LOS ANGELES, CA - January 8, 2015) – The Slamdance Film Festival today announced the latest edition of its "Coffee With" events featuring independent film champion James Franco, followed by a Special Screening of his latest film collaboration Yosemite, directed by Gabrielle Demeestere and a Rabbit Bandini Production. This unique program will close Slamdance's 21st festival on Thursday, January 29th, 2015 and will be the World Premiere of Yosemite, a film that chronicles the intertwining tales of three 5th grade friends which unfold in the suburban paradise of Palo Alto, as the threat of a mountain lion looms over the community. As the premiere film festival by filmmakers for filmmakers, Slamdance's "Coffee With" events aim to discuss the various ways to sustain a successful filmmaking career from the guests’ personal experiences in their fields. “Coffee With...James Franco” will look at the actor and producer's prolific independent film work, including his new production of Yosemite. Past “Coffee With” guests have included Chad Hurley & the Russo Brothers, Jonathan Demme & Neil Young, Ted Hope, and Vilmos Zsigmond.   “We are thrilled to have such a talented and passionate supporter of independent film sit down and share his knowledge and experience with the Slamdance filmmakers,” states Anna Germanidi, Festival Director.   The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060. All Access, Industry, Local's, and Student Festival Passes are available online. To purchase, click here. Individual tickets for all screenings are now available here. More tickets will be available at the Festival Box Office starting Thursday, January 22nd at 9am.   About Slamdance Slamdance is a year­-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award­ winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America, Pierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Writers Guild of America West, Different By Design, Carhartt, Festival Scope, Final Draft, Park City's Treasure Mountain Inn, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar & Cafe, Beehive Distilling, and Xmission. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance and http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival   PRESS CONTACT: Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 Annie@CinematicRed.com  

This is your last chase to purchase Passes and Tickets ahead of the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival! Pass sales will close this Friday January 16th at 5PM PST. Ticket sales will close Tuesday, January 20th at 10PM PST. Limited Pass and Ticket sales will reopen at our Box Office on Thursday, January 22nd at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060. If you plan on being in Park City the All Access Pass is your best deal at Slamdance! It grants you access to all screenings, happy hours and events for the entire 2015 Slamdance Film Festival. There's something to do every day! Can't get enough of indie film? As an All Access Passholder you can go to as many movies as you like! Check out our Schedule here and the 2015 Festival Program here to see what films are for you! Want to make new friends and meet our Filmmakers? With your Pass you can have breakfast every morning, attend our daily happy hours, as well as all of the events and parties! The All Access Pass is available to the general public for $325. Work in the industry? The Industry Pass grants you all of the same access for only $275. Or maybe you live in Utah? Even better! The Local's Pass gives you all of the above for $150. Last but certainly not least, the Student Pass is available for $125 with your current valid student ID. Please note all happy hours and parties are 21+, sorry kiddos! To read more or purchase a Pass, please go here. If you will only be in Park City for a day or two and are looking to see a few screenings, please check out all of our films and purchase individual tickets here. Tickets are $8 for Shorts Blocks and $12 for Feature Films. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 23-29th at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060.

New streaming agreement provides online video distributor with over a dozen Slamdance selections. Slamdance Studios and Hulu kicked off a new partnership on Wednesday. The popular online video delivery site reached a deal with Slamdance Film Festival’s commercial distribution wing, Slamdance Studios, to stream a curated collection of films. The inaugural batch of Slamdance offerings includes 12 features and one documentary short, available here. Included among those titles immediately available is “D.I.Y.,” a documentary short featuring interviews with directors Chris Nolan (“Interstellar”) and Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: Episode VIII”); and “Tony,” a London-set thriller. Slamdance Studios also plans to add new programs to its Hulu channel on a monthly basis. “If you want to see the best in true indie flmmaking come and experience Slamdance on Hulu,” Peter Baxter, Slamdance president & co-founder, said in a statement. Slamdance Studios’ new Hulu agreement isn’t the company’s only current online distribution deal. Nicole Teeny’s “Bible Quiz,” winner of the Festival’s Grand Jury Prize, recently landed on Netflix. Here’s the complete list of Slamdance titles currently available on Hulu: "D.I.Y.” (Directed by Peter Baxter, Ben Hethcoat & Eric Ekman) A documentary about the do it yourself flmmaking movement. “Bindlestiffs” (Directed by Andrew Edison) Three high school virgins, suspended