Premiere Film Festival

27/06/2016

Some pictures from Premiere 11, at the Music Box Theatre on June 3, 2016. Tag at will!

DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM)

Some pictures from the 11th annual Premiere Film Festival, at the Music Box Theatre on June 3, 2016. Tag at will!

Photographers: April Acevedo (http://aaprints.co/), Morgan Harvey (http://mbrookensharvey.wix.com/portfolio)

Step and repeat: Angie Panganiban, Clara Hanford
Trophies: Designed by Robert Hemlich, manufactured by Crown Trophy

DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM)

27/06/2016

Some pictures from the 11th annual Premiere Film Festival, at the Music Box Theatre on June 3, 2016. Tag at will!

Photographers: April Acevedo (http://aaprints.co/), Morgan Harvey (http://mbrookensharvey.wix.com/portfolio)

Step and repeat: Angie Panganiban, Clara Hanford
Trophies: Designed by Robert Hemlich, manufactured by Crown Trophy

DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM)

04/06/2016

Student producer Kris here. Thank you so, so much to everyone who came out to Premiere this year; the Music Box Theatre; our judges and sponsors; everyone who submitted films; our writing team led by Chris Parrish; our design team led by Meghann Artes and Chris Kalis; hosts Ally, Shelby, and Jack; the faculty Premiere committee; and of course to our AMAZING crew, led by Justine Marcantel, Randle Taylor, and actual goddess Wendy Roderweiss. We ended up with a skeleton crew this year, but it was a skeleton of ( ) adamantium. I'm terribly grateful to you all. Every compliment I got last night belongs to you.

Congratulations again to all our featured filmmakers and all our award nominees and winners! And to everyone: Keep making stuff! Submit to Premiere next year! Brian and I are honored to have been part of this.

03/06/2016

Doors open at 6! Here are this year's award nominees:

Best MFA Thesis Feature Drama
Kate Fox - Atreya
Marchae Miller - Blink

Best MFA Thesis Feature Comedy
Kelly Reynolds - Date Me
Keely Lewis Wise - Plain Jane

Best Sound Design
Adam Carl - Skimmers
Kaitlyn Heffron - Pumpkin Guts
Arbob Khan, Adem Suljic - Secrets We Keep
Rinel Lara - Synthesizer

Best Production Design
Gil Anderson - Skimmers
Kaitlin Creadon - Pumpkin Guts
David Enriquez - Secrets We Keep
Molly Hickey - Persephone Lied

Best Cinematography - Undergraduate
Will Brunker - Putt World
Alan Dembek - Secrets We Keep
Chad Gilchrist - Persephone Lied

Best Cinematography - Graduate
Kevin Endres - Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart
Kevin Hurley, Jiaxuan Xiao - Year for Silk
Justin Jones - The Farm on Rice Lake Road
Eric Liberacki - Pumpkin Guts

Best Editing
Katie Campos - Shapes of the City
Kevin Endres - Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart
Zoe Kraft - Persephone Lied
Daniel Torres - American Pop

Best Documentary Film
Dominque Baker - Memories of You
Justin Jones - The Farm on Rice Lake Road
Todd Lauterbach - I Am The Passenger
Josh Woo - MIDEAST/MIDWEST

Best Animated Film
Jessica Anca - Quietus
Nolan J. Downs - Shmevolution
Jennifer Stachovic - Next Time You’ll Know Better
Gavin Wright - A Fresh Cut

Best Original Score
Elliot Callighan - Secrets We Keep
Matt Garvin - Persephone Lied
Matthew Hutchings, Andy Bosnak - Big Time Music
Stuart MacFadyen - Pumpkin Guts

Achievement in Short Film Writing
Brandon Ciarlo - Carfield
Kevin Endres - Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart
John Klein - Skimmers
Ryan Zum Mallen - Putt World

Best Ensemble Cast
Putt World
Trash
Written Off
Year For Silk

Best Directing - Undergraduate
Savannah Cannistraro - Persephone Lied
Ryan Saunders - Pumpkin Guts
Jennifer Stachovic - Next Time You’ll Know Better

Best Directing - Graduate
Darius Dawson - Trash
Kevin Endres - Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart
Justin Jones - The Farm on Rice Lake Road
Margie Shabazz - Written Off

Best Experimental Film
Shane Beam - OCCU/PATION
Margaret Bialis - Free_Telephone
Kevin Hurley, Justin Jones, Aaron Levine - Because the House Was Cold
Todd Lauterbach - I Am The Passenger

The Premiere Jury Award
Nolan J. Downs - Shmevolution
Kevin Endres - Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart
Justin Jones – The Farm on Rice Lake Road
Todd Lauterbach - I Am The Passenger
Jennifer Stachovic - Next Time You’ll Know Better

Awards with only one nomination are not listed but will be announced at the show: Best MFA Thesis Drama Pilot, Best MFA Thesis Comedy Pilot, the Vincentian Prize, the Helmut P. Epp Vanguard Award, the Voice and Vision Award, and the Classic Cinemas Award.

