2019 AWARD WINNERS!

Here at Something Wicked Film Festival we have three different types of awards to represent different ideas of what an “award winning film” can be.  Our film festival represents the very best in student, amateur, semi-professional, and professional film-makers.  It is our idea that a film festival should represent the growing talents and achievements of film-makers from all disciplines especially the student and amateur as they are the ones with the least amount of representation at film festivals.  We also believe that the film festival is a place where these young film-makers can see their work represented in front of an audience and they can get feedback on their material.  Without the added benefit of feedback and networking (in any art form and not just film) we can’t grow and evolve as artists.

So, with our film festival we have our Main Awards which are chosen by our Festival Judge, Philip Wray, and his Jury Members (made up of over ten people in the industry) who decide on the winners.  Awards in this category include – Best Experimental Short Film, Best Horror Short Film, Best Direction of a Feature Film, Best Feature Film, Best Female Actor in a Short Film, etc. among many others.  These are presented to the film-makers on Sunday during the Awards Ceremony.

For our Festival Director Awards, my staff and I choose the winners of some of the more “fun” categories such as Goriest Film, Scariest Film, Scream Queen of the Year, and Bad Ass of the Year, among many others.  These are presented on Friday, August 2^nd throughout the day and given mention during my Opening Night speech.  These are especially interesting because they acknowledge both shorts and features and allows some films to be signaled out for a specifically great technical achievement of some type.

Out last type of award is the Audience Choice Award which is revealed one week after the film festival after all ballots have been collected and tallied.  These winners are chosen by You, the Audience, so anyone can when these which makes them especially interesting for film-makers.

Below is our list of 2019 Main Award and Festival Award Winners (Audience Choice will be revealed later)!  We congratulate all film-makers for a job well done and we hope you all continue to grow as film-makers and that your films have a successful festival run and we look forward to seeing what you come up with next!

Special Thanks!

The 2019 Something Wicked Film Festival is over but there is still so much that still needs to be said.  We would first like to thank all our Sponsors for contributing to the success of our event because without them we would not have had an event.  I would also like to thank our staff and volunteers who helped make the experience for our visiting film-makers the best that it could be.

Zacky the Zombie

August 2-4 was a huge deal for everyone at SWFF as it marked our fourth continuous year in operation and a shift in a lot of things behind the scenes as we make preparations for next year’s fifth year anniversary.  We had a lot of the same things that film-makers had come accustomed to from previous years such as our panel discussions, screenings mixed with both features and shorts, our very our “festival posters” that were hung on walls and placed in frames throughout the venue, pictures with our mascot Zacky the Zombie, and film-maker Q&As after the screenings, among other things.  We did bring back our film-maker one-on-one interviews (which have subsequently become part of our “An Interview With…” web series) and we gave out gift bags to all the visiting film-makers. 

One of the things we want to do for film-makers and audience members is to bring them a weekend experience unlike what they might get at any other film festival.  Some of my staff are film-makers whose films have been screened in various film festivals and they’ve all been different types of experiences but the worst is an experience that leaves you with nothing as a film-maker in terms of the appreciation of the screening experience and/or extended education as a film-maker from networking opportunities to seminars and panel discussions.  The film festival experience can be pretty hollow if you get nothing out of it.

Krissy Notes

My staff and I want film-makers’ experience to be something that they remember so that they continue to submit their films to us and come to our event every year.  For those that are unfortunate to make it out, we want them to be able to see what an experience they are missing so that they decide to make it out the following year (whether they have a film screening or not).

Lynn Lowry

This year I want to give a special thanks to accomplish actors Lynn Lowry and Krissy Notes.  Both of these actors were part of our 2019 Georgia Spotlight program in which we screened a curated selection on material from their career followed by a Q&A with audience members.  This is a program we’ve done for all four years of our event highlighting the talents of Georgia based film-makers.  We think this sets us apart from other film festivals as we make it a mandate to support our local film artists.  We are especially thankful for Lynn for being our Opening Night Presentation on August 2^nd which we’ve never done with one of our Georgia Spotlights so this was especially special for us.

Sonya Thompson

We’d also like to give a special thanks to our 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Sonya Thompson who was on hand August 2^nd to receive her award and present all weekend to meet and greet film-makers throughout the event.  She has worked with numerous Georgia film-makers her entire career but  may be best known to most audiences as one of the most iconic zombies used in the marketing campaign for AMC’s The Walking Dead since the very beginning (and continues to be used even today almost ten years later).  I’ve personally worked with her numerous times but the reason we chose her as our Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for this year is because of her reputation with Georgia film-makers who place her on the top of their lists for influential and dependable actors in the state.  I’ve yet to personally meet a film-maker who wouldn’t love to work with her or continue to work with her.

"That's What She RIFFED"

We’d also like to thank the hosts of the live improv comedy show “That’s What She RIFFED” which gave a live presentation on Saturday, August 3^rd of the classic cult film Heavy Metal (1981), which none of the cast members had seen before that night; it made for a very “special” screening for audience members.  They also assisted with this year’s Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 4^th!  Check out this All-Female hosted live riffing show once a month (https://www.facebook.com/thatswhatsheriffed/) and we were honored for their assistance this year.

And last, we would like to thank all the film-makers that came out this year for the weekend event!  For without you to be on site to represent your films and watch all the other films being screened we wouldn’t have an event.  Year four may be at an end but our 5^th Year Anniversary is just around the corner and we hope to continue bringing film-makers and audiences a great experience that they look forward to from year to year!

Special Events This Weekend!

The Weekend there will be plenty of stuff to do at Something Wicked Film Festival whether you are watching films, listening in on Panel Discussions, or networking with other film-makers.  We wanted to take the time to show you some of the amazing Special Events to look out for and to make sure you enjoy the weekend.  Make sure to purchase your tickets today - https://filmfreeway.com/somethingwickedfilmfestival/tickets