on a bogus graffiti charge, flee to the inner city in an attempt to live out the plot of “The Catcher In The Rye” — A book they have neither read nor understand. “The First Season” (Directed by Rudd Simmons) A documentary about the trials and tribulations of a couple attempting to survive their first season as dairy farmers. “Hybrid” (Directed by Monteith McCollum) A documentary about Milford Beeghly, a radical farmer in the 1930s who pioneered the process of genetically enhanced crops. Considered a madman, this documentary is a portrait of one man’s obsessive vision with plants. “American Jihadist” (Directed by Mark Claywell) Isa Abdullah Ali grew up in the ghettos of America’s capitol and was surrounded by physical and psychological violence. “American Jihadist” looks at what role violence and a lack of hope for the future play in the development of radicalism. “OK, Good” (Directed by Daniel Martinico) A character study of Paul Kaplan, an unremarkable actor whose increasing inability to communicate in situations where there’s no script slowly turns him into a ticking time bomb of inner rage. “Omaha (The Movie)” (Directed by Dan Mirvish) The story of a young man who returns home from a trip abroad to confront not just his peculiar family and friends, but also a pair of Colombian jewel thieves and a roving gang of Iowa kickboxers, culminating in a showdown at Carhenge. “Slam” (Directed by Marc Levin) The story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted, young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. “Tony" (Directed by Gerard Johnson) A thriller centered on a serial killer in a rundown London suburb. “Trailer Park of Terror” (Directed by Steven Goldmann) Six troubled high schoolers and their leader become lost after their bus crashes during a raging storm. They seek refuge for the night in an abandoned trailer park, managed by a sexy woman named Norma, but things quickly take a dark turn. “Wild In The Streets” (Directed by Peter Baxter) An ancient football game with goals three miles apart is the lifeblood of an English market town in this documentary. Slamdance Film Festival, billed as a Sundance alternative for emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking, is held annually in Park City, Utah. This year’s event, the 21st, kicked off on Jan. 23 and runs through Thursday January 29, 2015.

The Slamdance Film Festival Brings Together Independent Cinema’s Finest with 21st Festival Jury and Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Finalists (LOS ANGELES, CA – January 19, 2015) The Slamdance Film Festival announced today their Jury members for their 21st Anniversary, which includes many of the minds behind Kino Lorber Inc, Seed&Spark, Portland Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival and Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival, to name a few. Like in previous years, juries of leading industry experts and esteemed filmmakers determine the Slamdance Jury Awards for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Short Film categories. These awards will be presented on Thursday, January 29th, during the Festival’s Awards Ceremony. On Monday, January 26th, Digital Bolex will present FEARLESS FILMMAKING: ART ON YOUR OWN TERMS, a block of micro-shorts shot on the D16 camera that will bring together the Slamdance and Digital Bolex filmmaking communities. The shorts will be judged by a panel of acclaimed Slamdance alumni including Amber Benson (actress, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and writer, The Witches of Echo Park), Todd Berger (director, It's A Disaster), Laura Merians (cinematographer for Björk, Atoms For Peace, Sigur Ros), Kent Osborne (Emmy Award nominated writer, Adventure Time, Spongebob Squarepants), and Damon Russell (Oscar-winning producer, Curfew and director, Snow On Tha Bluff), with a prize presented to the best short film during the Slamdance Film Festival Awards Ceremony on January 29th. Slamdance alumni Ntare Mwine (Kuhani), Marie Jamora (Ang Nawawala), Paul Rachman (Zoe Rising), Nedra McClyde (First Baptist), Jeremy Osbern (The Only Good Indian), and Fernando Frias (Rezeta) will join Bright Ideas' James Kaelan, Digital Bolex's Elle Schneider and a diverse group of independent voices, all sharing an exciting range of short stories shot on the Digital Bolex D16 camera. The program will include the world premiere of Bright Ideas magazine's tribute to Jean-Luc Godard's lo-fi masterpiece Alphaville, celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary in 2015 with a gender-bent remix of the film starring Brennan Kelleher and Caitlin FitzGerald (Showtime's Masters of Sex). "Every Jury member participating this year is dedicated to helping independent filmmaking grow and we look forward to seeing which films will inspire them the most,” states Anna Germanidi, Festival Director. “We’re especially excited to bring the Slamdance and Digital Bolex communities together through the Fearless Filmmaking Competition. In addition to introducing us to new talent, it has given us an opportunity to welcome some of our alumni back to this year's festival." In addition to the micro-shorts block, Digital Bolex creative director and camera co-developer Elle Schneider will moderate Kaleidoscope Eyes: The Power of Diverse Voices in Cinematography, a “Fireside Chat” panel on the importance of choosing the right DP to tell your story. The event will take place on Tuesday, January 27. "We are thrilled to premiere 15 brand-new films at Slamdance, all