The Acorn Penny to screen at the Charlotte Film Festival September 2010

Sept 20 - 26, 2010 The Acorn Penny has gotten into the Charlotte Film Festival. Screening date to be decided.  We are excited to think our short film will now play in Charlotte as well as having won 1st place in Asheville's Twin Rivers Media Festival.  Very exciting!

It's a wrap for second Amelia Island Film Festival

by Michelle Eggers

The second annual Amelia Island Film Festival drew to a close Sunday after showing more than 70 films over three days at four locations in Fernandina Beach. The infant fest garnered submissions from across the globe with an array of genres ranging from comedy to drama to horror.

Most of the films were shorts - under a half-hour. Whether short or long, each film was chosen for the impact of its message.

Organizers said they were happy to have been able to pick from such a large selection of films that were submitted.

Some films hit home, like Jacksonville Beach resident Josh Hansbrough's "One Village Same Ocean," a 45-minute documentary exposing the negative impact of cruise ships on Mayport's waters.

Other films were more pressing, like Tiffany Laufer's short film titled "The Acorn Penny," which guides viewers through the metaphorical journey of a young African refugee and her magical acorn. Laufer said she originally hoped to produce a feature-length film on genocide in the Congo, but because of the immediacy of the issue, created a short instead.

"This message is too important to wait," Laufer said, "I knew that I needed to get it out to people as quickly as possible."

Visiting filmmakers were happy as well with Fernandina Beach as a location for the film festival.

Filmmaker Brett Carlson, whose comic short "Take My Wife" won the AIFF Best Comedy Sid Sax Memorial Award, traveled from Los Angeles to attend the event and has fond childhood memories of Amelia Island.

"I remember the family spending a few weekends here as a kid," Carlson said, "and I loved it."

Carlson's mother and executive producer of the film, Dimity Carlson, expressed equal excitement. "The whole community has been so welcoming and supportive of the filmmakers, she said, adding "This has been an excellent film festival."

Such praises are good news to festival organizers, who hope to expand in the future by appealing to broader markets and attracting more filmmakers to Fernandina Beach.

"This festival stands out. It's not just regional," says local author and film festival board member Nadine Vaughn. "We're looking to grow."

Don't fret if you missed the films, all films showcased in the festival are available at the Nassau County Library.

IMDB page now up and running

We have put up our IMDB page with all our credits and poster image. We will be updating the page with more photos soon. It takes awhile to work with imdb though they are getting better as they grow. Our next goal - TWITTER! With the film festivals approaching in January we are aiming to keep in touch on all levels with our support groups in each city. Yeah technology!

Oprah Picks 'Say You're One of Them'

Just read this - wow!

Charlotte Abbott -- Publishers Weekly, 9/18/2009 10:01:00 AM

Broadcasting live from Central Park under sunny blue skies, Oprah Winfrey announced that Say You’re One of Them by Nigeran author Uwem Akpan is the first story collection to be featured in her book club. Each of the five stories in the collection “left me gasping,” Winfrey said, in explaining why she chose the book. read on

The Official Film Festival Poster

Behind the Scenes | Creative House Studios Greenscreen

Thanks to Peter Samson at Creative House Studios for putting together this great behind the scenes video highlighting our shoot and their great studio. Check it out here.

Giving Cleveland and Ohio a Chance | The Acorn Penny

June 15th we began filming the short film The Acorn Penny here in Cleveland Ohio. It's a short film about a young girl searching for her future - in following an unlikely guide she finds herself taken back in time, brought back to reality and then presented her future - all in an afternoon.

We found that Cleveland holds a myriad of beautiful locations some readily apparent and others hidden to only locals. Even though Ohio has no competitive film tax incentives we believe Ohio (and my hometown Cleveland) deserves a chance whether or not the politicians in Columbus understand our livelihood or not. Filmmaking is hard to understand as a craft because there are so many people involved in the process and until you work on a film set you won't fully comprehend how much goes into it.

There are talented crews here in town but unfortunately many of them have left for Los Angeles, New York and recently Michigan and Pittsburgh all due to other states voting in film production tax incentives. Just last month I worked on a show where I had met a new production assistant and in talking I said 'What's next for you?' I was curious, he seemed motivated and ready to learn - he replied 'Oh, I'm moving to LA. ' How could I blame him? I couldn't for in the end I'll probably have to move back there as well. At least not for a few more months. We'll see.

Picture by: Tom Gavan