Fifteen years ago, the Utah Film Festival held its first event in the back of a small Indian restaurant in Provo. This month, they held their festival in sold-out theaters at the Taylorsville Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center.
Warren Workman, a programmer, publicist, and one of the founders of the Utah Film Festival, recalled the opening year.
“It was only like 20 of us total, the whole attendance. And it was quiet. It was comfy. It was intimate," Workman said. "And then going to the selling out theaters in the Taylorsville Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center … in the last 15 years, it's just been huge."
"We've gotten to the point where we've been listed as one of the top 100 best reviewed film festivals in the world for five years in a row," he continued. "And we've also had Oscar-qualifying films. And some of our movies actually win Oscars.”
Sold-out theaters and Oscar nominations aside, Workman noted the main goal of the festival is to help foster connections between industry professionals.
“We're a film festival that's geared toward connecting filmmakers with audiences, but more so to connect filmmakers with the industry," he said.
Carson Blickenstaff, a director of photography based in Utah, was able to submit his film and attend the festival.
“I think it's just good to know the people in the industry, and it's good to put yourself out there as, you know, whether you're a director, producer, DP, or whatever so people know you," he said. "It's just those kinds of connections that are ... going to be important in the future.”
Blickenstaff is a recent graduate of Southern Utah University’s film program and was director of photography on the science fiction short film “Untainted Sky” which he wrote and produced with fellow SUU alumn Madeline Bradley as the pair's thesis film.
”My goal is to be a working filmmaker here in Utah and I want to be part of the community that's growing here," he said. "I wanted to be known as a filmmaker in Utah and meet people here and so submitting to the Utah Film Festival was kind of just like a part of that goal.”
This year the festival accepted 200 of the 1,500 submissions. The films ranged from horror to comedy and featured everything from music videos to feature length films. Not only was “Untainted Sky” accepted into the festival, it won Best Science Fiction.
Workman reflected on the growth of the festival over the years and eagerly looked to the future.
“I think our goal behind the scenes has always been [to] get better every year. You know, everything we do, we want to just be, well, we call it bigger and better every year, but our venue has gotten bigger and it has gotten better," he said. "But there's always areas for us to improve …. And that's reflected with the product that we're able to deliver to our filmmakers and our community.”
For more information on this year's winners, visit theutahfilmfestival.com