shot on the D16 camera by a diverse group of artists from the Digital Bolex and Slamdance communities. The slate of finalists spans five countries and includes shorts from both industry veterans and newcomers who have never made a narrative before, and we're so excited to share their work with a festival audience and learn from their experiences shooting with the camera," says Elle Schneider of Digital Bolex. The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd - 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060. All Access, Industry, Local's, and Student Festival Passes are available online. To purchase, click here: http://showcase.slamdance.com/Passes-and-Tickets. Individual tickets for all screenings are now available here: http://bit.ly/1BfuEpX. More tickets will be available at the Festival Box Office starting Thursday, January 22nd at 9am. 2015 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL JURY NARRATIVE FEATURES Richard Lorber Richard Lorber is the CEO of Kino Lorber Inc., a company that for 35 years has been a leader in the release of acclaimed world cinema, award winning American independent films and classics. Recent releases include Jean Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D and Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Lorber was the co-founder and head of Fox Lorber, as well as its successor Koch Lorber Films. Before his business career, he earned bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Columbia University, taught art history and wrote art criticism. The French government has honored him with the “Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.” Todd Looby Todd Looby is a filmmaker and the Director of BendFilm in Bend, OR. His second narrative feature, Lefty, was named in “The Top 10 Movies of 2009” by the Chicago Tribune’s Metromix. His follow-up short film, Son of None, won the Special Jury Award at Slamdance ‘11. Todd’s 2013 feature, Be Good, starring indie-favorites Amy Seimetz and Joe Swanberg was called, “Well acted, crafted and observed” by Variety. Todd also released the Slamdance 2013 short doc, Lollywood. He is currently adapting the book A Saint on Death Row by New York Times best-selling author Thomas Cahill. Emilie Upzcak Originally from Boulder, CO, Emilie Upczak is a filmmaker, festival programmer, and Creative Director of the trinidad+tobago film festival, where she is spearheading the Caribbean Film Mart and Regional Database. She is also an MFA candidate in Film at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Emilie’s experimental video installations and short films have been exhibited worldwide. She is currently in pre-production on her debut feature, The Moving Parts of Love (working title), and is associate producer on the feature film, Play the Devil, directed by Bahamian filmmaker, Maria Govan. DOCUMENTARIES Paige Williams Paige Williams is an award winning filmmaker, entrepreneur, and the CEO & Founder of The Audience Awards, a film social network connecting audiences to film, festivals and brands. Now in its 10th year, Paige is the Executive Producer of The International Documentary Challenge – a 5-day film challenge with partners including POV, Fusion, DER and DocuMentors. Williams is excited to present the new Fusion Doc Challenge at Slamdance Film Festival this year. Josh Leake Portland-based producer/director Josh Leake is the founder and executive director of the Portland Film Festival. He produced Glena, a feature documentary that premiered at Slamdance ‘14. His film, Emptys, a documentary about people who collect beverage containers as their principal source of income, won first place at Tropfest New York. Leake is currently working on several projects including: Footsteps, Breathless, and an adaptation of a NY Times best-selling book. Follow him on Twitter @joshleake and @portlandfilm. Bryan Storkel Bryan Storkel loves telling true and unusual stories. His first film, Holy Rollers, was released by Warner Bros and featured on The Colbert Report and This American Life. His follow-up, Fight Church was picked up by Lionsgate/Netflix and is currently being developed into a series with Morgan Spurlock. Storkel also edited The Internet’s Own Boy, which was short-listed for this year’s Academy Awards. But most importantly, his film Little Hope Was Arson screened at last year’s Slamdance, where it sold to Independent Lens/PBS. Storkel is currently wrapping up his latest project, a 30-for-30 film he is directing for ESPN. NARRATIVE & ANIMATION SHORTS Sarah Cornell Sarah Cornell is a filmmaker, actor and writer living in Los Angeles. Originally from Toronto, Sarah began her filmmaking career with her first short film, Planet Sun, premiering at the 2010 Slamdance Festival. Her original web series, Get Lost! is available online and she is currently in preproduction for her first feature film, Mail Order Bride. Rory Haines Rory Haines is a British filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is an HFPA award-winning graduate of the Columbia University MFA film program and his feature screenplay From Here to Albion was named on the 2013 Blacklist and purchased by Participant Media. Rory also ran 3 of the largest channels on YouTube, amassing over 13 million subscribers and 2 billion views. In 2014 Rory was hired as CEO of New Media Rockstars, the top daily audience destination for fans of the social media space and a leading agency for brands looking to market online. Elle Schneider Elle Schneider is a graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and