The Oklahoma Film + Music Office (OF+MO) is proud to be a returning sponsor of the 2016 deadCENTER Film Festival (DCFF) taking place Wednesday, June 8, through Sunday, June 12, at five downtown Oklahoma City locations.
Named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s “Top 20 Coolest Film Festivals in the World”, each year the mission of DCFF is to promote, encourage and celebrate independent films. In 2015, the festival generated an economic impact of more than $4.25 million for Oklahoma City and attracted a record-breaking event attendance of 30,000.
“This was our most competitive year ever, with more than 1,200 films applying for roughly 100 spots,” according to Director of Programming Kim Haywood. “Fortunately, Oklahoma filmmakers are doing outstanding work. Twenty-two of the films playing at the festival were filmed here in Oklahoma.”
OF+MO will honor this year’s selection of films and filmmakers with a special reception on Friday, June 10, at 8:00 p.m. at IAO Gallery on Film Row. The 80’s movie-themed event will feature a live DJ set from Flo Res. The reception is open to all deadCENTER pass holders.
“The deadCENTER Film Festival is one of the most exciting times in our state’s film community,” said OF+MO Director Tava Maloy Sofsky. “OF+MO is proud to celebrate so many great Oklahoma films at this year’s festival, which continues to attract larger audiences each year. Among this year’s feature film selections are “Great Plains” and “Heartland”, both of which were filmed in Oklahoma last year utilizing the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program administered by OF+MO.”
In addition to the festival screenings, DCFF will host a variety of workshops and panels including two sessions moderated by OF+MO Director Tava Maloy Sofsky. The first session is exclusive to this year’s attending filmmakers during which OF+MO will present the “Making Movies in Oklahoma” panel, which will take place Friday, June 10, from 12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. in the Clark Building located at 16 N.E. 2nd Street in Oklahoma City. The goal of this panel is to educate the international audience of filmmakers in attendance on Oklahoma’s film industry and film incentives. Confirmed panelists for this event include Ann McElhinney, the writer and producer of “Gosnell”, which became IndieGoGo’s highest grossing film campaign ever, and native Oklahoman Kristofer McNeeley, who wrote and produced “Great Plains”. Both films were produced in Oklahoma utilizing the state’s film incentive program.
The “Directing and Producing Films” panel will engage audiences in a lively discussion with producers about the process of getting a film from script to screen. This panel is free for all audiences to attend, and will take place on Saturday, June 11, from 2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. at ACM@UCO located at 25 S. Oklahoma Avenue. Confirmed panelists include Oklahoman Blake Pickens, producer of “The Land”, which celebrated its world-premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and Director Blair Haynes along with Writer Kristofer McNeeley who collaborated on and produced “Great Plains”, which celebrates its world-premiere at this year’s deadCENTER Film Festival.
All-access passes and individual tickets for screenings may be purchased online. Please visit deadCENTER Film for additional information.
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About the Oklahoma Film + Music Office:
Created in 1979, The Oklahoma Film + Music Office strives to share all that Oklahoma has to offer by welcoming filmmakers and music professionals to the state and by creating a network of support to develop Oklahoma’s film and music industries. For more information about the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program or the Oklahoma Film + Music Office please visit www.okfilmmusic.org.