Creativity was on full display at the annual Pitch Fest, where the magic of filmmaking was brought to life by the artists and collaborators who attended.
On Wednesday, September 17, the UCA Film Club hosted an event entitled Pitch Fest, where filmmakers and artists alike pitch themselves or their ideas in the hope of finding crew and actors.
Rows of seats in Stanley Russ room 103 were filled with students, ranging from freshmen to graduate students.
As students enthusiastically waited for the event to begin, the UCA Film Club president, senior Skylar Nelson, went over the rules.
Pitches can be accompanied with a presentation, but it’s not necessary, and they have to remain under three minutes in length.
Riley Bart, a senior in UCA’s film program, was an integral part of the event as the secretary of the UCA Film Club.
As secretary, Bart’s role is to organize events and establish communication with the club’s members.
Bart said, “Pitch Fest is a great way to start our year off by letting people know who’s here and what we got going on. We have lots of amazing projects going on, a lot of short films for different production classes, as well as a lot of actors or crew members who want to get more experience on films.”
With well over 50 pitches, Pitch Fest lasted upward of three hours. Still, the energy did not wane.
Films that were pitched covered a spectrum of genres. From a period drama set in Post-WW2 America to an absurd comedy about a couple who fights over possession of a sex toy, there was no shortage of unique ideas.
Bart herself went on to pitch a short film she’s directing called “Her Daughter’s Body.”
Grad student Avery Della Rosa pitched his short film “Eyes in the Dark.” It’s an ambitious surreal liminal period horror with supernatural elements.
“Deepend”, directed by senior Preston Moody, is a competitive sports drama about a swimmer’s life that is thrown in disarray.
Junior Cooper Milliken’s film, “The Score” was a big hit with the crowd. The film is a raunchy horror comedy inspired by buddy comedy greats like “Superbad”.
The event wasn’t exclusive to actors or crew either. Makeup artists, actor combatants and voice actors pitched themselves.
Pitch Fest is held every semester at the beginning of the school year.
The event was one of many planned events for the UCA Film Club.
Bart said, “We have Pitch Fest. We have a Halloween shot on iPhone night. We also have monthly movie nights… and a trivia night. It’s gonna be really exciting, and I can’t wait to see what we have going on this semester.”
For the “Shot on iPhone night” participants film, edit, and screen a short Halloween Horror movie with their smartphones in the span of a couple of hours.
Bart said the UCA Film Club is “a group of film students, film majors, minors, and people who just love movies and love talking about film.”
Bart said “Art that does not have community is stagnant and dies. So, if we have art where we’re able to build a community around it, it keeps it alive, and flowing, and I think it just expands on our creativity. When we have a group of people, it is so much stronger than just a single individual.”
The UCA Film Club is active on Instagram as @ucafilmclub.