a dual recipient of the Marguerite Roberts scholarship for feature screenwriting. Originally from New York City, she works as a director and cinematographer for fashion films, music videos, commercials, and narratives. She was the cinematographer of 2013 SXSW Film Festival selection I Am Divine and cinematographer and co-producer of 2014 selection That Guy Dick Miller. Elle is a co-developer and creative director of Digital Bolex. EXPERIMENTAL & ANARCHY SHORTS Eve Cohen Eve M Cohen is the current Director of Content and Chief Creative Officer at Seed&Spark where she is dedicated to sustaining an independent film community. She loves making and watching movies, of any length and genre, but the short ones are her favorite. She is also a working Director of Photography in film and TV. Eve graduated from the UCLA/School of Arts and Architecture with a BFA in Photography and later received an MFA in Cinematography from the UCLA/School of Theater, Film and Television. She is also a content creator for Bright Ideas magazine. Laura Merians Laura Merians is a director/cinematographer living in LA and New York. In 2010, she began a collaboration with Whole Foods to shoot and direct content for their advertising campaign Dark Rye, which won her a James Beard award. Her short film Solipsist won Best Experimental Short at Slamdance ‘12. Her 2014 Atoms for Peace music video won Best Alternative Video at the UK Music Video Awards. She recently shot an interactive album cover and VR experience for Bjork’s new album. Her first feature film The Guilty Innocent, directed by Jamie Marshall and produced by Catherine Hardwicke, will be released in the fall. Dan Brawley Dan Brawley is the Executive Director of the Cucalorus Film Festival, an international celebration of filmmaking in Wilmington, NC, screening more than 250 films with programs on dance, social justice and emerging artists. Dan is a cultural catalyst, a ceremonialist, a real estate developer, a curatorial performance artist, and the founder of a growing village of transient creatives in historic downtown Wilmington where he conducts services as Saint 43 of the First National Church of the Exquisite Panic, Inc. Dan is also the past-Chair of the Board of Alternate ROOTS, an organization serving 14 southern states and supporting artists working for social justice. FEARLESS FILMMAKING FINALISTS ALPHAVILLE: A REMIX - James Kaelan (USA) Lemmy Caution seduces himself in this shot-for-shot feminist remix of Jean-Luc Godard's lo-fi science fiction masterpiece starring Caitlin FitzGerald. COURTESAN - Misti Boland and Jeremy Osbern (USA)* Two strangers meet on Christmas night... for sex and the exchange of money. REDUX20 - Paul Rachman (USA)* An experimental doc that steps into the spiraling frenetic journey of actor and artist Jason Cairns with whom the director worked 20 years ago on the film Drive Baby Drive. THE PERILOUS FIGHT - Nedra McClyde (USA)* A father wrestles with the decision to allow his young son to enter the world without him. THE CHARACTER STUDY - Luke Pelizzari (Canada) When an actor takes his character off the set and into his everyday life, he learns a valuable lesson about pretending to be something you're (definitely) not. JKTV - Elle Schneider (USA) A documentary exploring the work of New York webcam artist Joey Kim. ISOBEL - Marie Jamora (USA/Philippines)* Isobel lives in the Philippines and has been acting and painting since she was four -- now at the age of twelve, through conversation and archival footage, we see a portrait of her growing up. THE DAMMED - Fernando Frias (Mexico)* Ulises Zarazua has an American Passport but lives in Mexico city; I have a Mexican passport and live in New York. He made a song. I made a video. COMING TO - Lindsey Haun (USA) A man wakes up in a Koreatown hallway, naked except for a cock ring and frilly scarf. FINGER GUNS - Bryan Chojnowski (USA) Eve moves back to her hometown and it totally sucks, so Jack is going to make her smile -- even if it kills them. LOVE & I - Heather Kasprzak (USA) A true story about a young woman who sets out to find the father she hasn’t seen in 30 years. SALT WOUND - Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (USA)* A collage of four artists creating and purging with some dirt, dolls, a blanket and a goldfish. AQUARIUM - Ben McCrea (USA) A couple drive to the beach to say their final goodbye – one does not return. AN UNEXPECTED FAREWELL - Fredrik Ekholm (Sweden) A desperate man comes across a golden frame, which takes him on an unexpected journey. PASSPORT - Lisa Demaine (USA) Off on a bender, a Hollywood legend escapes an unhappy film set only to discover there’s no escaping your own myth. *Slamdance Alumni Film stills are available for press use only and can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1KR4y3f About DIGITAL BOLEX Originally funded on Kickstarter in 2012, the raw-shooting Digital Bolex cinema camera was developed by a team led by Joe Rubinstein over 18 months based on the input of the filmmakers who originally backed the project, resulting in the first truly crowd-sourced motion picture camera. Since its release in December of 2013, the Digital Bolex D16 has taken the indie filmmaking world by storm, in use by filmmakers from Spike Lee and Joe Dante to Ondi Timoner, and TV shows from Fox's Glee to Hemlock Grove. Films using the D16 have already played at the 2014 Brooklyn Film Festival, Venice Biennale, and Fantastic Fest. Bolex created the D16 to rival the image quality of the most