03/06/2016

Hi DePaul! We're looking forward to a great show tonight. If you'd like to help out we would welcome some volunteer ushers. Crew call is at 5:00. You can email producer Kris at [email protected] so we know to expect you.

03/06/2016

Doors open at 6 tonight! Here are this year's judges:

Steven A. Jones, producer (Wild Things; Mad Dog and Glory)

Penelope Bartlett, programmer for the Criterion Collection and the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Chris Johnson, CEO of Classic Cinemas

Robert Levy, producer (Wedding Crashers; Point Break)

Lorraine Evanoff, producer and Director of Finance at CineSky Pictures

Beckie Stochetti from Independent/Local Film Initiatives at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

Patrick McDonald, freelance film critic ( on Twitter)

Paul Sloop, lead shorts programmer at the Cleveland International Film Festival

Andrea Allen, Director of Production at Vimeo (which will be awarding one of tonight’s winners with a free subscription to VimeoPro)

Mike McNamara, co-founder and Director of Programming for the Midwest Independent Film Festival

Alexander Pissios, founder/CEO of Cinespace Chicago Film Studios

02/06/2016

Doors open tomorrow at 6:00 pm!
This year's films (and their directors):

A Fresh Cut (Gavin Wright)
Beluga Blues (Julia Dourgarian)
Blood Shaped Hole in My Heart (Kevin Endres)
Build-A-Blob (Margaret Bialis)
I Am The Passenger (Todd Lauterbach)
Kitty Cornered (Gordon Glenn and Sydney Kosgard)
Memories of You (Dominque Baker)
Next Time You’ll Know Better (Jennifer Stachovic)
Ninja Kitchen (Yishan Lin)
OCCU/PATION (Shane Beam)
Pan Dulce (Claudia Rangel)
Persephone Lied (Savannah Cannistraro)
Pumpkin Guts (Ryan Saunders)
Putt World (Ryan Zum Mallen)
Quietus (Jessica Anca)
Quiver Dance (Hector M. Padilla and Mario Lagunas)
Shmevolution (Nolan J. Downs)
Tangent (Valerie Paykov)
The Farm on Rice Lake Road (Justin Jones)
Trash (Darius Dawson)

Award nominees:
https://www.cdm.depaul.edu/academics/Creative%20Activity/Pages/Premiere.aspx

06/06/2015

We look forward to seeing your photos from the event and parties! Share them here! We will post ours soon too!

30/05/2015

Congratulations to all of the MFA Screenwriting thesis distinctions! A Best Feature and Best TV will be announced at Premiere!

29/05/2015

THIS YEAR'S JUDGES:
*Alex Pissios: CEO of Cinespace
*Patrick McDonald: Chicago Film Critic & Entertainment Writer
*Penelope Bartlett: Programmer (Palm Springs International, Chicago International Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, Glasgow Short Film Festival)
*Mike McNamara: Programmer (Midwest Independent Film Festival & selection committees for: Chicago International, Austin Film Festival, Sundance) & Writer for SCREEN Magazine
*Paul Sloop: Head Shorts Programmer for the Oscar Qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival
*Ben Thompson: Head Shorts Programmer for Tribeca Film Festival
*Irvine Welsh: Writer (Trainspotting, Spring Breakers: The Second Coming)
*Steven A Jones: Producer (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Wild Things, The Harvest)
*Jon McNaughton: Director (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Mad Dog and Glory, Wild Things)
*Beckie Stocchetti: Director of Engagement & Programs at Kartemquin Films
*Andrea Allen: Director of Production at Vimeo
*Lela Meadow Conner: Executive Director of Tallgrass Film Association / Programmer for Tallgrass Film Festival

29/05/2015

There are SO MANY short film programmers coming to Premiere this year! They will receive the contact information for all of the directors in the line-up so that they can reach out to you if they want to include your film in their festival!!! Just another way we try to help you bridge the gap from student to professional!

28/05/2015

The Office of Mission and Values is sponsoring a new award for Premiere!

"Vincentian Prize"

The Vincentian Prize will be awarded to a filmmaker whose film deepens our understanding of the process of systemic change as related to poverty alleviation, health care, immigration, and social justice or highlights the work of the Vincentian Family in serving people in poverty.

