Cut To The Chase Film Festival is celebrating its third edition on Sept. 18, 19 and 20. Be a part of this up and coming Mid Atlantic Film Festival. Kick off this year’s event at our Premiere Party on Sept. 18 at The Entler Hotel from 7 10 p.m.

Guests will have the opportunity to meet this year’s filmmakers and our panel of judges, Catlin Renee Campbell, Sam Holdren and Kathryn Burns. Films will be showcased throughout the evening. Enjoy local foods and beverage provided by Domestic, Capikorn Farm Cheese, Royalicious, Bloomery Planation Distillery, Jefferson Distributing and Grapes and Grains. All films will be screened on Saturday and Sunday at the Historic Shepherdstown Opera House, home of the first talking movies in West Virginia. Owned and operated by the 2014 WV Filmmaker of the Year, Lawrence Cumbo.

All films are eight minutes or less, including title and credits. Films must include the Key Element for 2015 “Bridge” Filmmakers can shoot on any device.

The Key Element is used as a time stamp to indicated that your film has been made for this years festival. So don’t get hung up on making a film about bridges. As a matter of fact think about all of the possibilities. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Who’s interested in a game of bridge. A bridge is a building block of a musical composition. Use an image, say the word, its that easy.

This year audiences will have the pleasure of viewing and selecting “Fan Fave” from 11 short films including animation, suspense, comedy, drama and documentaries. Movies will be screened from local, regional and international filmmakers. It is with great delight that we present the “Official Selection” of films to be showcased at this year’s event.

Films include: Andrew Chambers, Sydney, Australia ,’The Detectives of Noir Town’; Katherine Walsh Ryan, Shepherdstown,”Rainbow Bridge”; Andrew Broadhurst, Martinsburg,”Sleepy Creek”; Dai Griffiths, Berkley Springs, “The Croquet Calamity”; David Smith, Huntington, “Bridge It Up!”; Derek Thomas, Bluemont, Virginia,”Clockwork”; Susan Whigham, San Francisco, California, “Wicked Heart”; Wesley Shrum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, “Light Years”; Pierre Gaffie’, Paris, France, “20 Meters of Love in Montmartre”; Jim Surkamp, Shepherdstown, ” A Bridge Destroyed”; Giovanni Masini-Larsen, Shepherdstown, “Dangerous Dudes.”

Jusdges for the festival are: Sam Holdren wears many hats as a film and media professional. Most recently, he was the Location Manager for AMC’s The Making of the Mob: New York. In addition to past work as as a professor of Filmmaking and Screenwriting at West Virginia State University, as well as his work as an award-winning filmmaker — producing, writing, and/or directing multiple short films which have screened in dozens of film festivals across North America — Holdren’s other experiences include: Local Casting Director of James Franco’s feature film Child of God, which premiered at the 2013 Venice Film Festival; and Key Assistant Location Manager for the Emmy-winning History Channel miniseries The Men Who Built America. Holdren earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications, and a Bachelor of Arts in English: Professional Writing from West Virginia State University, and an M.F.A. in Film & Media Arts from Temple University. Holdren is currently in post-production on the upcoming short film Exceptance, and is a Producer/Cast Member of the upcoming sci-fi film Transience. For more information, please go to www.imdb.me/samholdren.

Caitlin Rene Campbell, is an Actress and Producer, who has performed in regional theatre throughout the United States. Favorite roles include Pinter’s One for the Road at SoHo Rep, NYC; Sorority Queen in a Mobile Home, Matrix Theatre/LA; and, Diary of a Scoundrel and The Crucible, Tabakov Theatre/Moscow, Russia. She has two independent film projects in post-production the coming-of-age-traumedy, EXCEPTance, directed by Sam Holdren, and RETREAT, from the production team of Fully Loaded, slated for the 2015 film festival circuit.