expensive cameras on the market so that a more diverse pool of filmmakers can afford to get their hands on the cinema-quality cameras that enable confidence in sharing stories on the big screen at a festival like Slamdance. Indie film should be able to thrive beyond the Internet and VOD as it did on screens in the 16mm era; you shouldn't need a big budget to make a film that looks good projected in a theater. About SLAMDANCE Slamdance is a year­-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award­ winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America, Pierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Writers Guild of America West, Different By Design, Carhartt, Festival Scope, Final Draft, Park City's Treasure Mountain Inn, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar & Cafe, Beehive Distilling, and Xmission. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance and http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival   PRESS CONTACT: Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 Annie@CinematicRed.com

(PARK CITY, UT – January 29, 2015) – The 21st Slamdance Film Festival tonight announced the feature and short film recipients of this year's awards in the Audience, Jury, and Sponsored Categories. The award winners were announced at the festival’s annual Awards Ceremony at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, UT. As in previous years, juries of leading industry experts and esteemed filmmakers determined the Slamdance Jury Awards for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Short Film categories. The Audience Awards as well as the Spirit of Slamdance, an award given by the filmmakers of Slamdance 2015 to the filmmaker who best embodies the spirit of the Festival, were also bestowed. Additional sponsored awards included the Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Grand Prize and the Kodak Director’s Prize. The feature competition films in the Documentary and Narrative Programs are limited to first-time filmmakers working with production budgets of less than $1 million. “Congratulations to the winners of Slamdance and indeed to all of the filmmakers this year. The 2015 festival has shown us once again that if you want to see the best of real independent film, Slamdance is the place to be,” stated Peter Baxter, Slamdance President and Co-founder. “The Slamdance filmmakers and festival goers made the 2015 festival a resounding success,” stated Anna Germanidi, Festival Director. “Congratulations to all of our filmmakers for touching and inspiring audiences and jury members alike with their work.” AUDIENCE AWARDS Audience Award for Narrative Feature: ACROSS THE SEA, dir. by Nisan Dağ & Esra Saydam Damla is a Turkish immigrant estranged from her homeland; she lives in New York City with her husband, Kevin, and they’re expecting their first child. But Damla is still haunted by memories of her first love and when she returns to Turkey with Kevin she has to confront a troubling secret from her past. Audience Award for Documentary Feature: SWEET MICKY FOR PRESIDENT, dir. by Ben Patterson Music and politics collide when international music star Pras Michel of the Fugees returns to his homeland of Haiti, following the devastating earthquake of 2010, to mobilize a presidential campaign for Haiti’s most controversial musician: Michel Martelly aka Sweet Micky. The politically inexperienced pair set out against a corrupt government, civil unrest, and a fixed election. JURY AWARDS - NARRATIVE This year's Slamdance Narrative Jury Prizes were selected by the esteemed panel of industry members Richard Lorber, Todd Looby and Emilie Upczak. Jury Award for Narrative Feature: TIRED MOONLIGHT, dir. by Britni West “A masterful fusion of cinematic vision and poetic narrative, Tired Moonlight effortlessly transports you from the prosaic surroundings of its poignant characters' lives into a realm of unexpected beauty and spiritual authenticity with an unforced craftsmanship.” The award winner was granted $3,500 in legal services from Pierce Law Group. Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature: THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE, dir. by Perry Blackshear “With rare filmmaking skill, brains, precision and outstanding performances, Perry Blackshear and his cast and crew silence critics who claim very small and contained films like this can't be riveting and brilliant.” Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature: ACROSS THE SEA, dir. by Nisan Dağ & Esra Saydam “Through transcendent cinematography trained on the mystical Mediterranean setting and wonderful minute of uncertain love, directors Nisan Dağ and Esra Saydam provide a beautiful, intense and honest look at a relationship in peril.” JURY AWARDS - DOCUMENTARY This year's Slamdance Documentary Jury Prizes were selected by the esteemed panel of industry members Paige Williams, Josh Leake and Bryan Storkel. Jury Award for Documentary Feature: SWEET MICKY FOR PRESIDENT, dir. by Ben Patterson “Sweet Micky For President takes the audience on an unbelievable, wild ride through difficult Haitian politics, in a story that is both entertaining and educational. The film is an enormous accomplishment for first-time director Ben Patterson and is a great example of why Slamdance exists - to celebrate new works by new directors whose films can help change our perspective on the world - one story at a time.” The award winner was granted $3,500 in legal services from Pierce Law