Prize: A GoPro HERO4 SILVERCamera

(Prizes are considered taxable income to the recipients. As such, the university may be required to report prize amounts to the IRS and to the recipients on Form 1099-MISC, if the recipient is not a DePaul employee or on Form W-2, if the recipient is a DePaul employee. In addition, the university may be required to report, on Form 1042-S and tax withhold on prizes received by nonresident aliens for tax purposes. All prize recipients will be required to provide proper tax documentation to the university.)

28/05/2015

Congratulations to the following nominees for this year's awards ceremony!

CINEMATOGRAPHY - UNDERGRADUATE
Torey Lenart (Beta)
Alan Dembek (Bridgebuilders)
Joseph Kosty (Rooftops and Fire Escapes)

CINEMATOGRAPHY - GRADUATE
Eric Liberacki (Between)
Will Miller (1994)
John Klein (Meet Your Maker)

EDITING
Ryan Saunders (Vegas: The 120 Days of S***m)
Tyler Smith (Goodnight Jeffrey)
Adem Suljić (1994)
Ward Crockett (ANTI-BODY)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Joel Benjamin, John Rhys Garcia, Shelley Dodson (Chasm)
Gordon Glenn (3X)
Amar Mitra, Jesus Calderon, Katlin Kreterfield (Beta)
Ryan ZumMallen (The Creator)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Alex Sherman, Ben Sherman, Allyson Rupe (Beta)
David Enriquez, Holly Kawiecki (Bridgebuilders)
Katrina Kuss, Taylor Henderhan (Pale Moonlight)
David Enriquez, Taylor Henderhan (Eddie in Love)
Molly Hickey (Meet Your Maker)

ENSEMBLE/CAST
Guidance (Dir. Josh Wolff)
Screens (Dir. Danny Morlock)
Rooftops and Fire Escapes (Dir. Frannie Williams)
A Walk to School (Dir. Chaz Bottoms)
The New Zealander (Dir. Alex Thompson)

SOUND DESIGN
Kaitlyn Heffron, Kevin Cagnolatti, Nicholas Fanelli (Beta)
Adem Suljić (1994)
Ryan Sullivan (The Collector)
Travis Duffield (Between)
Shawn Spear, Joel Benjamin, Bryen Hensley (Chasm)

ANIMATED FILM
Joel Benjamin (Chasm)
Cara Jones (Bucky)
Jennifer Stachovic (Red Line Rage)
Carter Boyce (Die Flucht)
Nolan J. Downs (Peace)

DOCUMENTARY
Mansour Albadran (The Bird of Dammam)
Brian Chaplin (Just Chill)
Natasha Major (Billie's Search)
Daniel Torres (The Hyde Park List)

SHORT SCRIPT WRITING
Josh Wolff (Guidance)
Tyler Smith (Goodnight Jeffrey)
Frannie Williams (Rooftops and Fire Escapes)
Danny Morlock (Eddie in Love)

DIRECTING - UNDERGRADUATE
Frannie Williams (Rooftops and Fire Escapes)
Ben Sherman (Beta)
Ryan Saunders (Stains)

DIRECTING - GRADUATE
Tyler Smith (Goodnight Jeffrey)
Josh Wolff (Guidance)
Ward Crockett (Between)

MUSIC
Elliot Callighan (1994)
Joe Strand (Beta)
Elliot Callighan (Between)
Elliot Callighan (The Collector)

EXPERIMENTAL
Ryan Saunders (Vegas: The 120 Days of S***m)
Nolan J. Downs (Peace)
Thomas Sheridan (Tabula Rasa)
Sean Austin (This Is Not Offensive)
Joel Benjamin (Oh, Those Kittens!)

PREMIERE JURY AWARD/BEST SHORT FILM - UNDERGRADUATE
Beta (Dir. Ben Sherman)
Rooftops and Fire Escapes (Dir. Frannie Williams)
Die Flucht (Dir. Carter Boyce)

PREMIERE JURY AWARD/BEST SHORT FILM - GRADUATE
Goodnight Jeffrey (Dir. Tyler Smith)
Between (Dir. Ward Crockett)
Guidance (Dir. Josh Wolff)

27/05/2015

Award nominations will be posted tomorrow!

