Film festival to spotlight diverse stories and fresh voices Feb. 17-19
Ken Seay ran across a film festival in Nevada City, California, while on a ski trip, quickly recognizing how the event created buzz, filled hotels and restaurants, and brought the creative community together.
After returning home, Seay, then a professor in the MBA program at Clemson University, told one of his students that Greenville needed a similar event. That entrepreneurial student, Matt Foster, replied, “Great idea, let’s do it.”
Just over a year later, in 2015, the inaugural Reedy Reels Film Festival took place at CU-ICAR, a satellite Clemson campus in Greenville. It earned acclaim and has continued to grow in scope and attendance.
This year’s festival, slated for Feb. 17-19 at the S.C. Children’s Theatre, will be the biggest yet, Foster says. It will feature dozens of local and regional films shown over the course of three days along with Q&A sessions, filmmaking mixers, and more.
“The word is getting out,” Foster says. “This is the most sustainable, longest-term film festival Greenville has had, and it’s a great conduit for networking within the Upstate, allowing people on different projects to develop relationships and connect with other filmmakers.”
The Biggest Reedy Reels Film Festival Yet
For movie buffs who aren’t in the industry, it’s a feast of 40 or 50 films culled from more than 125 submissions, including short films, features, documentaries, animation, and student films.
“The films tell great stories—that’s the essence of a good movie—and this is another opportunity for people to see how great Greenville is, and showcase Greenville as a great place to live and work,” Foster says.
Participating in the festival earns films a laurel, which helps them promote their work to the distribution network. The festival circuit can lead to deals with streaming services like Amazon and Netflix or grants from organizations, including the South Carolina Film Commission.
Seay points out that proximity to Atlanta, the second-largest filming location in the United States (after Los Angeles), has led to more opportunities for writers, producers, directors, and actors, as well as the numerous other professionals required to make a film. “The editing, the music—all of this is interconnected, and the film festival is a great place to trade talent equity,” Seay says.
Most participating filmmakers come from South Carolina, North Carolina, or Georgia, with a few traveling from farther afield, such as California and Canada.
Attendees get the opportunity to attend receptions, red carpet events, and other gatherings “that create an engaging film experience,” Seay says. “We’re not just showing the films; we’re curating the experience. There are a lot of interesting people you can meet.”
Past participants have included The Today Show’s Bob Dotson, WYFF’s Mike Giordano, and Chris White, feature winner at the inaugural Reedy Reels festival, who has gone on to score a major distribution deal for Electric Jesus, his 2020 film starring Brian Baumgartner, best known as Kevin from The Office.
The event also offers opportunities for students at schools, including Bob Jones University, Clemson, and the Fine Arts Center, to gain connections and see their work on the big screen.
The new S.C. Children’s Theater facility offers an ideal venue, Seay says, with a 300-foot proscenium theater as well as plentiful spaces for gatherings of all sizes.
He likens the festival to affiliate teams in baseball, where players may begin in a 1A team and move up to the big leagues. “Reedy Reels is a 2A minor league in the filmmaking world,” he says—a great place to catch a star on the rise, about to make the big leagues.