Caitlin Renee produces theatre and works in film as a Producer, 1st A.D. and UPM. This Summer she produced her third Neil LaBute LA Premiere In a Dark Dark House, Matrix Theatre. As a Producer/1st AD she recently completed The Passing Parade starring Tessa Ferrer and the webisode The Reveal starring John Lacy.

cRc is a native West Virginian, completing her BFA at West Virginia University, studying for her MFA at California Institute of the Arts, and graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and the Moscow Art Theatre in a dual MFA program. She is a member of SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Women in Film, Producers League of Los Angeles and the DGA. She is the Festival Director of the WV FILMmakers Festival. www.caitlinrene.com

Kathryn Burns is owner of The Bridge Gallery, located in Shepherdstown. As owner and curator for the past 8 year, Kathryn has showcased over 150 artists. She is a community activist and often features programs to raise money for Audubon Society, Jefferson County Arts Council and the Jefferson County Humane Society. Burns has acquisition art in addition to consulting, framing and installing art for commercial venues for over 20 years, serving Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Offical Selection -The Detectives of Noir Town

In a town where puppets and people walk the streets, a puppet detective is on the case of his missing uncle. Though he has competition from every man, woman and dummy wanting to be named Noir Town’s top detective.

(Writer/Director/Producer) With dreams of becoming an actor, Andrew quickly realised that he was more interested in what was happening behind the camera. He switched to filmmaking and discovered a strong talent for writing and directing. Andrew attended filmmaking courses at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and AFTRS Melbourne to round out his skill set. This gave him the confidence to write, produce and direct a full season of 25 Frames (a movie review and comedy sketch show) for TVS a community station in Australia. Several short films later, Andrew wrote, produced and directed his stand-out comedy short ‘My Thoughts Exactly’ which was screened at the Sydney Underground Film Festival in 2014.

Schedule of Events

Friday Sept. 18; Premiere Party Entler Hotel. Gather at the Entler Hotel to kick off this year’s film festival. Come and meet our participating filmmakers and judges. Hang out, enjoy the music, local fare and fine beverages. Short films will be showcased as well. 7 10 p.m. Cost:$20 Tickets are available at the Local Source Eventbrite.com

Saturday Sept. 19, Opera House. Tickets available at Eventbrite.com for all screenings. This year our audience will have the pleasure of viewing and selecting “Fan Fave” from 11 short films including animation, suspense, comedy, drama and documentaries. Screening I, 2 4 p.m. Tickets $8, Students with Id $5. Vote for “Fan Fave” 4 5 p.m.

Stick around and participated in a Q & A with award winning filmmakers. Justin Littion and Jacob Fertig will joins us to talk about their award-winning movies and upcoming projects. Border Patrol is a final Master’s film production at Northern Film School and is a collaboration featuring the work of cinematograpjer Justin Litton. This film is a dark comedy with a sharp dose of horror for good measure. The Flocking: Deep Space Microsodes is the brain child of Jason Fertig which will be featured in our Director’s Reel. For the first time the Festival Director’s Natoma Reed-Vargason and Bill Veldran have curated short films that they have seen during the past year that do not necessary fall in the critria of the Official Selections. In addition to Jacob and Justin films we will be screening ” Ben Moon and Denali” a touching tribute to his dog Denali, Steve Cutts Illustrator and & Animator created ” Man” which looks at mans relationship with the natural world. and Re-Belief, produced by Raymond McCarthy Bergeron. award-winning 3D printed, handcrafted short film, that asks if recalling memories can break a cycle.

Screening II: The panel of judges, Catlin Renne Campbell, Sam Holdren and Kathryn Burns will determine who will be awarded a cash prize and a custom designed trophy by local multi media craftsman Bradley Sanders. Join us afterward to celebrate. 7 10 p.m. Tickets $10, No discounts apply.

Sunday Sept. 20, Opera House , Rewind Sunday; Screening I; 1 3 p.m. Tickets $8, Students $5 with Id. Screening II, 4 6 p.m. Tickets $8, Students $5 with ID. The audiences votes will be tally and the “Fan Fave” will be awarded a cash prize and a custom designed trophy by local multi media craftsman Bradley Sanders.

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