27/05/2015

The moment you have been waiting for! The 2015 line-up is (drum roll)....
Beta - Ben Sherman
Red Line Rage - Jennifer Stachovic
Hypno - Brandon Ciarlo and Ward Crockett
Peace - Nolan J. Downs
Where I Wanna Be - Savannah Cannistraro
Bucky - Cara Jones
007/002/015 - Ryan Saunders
Lola’s Revenge - Lily Streiff
Billie’s Search - Natasha Major
Goodnight Jeffrey - Tyler Smith
Rooftops and Fire Escapes - Frannie Williams
Vikings Vs. Aliens - Collin McDonald
Guidance - Josh Wolff
Splash - Julia Dourgarian
Eddie in Love - Danny Morlock
Quarter Stack Blues - Maximilian Griffiths Armstrong
The New Zealander - Alex Thompson
Die Flucht - Carter Boyce

25/05/2015

WE HAVE THE 2015 LINE-UP!!! We will be announcing the selections, as well as the nominees for the awards, RIGHT HERE on our page throughout the next week! Stay tuned! Congratulations to everyone who submitted. It took us nearly TEN HOURS to make the decisions (and that's after each of the 13 committee members watched all 100+ films ahead of time). This was one of the hardest years for deliberations because there were literally hours and hours of films we would be proud to show at the Music Box! Well done, filmmakers. The tenth anniversary of Premiere is going to be our best year yet!

21/05/2015

The winner of this year's Audience Choice Award will be getting an X-Box One. So there's that.

Welcome to a new generation of games and entertainment. Welcome to the all-in-one, Xbox One. Learn more about Xbox One here.

21/05/2015

Screenwriter Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and director Jon McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) are two of the guest judges at this year's Premiere!

21/05/2015

Did you know the lead short film programmer from Tribeca Film Festival will be one of the judges at this year's Premiere Film Festival? What an exciting chance to help launch your films into the festival circuit!

02/05/2015

Premiere Delivery Signup Sheet at the Cage

In order to avoid bottlenecks at the cage on Premiere deadline day, we now have a signup sheet at the cage for delivery times. From 9-3pm on Friday May 15th, you can sign up for movie delivery times. Slots are 5 minutes each. Please signup for one five minute slot per movie. Please signup well before the deadline as slots will fill up fast.

27/04/2015

Deadline for submissions to Premiere is May 15!
Apply now at:
http://cdm.depaul.edu/premiere

27/04/2015

http://cdm.depaul.edu/premiere

12/03/2015

Once again, the short film programmer from Chicago International Film Festival, Penelope Bartlett, will be joining us as a VIP Judge at this year's festival! She will be joining the programmers from at least three other great festivals (and counting!) along with other exciting guests! This is a great way to get your movie seen by the people who can help bring it to a wider audience! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! 😊

12/03/2015

We have a new website! Check it out! Just in time to start thinking about submitting to our 10th annual Premiere! Deadline is in May!

One of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive programs, DePaul University's College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide and diverse range of fields.

02/03/2015

An event this Friday that could lead to your next submission for Premiere!

22/02/2015

We've got our hosts! We've got our red carpet interviewers! We've got our head writers! We're lining up our VIP judges! All we need next are YOUR FIMS! :)

27/01/2015

Interested in being a host for this year's 10th annual Premiere? Email [email protected] asap to set up your audition for this Friday! Don't just think about it... do it!!!

05/06/2014

TOMORROW NIGHT: DOORS OPEN AT 5:45! SHOW STARTS EXACTLY AT 6:30. MAYBE EVEN 6:29. SO GET TEHRE EARLY TO ENSURE A SEAT. NO TICKETS. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!

02/06/2014

UPDATE!!!

And the nominees are:

Best Picture
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ALARIC ROCHA
Drifting - JOEL BENJAMIN
Departure - JENNIFER STACHOVIC
Playing Cards at Dawn - WARD CROCKETT
Lucy - ZOE LUBECK

Best Producing
Ghost Plant - AMANDA PFLIEGER
Spark and Fade - BRIAN MELLEN, MEG RUDDY & ALANA PERRIE
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ELLIOTT LONSDALE
Drifting - JOEL BENJAMIN

Best Directing
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ALARIC ROCHA
Playing Cards at Dawn - WARD CROCKETT
Truth by Jazz - ALANNA BAGLADI

The Experimental Film Award
I’ve Been Waiting - JOEL BENJAMIN
The Park - SEAN AUSTIN
The Observer - TREVOR BETTS

Best Original Score
Joke’s On You - AARON APTAKER
Zach - KEVIN CLINE
Love and Zombies - ELLIOT CALLIGHAN

Achievement in Short Film Writing
[displaced] - RANDLE TAYLOR
Zach - SEAN PIERCE
Truth by Jazz - ALANNA BAGLADI
& KATRINA KUSS
Lucy - ZOE LUBECK
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ALARIC ROCHA