Group. Jury Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature: 20 YEARS OF MADNESS, dir. by Jeremy Royce “Reminding us that it’s never too late to chase your dreams, 20 Years of Madness is brimming with stunning cinematography, eccentric characters and a heartfelt story about the desire to do something great while confronting the reality of failure.” Jury Award for Documentary Short: THE SOLITUDE OF MEMORY, dir. by Juan Pablo González “Juan Pablo González paints a vivid and eloquent portrait of a devoted father and the love for his son, drawing deep emotions from the viewer through his use of gorgeous cinematography, moving music and an incredibly honest, trusting main subject.” The award winner qualifies for the Annual Academy Awards®. Jury Honorable Mention for Documentary Short: DOLPHIN LOVER, dir. by Kareem Tabsch “Storytelling is an art form, and this film is a prime example of using this medium in a beautiful way to tell a seriously fucked-up, but very true and engaging story.” JURY AWARDS - SHORT FILMS The below Short Film Jury Prizes were selected by the esteemed panel of industry members Sarah Cornell, Rory Haines and Elle Schneider. Jury Award for Narrative Short: STAY AWAKE, dir. by Jamie Sisley “Stay Awake exhibits a remarkable empathy for characters who find themselves trapped in an unenviable moral dilemma. The cast's stand-out performances convey a depth of emotion few short films are able to achieve.” The award winner qualifies for the Annual Academy Awards®. Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Short: 09:55 - 11:05, INGRID EKMAN, BERGSGATAN 4B, dir. by Christine Berglund & Sophie Vukovic “A complex, captivating and thoughtful slice of humanity. Delicately shot, with beautiful performances from both women, the film sears itself into your emotional core and remains there for days.” Jury Award for Animation Short: THE PRIDE OF STRATHMOOR, dir. by Einar Baldvin “The Pride of Strathmoor is akin to a short, unpleasant trip to the insane asylum. The Poe-esque rendering of madness is perfectly complemented by the inventively textured animation.” The award winner qualifies for the Annual Academy Awards®. Jury Honorable Mention for Animation Short: HIPOPOTAMY, dir. by Piotr Dumala “An outstanding display of technical craft, the authentic animation style of Hipopotamy accentuates the uncomfortable story.” The below Short Film Jury Prizes were selected by esteemed industry members Eve Cohen and Dan Brawley. Jury Award for Experimental Short: RED LUCK dir. by Mike Olenick “If anything represents the experimental spirit of Slamdance, it’s this tin-foiled caper – an original and striking film full of layered and unexpected images. The film manages to offer a million different narrative paths – from dark and funny to weird and sparkly. A perfect example of a singular experimental work that is easy to watch again and again.” Jury Award for Anarchy Short: DEVIANCE, dir. by Aron Kantor “Deviance is the kind of raunchy nonsense that Slamdance embraces. A perverse pleasure diving in and out of reality that left us half-boned and just slightly numb from laughing. If anarchy at Slamdance is an anti-genre, then Deviance is the battle cry of 'fuck the system.” Jury Honorable Mention for Anarchy Short: SEA DEVIL, dir. by Dean C. Marcial & Brett Potter “A mythological tale without true beginning or end, this cinematic anarchy short pushes the edges of traditional storytelling, weaving three stories into one, and leaves you hanging. A bold work full of questions, puzzles and refreshing choices - another blazing Borscht experiment.” SPECIAL AWARDS Spirit of Slamdance Award: THINK INK, dir. by Wally Chung The Spirit of Slamdance is awarded by the filmmakers of Slamdance 2015. It goes to the filmmaker who best embodies the spirit of the festival, creatively promoting their film, joyfully participating in screenings and events, and generally putting good energy into the festival. The Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking awards were selected by the esteemed panel of industry members Amber Benson, Todd Berger, Kent Osborne, and Damon Russell. Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Grand Prize: COMING TO, dir. by Lindsey Haun, DP Spencer Rollins, starring Jacob Demonte-Finn “A film that includes a little bit of everything in a very short time. Mystery, laughs, an impressive performance, and some mighty fine camerawork and cinematography. And like any great short film, it has you desperately wanting to know what happens next.” The award winner was granted a 512gb Digital Bolex D16 Camera. Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Honorable Mention: THE CHARACTER STUDY, dir.& DP Luke Pelizzari “Creating tension in any film is hard, but to do it so effectively and gracefully with a very simple premise is truly an achievement of storytelling.” Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Honorable Mention: ISOBEL, dir. by Marie Jamora, DP Jason McLagan “Perfectly capturing the theme of filmmaking on your own terms, this short highlights the magic and wonder of childhood when anything is creatively possible.” Kodak Director’s Prize: DETRITUS, dir. by T.J. Misny Given on behalf of Kodak to a promising new filmmaker making bold, film-worthy directorial choices. The filmmaker was awarded a $10,000 credit for Kodak film stock to be used on their next project. All Jury, Audience and Spirit of Slamdance winners were granted Final Draft 9 provided by Final Draft. About Slamdance About SLAMDANCE Slamdance is a year­-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award­ winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Directors Guild of America, Pierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Writers Guild of America West, Different By Design, Carhartt, Festival Scope, Final Draft, Park City's Treasure Mountain Inn, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar & Cafe, Beehive Distilling, and Xmission. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance and http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival   PRESS CONTACT: Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 Annie@CinematicRed.com

