Mica Jordan – Memphis Flyer

Indie Memphis Youth Fest Spotlights New Generation of Filmmakers

Post author By Chris McCoy
Post date August 23, 2022
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From its inception 25 years ago as a forum for Memphis filmmakers to show their work, Indie Memphis has had artist development as a big part of its mission. The ultimate expression of that mandate is the Youth Film Fest. Now in its seventh year, the Youth Film Fest returns in-person this Saturday, August 27th, after two years of meeting virtually.

The one-day fest will be held Downtown at the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre. This year’s keynote speaker will be Craig Brewer, director of Hustle & Flow and Coming 2 America. Brewer is a Memphis filmmaking pioneer who wrote, directed, and produced his first movie The Poor & Hungry here in 2000. He will be speaking on the subject of storytelling and the importance of understanding not only what techniques will move the audience, but also why and how each story is being told.

During the spring and summer, the Indie Memphis CrewUp program brings together groups of students between grades 7 and 12 to create a short film under the tutelage of a professional to screen at the Youth Film Fest. This year’s batch of nine films, all produced with budgets of $500, will screen at 12:15 p.m. A second batch of 11 short films created by Mid-South students will screen at 5 p.m. The audience will vote for their favorite film, which will win a $300 prize. The winner of the jury prize will receive $500.

A new production grant program modeled on the highly successful IndieGrants awards $5,000 to one youth filmmaker for a short-film proposal. The first Youth Grant winner in 2019 was Janay Kelley. Her film “The River” will make its world premiere at 2 p.m., accompanied by an informational session about the requirements of the grant program.

Workshops will be held throughout the afternoon, including makeup with Mandie J, production design and title graphics with Mica Jordan, stunt choreography with Jyo “Six” Carolino, directing actors with Princeton James, cinematography with Jason Thibodeaux, and the delightfully titled “Producing & Other Weird Jobs” with Sharrika Evans.

The day will end with a group dinner and trivia contest at 6:45 p.m., and the awards show at 7:30 p.m.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 27th. Passes, which can be either in-person or, for those unable to attend, virtual, are available at the Indie Memphis website.

Courtesy Indie Memphis

A filmmaking workshop at Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest 2018

Indie Memphis’ Youth Film Fest has been the film organization’s most successful new recent addition. It has taken the festival’s mission of developing Memphis talent to its logical conclusion: Start early, and give the kids tools to succeed.

This year’s festival takes place this Saturday, September 7th, at the Orpheum Theater’s Halloran Center. Youth festers will be greeted by keynote speaker Caitlin McGee. The actress, who has appeared in Halt and Catch Fire and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, is the star of the NBC series Bluff City Law, currently filming in Memphis, which will premiere September 23rd.
Courtesy NBCUniversal

Caitlin McGee, star of Bluff City Law

The day of workshops will include a seminar on music videos by Unapologetic Records’ IMAKEMADBEATS, a screen-acting workshop by Rosalyn R. Ross (who recently landed her own role in Bluff City Law), Matteo Servante and Ryan Earl Parker speaking on the synergy between director and cinematographer, and Mica Jordan on production design. Jamey Hatley, Indie Memphis’ first Black Filmmaker Screenwriting Fellow, will teach writing for the screen.

Screenings begin in the afternoon with a program from the CrewUp Mentorship program. Teams of three students from grades 7-12, paired with an adult filmmaker-mentor, created these nine films on offer. A lineup of short films from students outside the Memphis area bows at 2:30 p.m. Eleven films from Memphis filmmakers screening out of juried competition roll at 3:45 p.m., with admission on a pay-what-you-can basis. Finally, at 6:15 p.m., the competition screening will pit 19 young filmmakers from Germantown, Whitehaven, Hutchison, Arlington, Millington, White Station, St. Benedict, Ridgeway, and the homeschooled. The winner will receive $500 cash and a $5,000 production package from Via Productions.
Justin Fox Burks

IMAKEMADBEATS will head a workshop on music videos at the 2019 Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest

The festival is free for kids, but the competition screening is $10 for the general audience. You can find more information and purchase your tickets at the Indie Memphis website.