Best Documentary Film
JAX - RITA CIOLEK
The Park - SEAN AUSTIN
Vidya - APRIL KNELL

Best Animated Film
Departure - JENNIFER STACHOVIC
Drifting - JOEL BEJAMIN
Battle Picante - HECTOR PADILLA

Best Sound Design
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - LUKE POCIASK
Lieutenant of Inishmore - TRAVIS DUFFIELD
Machine Baby - JAY CASTON, SCOTT PALMER, HAN YAN
Spark and Fade - JAY CASTON, CHARLIE ELKHAUS, ANDREW MORTEGA, NICHOLAS FANELLI & LUKE POCIASK

Best Casting
Photobooth - VERONICA BOUZA, KEVIN CAGNOLATTI & ELLIOTT LONSDALE
Playing Cards at Dawn -WARD CROCKETT
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ALARIC ROCHA & ELLIOTT LONSDALE

Best Production Design
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - ERIK SUMMERVILLE
Machine Baby -BETSY PEOPLES
Ghost Plant - KAITLIN MARTIN

Best Visual Effects
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - DAVID JOHNSON, BEN POKORNY & ALARIC ROCHA
Machine Baby - STEPHEN SOTOR
Doritos “Heist” - JESUS CALDERON

Best Editing
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961) - SALLY O’BRIEN
Drifting - JOEL BENJAMIN
The Audition - JOHNNY CASTLE
JAX - RITA CIOLEK, GLEN CASHETTA & BRANDON CIARLO

Best Cinematography
The Package - JOHN KLEIN
Barbarian - SEAN PIERCE
Lieutenant of Inishmore - WILL MILLER
Truth by Jazz - CODY GINDY
Playing Cards at Dawn - ERIC LIBERACKI

There are other awards including Audience Choice Award, Film Festival Prize Award, Best MFA Thesis TV, Best MFA Thesis Film, First Look Screenwriting Contest Winner, Best Production Photo Winner, Voice and Vision Award and the Judges' Choice Award!

See you on Friday!

02/06/2014

And the nominees are:

Best Picture
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Drifting
Departure
Playing Cards
Lucy

Best Producing
Ghost Plant
Spark and Fade
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Drifting

Best Directing
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Playing Cards
Truth by Jazz

The Experimental Film Award
I’ve Been Waiting
The Park
The Observer

Best Original Score
Joke’s On You
Zach (Kevin Cline)
Love and Zombies

Achievement in Short Film Writing
[displaced]
Zach
Truth by Jazz
Lucy
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)

Best Documentary Film
JAX
The Park
Vidya

Best Animated Film
Departure
Drifting
Battle Picante

Best Sound Design
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Lieutenant of Inishmore
Machine Baby
Spark and Fade

Best Cast
Photobooth
Playing Cards
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)

Best Production Design
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Machine Baby
Ghost Plant

Best Visual Effects
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Machine Baby
Doritos “Heist”

Best Editing
Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Drifting
The Audition
JAX

Best Cinematography
The Package
Barbarian
Lieutenant of Inishmore
Truth by Jazz
Playing Cards

There are other awards including Audience Choice Award, Film Festival Prize Award, Best MFA Thesis TV, Best MFA Thesis Film, First Look Screenwriting Contest Winner, Best Production Photo Winner, Voice and Vision Award, and the Judges' Choice Award!

See you on Friday!

30/05/2014

Award nominees will be posted on Monday! Screenwriters, don't forget this isn't just for production people; we have multiple screenwriting awards including the best 2014 MFA Thesis in Film and in TV, plus the First Look Screenwriting Contest!

30/05/2014

The moment you've been waiting for. The 2014 Premiere line-up!!! Congrats to all filmmakers!

ACT ONE:

Ceymore
Kevin Markman

Playing Cards at Dawn
Ward Crockett

I’ve Been Waiting
Joel Benjamin

Jax
Rita Ciolek

Battle Picante
Hector Manuel Padilla

Departure
Jennifer Stachovic

The Park
Sean Austin

ON GUARD
Arthit Assaranurak

Truth By Jazz
Alanna Bagladi

Ghost Plant!
Kaitlin Martin

ACT TWO:

Una Mujer Sin Precio (1961)
Alaric S. Rocha

LUCY
Zoe Lubeck

Zack
Sean Pierce

Vidya
April Knell

Joke’s On You
Joe Goudreault

The Observer
Trevor Betts

Repugnant
Marc Walls

Dispossessed
Andy Hoffman

Drifting
Joel Benjamin