Did you attend the 21st Slamdance Film Festival? Curious what the story is behind all those funky trailers? Well we have the full trailer by 2015 Slamdance artist Steve Girard here to answer all your lingering questions! Slamdance 2015 Trailer from stevieeatsworms on Vimeo. Slamdance Alumnus Steve Girard, whose short film WAWD AHP won the Jury Award for Best Anarchy Short in 2014, designed and created the artwork and trailers for the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival. You can see more of his work at steveeatsworms.tumblr.com and also check out his latest project on Kickstarter, Floaters Dot Com, here!

Two premiere cinema organizations have partnered to bring fresh independent films to ArcLight audiences with the Slamdance Cinema Club.   (LOS ANGELES, CA—February 16, 2015) Beginning March 2015, movie lovers in Los Angeles will have another reason to celebrate with the premiere of Slamdance Cinema Club, a new series of independent films titles to be shown exclusively at ArcLight Cinemas. Each month, the Slamdance Cinema Club will select new independent films from the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival to be screened at ArcLight Hollywood followed by a filmmaker Q&A, with high-profile surprise guests and moderators.   For years, the Slamdance Film Festival has celebrated independent filmmaking and ran concurrently to Sundance Film Festival, serving as an alternative for filmmakers to debut their films. Now, for the first time, Los Angeles moviegoers will have an opportunity to watch these films at ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood. The series kicked-off on March 8 with sold out screenings of “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake” from filmmaker Steve Yu, and “Bloodsucking Bastards” by Brian James O'Connell. The series will continue monthly with the following screenings and showtimes: April 12th, 8pm Across The Sea by Esra Saydam & Nisan Dag Damla is a Turkish immigrant estranged from her homeland; she lives in New York City with her husband, Kevin, and they’re expecting their first child. But Damla is still haunted by memories of her first love and when she returns to Turkey with Kevin she has to confront a troubling secret from her past. Reserve tickets here April 13th, 8pm Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang by Colin Offland After forging an unlikely friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Dennis Rodman hatched an idea to improve relations between North Korea and the US. For the first time, discover the true story of what happened when Dennis Rodman took a team of former NBA players to North Korea and staged the most controversial game of basketball the world has never seen. Reserve tickets here March 8th, 8pm The Resurrection of Jake The Snake by Steve Yu The story of professional wrestling legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts as he battles out from the depths of drug addiction, financial disaster, and depression with the help of an old friend and student. Reserve tickets here March 9th, 8pm Bloodsucking Bastards by Brian James O'Connell A horror comedy that follows corporate drone Evan Sanders as he finds a way to stop the evil brewing in his co-workers' cubicles, win back his girlfriend, and rescue his workplace pals before his life goes from being dead-end... to just dead. Reserve tickets here “For over a decade, ArcLight Cinemas has celebrated film by bringing a variety of content to an audience of passionate moviegoers, showing films the way the filmmaker intended,” said Gretchen McCourt, executive vice president, cinema programming, ArcLight Cinemas. “Our partnership with the Slamdance Cinema Club is tremendous opportunity to continue our support for independent films, bringing these incredible stories to life on the big screen and showcasing the talent of existing and emerging filmmakers.” “ArcLight Cinemas has continued to be a shining light for independent cinema fans looking for a rich cinematic experience and we are thrilled to be partnering with such a visionary company that cares so deeply about the future of film,” states Slamdance President & Co-Founder, Peter Baxter. Slamdance Cinema Club upcoming dates: March 8th & 9th April 12th & 13th May 17th & 18th June 14th & 15th July 12 & 13th August 9th & 10th To reserve seats and learn more about upcoming titles visit ArcLight Cinemas Here. About ArcLight Cinemas ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, a privately owned, Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, as well as one theater in Bethesda, Md. Additional theaters are under construction in Chicago and Glenview, Ill., Culver City and Santa Monica, Calif., for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theatres currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, Calif. Additional information about the ArcLight Cinemas is available at https://www.arclightcinemas.com/ Connect with ArcLight: https://twitter.com/ArcLightCinemas and https://www.facebook.com/ArclightCinemas About Slamdance Slamdance is a year-round organization and film festival that serves as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and innovative filmmaking. