Because of the overwhelming support of the local community, The Planning Committee for the Southern Maryland Film Festival has announced that their second event will be held in Leonardtown, MD, July 15 – 16, 2016.
According to Committee Chairperson Theresa Wood, the tentative 2-day plan is to have an opening screening, meet and greet session, and filmmakers’ reception – and perhaps a special guest – on Friday evening, and then the viewing of the new film submissions all day Saturday.
“That way,” Wood says, “the schedule will not be as tight as last year, and moviegoers will have a better chance of both meeting the filmmakers and seeing more movies.”
Local filmmakers in the Tri-County area are invited to submit films until Friday, May 13, 2016. Revised guidelines and other details and updates will be posted on smdff.org and the Southern Maryland Film Festival Facebook page as they become available. Bill Stea, one of the head A/V techs for the event, said that the key to helping the event run more smoothly this year is for filmmakers to pay closer attention to the formatting of their submissions. “Last year we tried to convert some of the films to get them all onto DVD’s, which created technical difficulties at some of the venues. For everyone’s benefit, we will need to make sure that all entries are in the same format this year.”
In addition to film submissions, the event is in need of host venues, sponsorships, in-kind donations or rentals (especially video and sound equipment), committee chairs and volunteers (particularly A/V techs and venue hosts). Anyone wishing to become involved the 2016 SMDFF should call 240-298-0183 or email smdfilmfest@gmail.com.
