Well, it's that time of year again when a young film maker's fancy turns toward submitting the film that they have poured themselves into to various film festivals.  Yes it is a magical time where the fruits of one’s labors are scrutinized by complete strangers so that they may hopefully be accepted for display. Put forth to the discerning masses and dare we wish.... one step closer to fame and legitimacy.

Last year's inaugural Lancaster Area Film Festival was one such fest where no less than 38 film makers were accepted to show their wares.  The presentation went off without a hitch. The films looked beautiful and the throngs of eager viewers had a great time experiencing them.  There were concessions to be purchased for refreshment while Wayne Tompson and his band Plan 9 provided the sound track for an exciting evening.  Authors Brian Keen and J.F. Gonzalez were on hand to meet, greet, and sign their works, and Lancaster Barnstormers mascot, Cylo, as well as a few Storm Troopers stopped by to help add to the festive nature of the night’s proceedings.

Overall I would have to say that the night was a great success and a huge thank you goes out, from all of us, to all who helped and attended our first foray into film festival-ree. Say those last 5 words 10 times, fast. And I'm pretty sure "festival-ree" isn't even a real word.

Now, on to year two!

We are pleased to announce that we have found a new ally in Penn Cinemas. The event will be held in a state of the art facility with professional sound and projecting equipment.  The finer points and details are still being hammered out so keep checking in for updates and news as we come closer to our second year of bringing producers of film art together with those who appreciate it.

Mark Pennell.

Well, tonight (March 6) Bryan and myself (Mark) made our way, once again, to downtown Lancaster for First Friday.

I would just like to thank everyone who we spoke to for being so positive and responding with such interest. Thank you especially for those of you who have allowed us to post our flyers. We are really hoping to make this a regular local event and the more visibility we can achieve the better. With your help I believe this is going to be a great event.

I've got to say, talking with local merchants and seeing the turn out for these nights that I plan on attending many more First Fridays in the future. I had heard of this movement building over the past few years and had held a curiosity for checking it out, "one of these days," but had just never gotten around to it. I feel a bit ashamed of this because I was born and raised in Lancaster. I used to drive the loop in the late 80's and quite frankly that was the only time I had ever seen any large scale interest in the downtown area. I had known for years of all the cool shops and restaurants in the area. I used towork in the city as a delivery driver for D.H.L. from 2000 to 2006. After I had left that job I moved to Lititz and on to another profession. Just as I was leaving D.H.L. though,First Friday's was beginning to take off. I regret that it took me this long to discover how vibrant the city was becoming.

I am very excited that our little project is going to be held in the city and feel proud that we have the opportunity to become a small part of this revitalized interest in the beautiful city of Lancaster.

I hope see you at the Festival, and again, and again at future Friday events!

Mark Pennell.

We have had some confusion with our submission process. With this being our first festival, for many reasons, we were unable to fully partner with Withoutabox. Withoutabox is a film submission resource for both filmmakers and film festivals. The Lancaster Area Film Festival has a listing with Withoutabox but not the availability for filmmakers to submit their films through Withoutabox. Unfortunately this confused many filmmakers. They were waiting for the submission process to be activated whit Withoutabox, which never happened and therefore they missed the due date for submitting their film.

So in the sprit of independent film we have decided to extend our submission date to March 14, 2009. We have also decided to add a late submission deadline of March 31, 2009.

Bryan

In order to bolster the spirit of independent film we have decide to offer an early bird discount as well as a student discount. Each discount will enable to submitter to take a $5.00 discount on a film submission. The early bird submission deadline is January 17, 2009, which means $5 can be deducted from the submission cost as long as the submission is postmarked by that date. The $5 student discount can be used at any time and can also be used in conjunction with the early bird discount, giving a student filmmaker the possibility of having a $10 discount.

We feel that this will make the Lancaster Area Film Festival more affordable and thus promote more film submissions, giving us a wider array of films to choose from. This will only make the film festival that much better.

So grab you camera, film some stuff, edit it and then submit it for the chance to have your masterpiece immortalized at the Lancaster Area Film Festival.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bryan

The Lancaster Area Film Festival is seeking volunteers for various different positions with the festival. We are looking for people to help with event planning, promoting, security, setup and other various tasks that need to be completed. If you are interested please contact us to discuss how you might be able to help us. This event is quite the undertaking and we will need as much help as we can get to make it the best it can be. You can contact us by filling out the “contact form” on the website.

Thanks,

Bryan