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers and is a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers. The festival began as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and they continue to run concurrently. Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have accumulated over $11.5 billion in the Box Office to date. Slamdance's On The Road events and Slamdance Studios' developing commercial distribution platform continue to increase opportunities for filmmakers both internationally and domestically. In partnership with Vimeo On Demand, Slamdance Studios is developing Slamdance 20, a collection of twenty festival award winning and audience favorite films; titles include Matt Johnson's The Dirties, Andrew Edison's Bindlestiffs, and Daniel Martinico's OK, Good. The 2014 On The Road tour was presented by CreativeFuture. Slamdance Studios also launched a film collection on Hulu in January, including 12 feature films and 1 documentary short from Slamdance alumni which are available to stream now, with new films to be added monthly. Viewers can access Slamdance Studios at http://www.hulu.com/companies/slamdance Over 2,500 submissions competed for prizes in the 2014 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. This year’s Grand Prize winner was the Original Teleplay Search For Life by Andrea Janakas, which was awarded a total of $7,000 in cash prizes. Submissions for the 2015 Slamdance Screenplay Competition will open on February 23rd. 2015 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include Digital Bolex, The International Fusion Doc Challenge, Zealot Networks Directors Guild of America, BlackMagic DesignPierce Law Group, CreativeFuture, Writers Guild of America West, Different By Design, Carhartt, Festival Scope, Final Draft, Park City's Treasure Mountain Inn, and Salt Lake City's BlueStar Juice Bar & Cafe, Beehive Distilling, and Xmission. Slamdance is proud to partner with sponsors who support emerging artists and push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival ### PRESS CONTACTS: Slamdance Contact Annie Jeeves/Cinematic Red Phone: 323.834.9733 annie@cinematicred.com ArcLight Contact Jennie Peters/Allison + Partners Phone: 310-496-4442 jennie@allisonpr.com  

Last week, Withoutabox asked our Readers to give them a bit of insight on our review process and the season ahead. Check out what they had to say to put your best script forward! The Screenplay Competition Early Deadline is April 7th, submit today and learn more about the competition here.   What is the first thing you take note of when reviewing a screenplay? The FIRST thing we note is character - has the writer taken the time to create an interesting character with something to do in the storyline? Does the protagonist (or protagonists if it's an ensemble) feel like a real person? Does he/she have personality and flaws, fears and talents, that are going to help them move through this world? If you could give a screenwriter one piece of advice for their submission, what would it be? Proof. There's nothing that drives Readers crazier than a script that's full of typos, poor grammar, and bad formatting. While we'd never judge a script based on formatting alone, all those little mistakes add up, pulling us out of the narrative. The goal for any script should be a smooth reading experience; you don't want anything to distract the Reader from the world, the characters, and the storyline. Slamdance offers a very useful Feedback Service to all submitters and Coverage Service for an additional fee, what is the most common constructive criticism that screenwriters should be aware of? Make sure your protagonist is driving the storyline. There's a big difference between a main character who lets things happen to him/her and is swept along in the world of the story, and one who makes a decision and takes action to achieve a goal. The first gives us an interesting situation to observe, but the second pulls us along for the ride, gives the story structure, direction, and stakes. Have you noticed trends among Slamdance's four submission categories? There are new sub-categories every season! Right now, genre scripts are moving out of fairytales, but science fiction is hot. Romantic comedies and dramas seem to be less popular than horror and thriller scripts. Period pieces are becoming more common in TV pilots. It changes every year, but we're at an interesting point for TV writers - with new avenues like Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix opening up to original programming, there are new opportunities opening up for writers all all the time! In the past, TV has been seen as somewhat secondary to features, but that has definitely changed, and now a great pilot can hold its own against the Features category any day - note that a teleplay won last year's Grand Prize! The Slamdance Screenplay Competition is accepting submissions now through July 22nd. We welcome scripts of all genres in our four categories: Feature, Short, Horror and Original Teleplay. Every entrant receives feedback with coverage available at an additional price. Prizes include up to $11,00 in cash! Connect with Slamdance: http://twitter.com/slamdance http://www.facebook.com/SlamdanceFilmFestival