NORMAN — Cory Allen always knew he would be involved in filmmaking. He studied films as a child, and when he got older he studied the people who made them.
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"I didn’t go to film school formally, but I’ve learned a lot through people,” Allen said.
When Allen and friend Randy Aspell finished their first movie script in 2006, they realized resources were hard to find for beginning filmmakers. In an effort to help fill that void, the two started Vacant Era Films.
"I knew I wanted to do film,” Allen said. "What made me want to do this (Vacant Era Films) was realizing there weren’t a lot of opportunities for beginning filmmakers in Oklahoma.”
Vacant Era Films is now run by a board of eight people with a collective desire to help Oklahoma filmmakers. The group’s first film festival — the Vacant Era Film Festival — will open today in Norman and continue through Sunday. The festival will screen about 15 films per day at the Sooner Theatre, including full-length features, short, documentaries and music videos. Filmmakers of all levels, from beginning to experienced, will be showcased. It will be the first film festival of its kind to come to the city.
"We all came together with the mission of doing a film festival that was different from the film festivals of the past,” Vacant Era production manager and festival coordinator Meleah Montgomery said. "People will find a lot of creativity and individuality in these films.”
The festival is offering us a chance to see films we probably otherwise would never get to see. Some will be well worth it. Screenings include everything from "Stark Fear,” a 1962 feature directed by Norman’s own Ned Hockman, to "A Beautiful Day,” the film pulled from the Bare Bones Film Festival earlier this year after a publicity stunt to promote the movie on YouTube was deemed a terrorist threat.
Tickets are $15 per day — a very good price considering it averages out to about $1 per film.
For information about Vacant Era Films, and to see a list of films showing during the festival, go to www.vacantera.com.
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If you go the festival, let me know what you thought. Send your comments to talthoff
@opubco.com. For a schedule of films, see Page 2D.
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Thank you for joining our conversations on NewsOK.com. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Leave a comment. Log in below or sign up (it's free).Editor's note: It is not our intent to offer comments on crime or fatality stories.