Midwest Movie Maker

The heroine (maybe?) from 'Sweetest Day'  > > > A new film festival in Akron, Ohio, kicks off the spooky season on Sept. 16, but The Akron Independent Horror Short Film Festival is less about grisly visual effects and jump scares. It’s about community, says festival director Neil Sudhakaran.“It’s community building,” Sudhakaran explains. “It’s about giving artists a stage and an audience to showcase their work.” As if to underscore the festival’s commitment to community, films will unspool at The Akron Civic Theatre , which has a rich tradition of funding and producing local programming led by local artists. “We want to give these filmmakers the most eyeballs and exposure to their work as we can - and horror brings in eyeballs,” Sudhakaran says. We sat down via email with Sudhakarn recently to learn more about the new film fest. Q&A with Neil Sudhakaran, director of The Akron Independent Horror Short Film Festival Midwest Movie Maker: How important was it to show...

FunMill Films second annual film festival is accepting submissions now Technology has opened up the world of filmmaking to nearly anyone who wants to make their passion project. You can write the screenplay, draw the storyboards, shoot the footage, edit the film, and premiere it on YouTube, Vimeo or another similar service all on your phone . What technology can’t do - not yet, anyway - is give your film true industry cred. One way you can gain that stamp of approval? Have your movie screened at a film festival.  What a film festival can do for your movie Even today, most industry professionals see film festivals as an arbiter of talent. Though submission criteria vary, most festival organizers will view, select and screen the best films submitted. Large or small, festivals want to succeed. Sharing great stories with audiences is how to do that. If your film is selected for screening, it tells a producer or financier that you are serious about your passion and can create consumable...

Kristina Michelle, co-founder of the Horror Hotel Convention, on the set of Horror Hotel Autumn is the favorite season for most horror movie fans. As Halloween approaches - fittingly, you might say, at the end of October’s life - scary movies debut and horror film festivals open their dungeon doors. That’s changing. Summer is giving Halloween a run for its money. That’s when independent thriller lovers and devotees of bone-chilling ghost stories check in to Northeast Ohio’s Horror Hotel Convention . The festival, now in its fourth year, takes place the first weekend of June. This year's festival comes to town June 5 to June 7 at the Clarion Inn & Conference Center in Hudson, Ohio . We took a few minutes to speak with Kristina Michelle , one of the convention founders, to learn more about the show: Midwest Movie Maker (MMM) : Tell us about the Horror Hotel Convention. What’s it all about and what does it celebrate? Kristina Michelle (KM) : Horror Hotel is an...