Students apply in-class knowledge at festival

UCF film students and faculty members didn't just watch indie films, indulge in southern-style cuisine and socialize at parties during the Florida Film Festival on April 9-18; they participated as volunteers, expert speakers and even as filmmakers.

Already in its 19th year, the annual film festival is produced by the Enzian, a single-screen cinema café in Maitland offering mostly independent and foreign films.

Tom Hurter, marketing specialist for the UCF film department, described Central Florida's only full-time, alternative cinema as "the epitome of a cool indie film house."

According to their website, the Enzian's mission is to entertain, inspire, educate, and connect the community through film, which is exactly what the film festival did for the UCF community involved.

This year the festival aimed to capture its Southern hospitality, welcoming audiences and filmmakers "home" to revel in cutting-edge films combined with food, wine and parties.

They screened films at the Enzian, Regal Winter Park Village and the Plaza Cinema Café in Downtown Orlando.

Film students were required to volunteer at the festival for their Film Producer class, instructed by UCF associate professor Randy Finch. 

Senior film student Jennifer Campbell is enrolled in the class, which is designed to teach students how to market and promote films. This was Campbell's fourth time attending the Florida Film Festival, but her first time as a volunteer.

"We're pretty lucky," said Campbell. "It is a class requirement for us to hang out at the Florida Film Festival."

The class was divided into teams of three students, and assigned a film that would screen at the festival. Their mission was to market their adopted films.

Campbell said they worked directly with the filmmakers and festival staff and were responsible for guerrilla marketing, an unconventional way of promoting that relies on imagination rather than a big budget.

"We were constantly at the festival, in the crowds passing out postcards, talking to audiences, hanging posters, canvassing the area, and doing whatever we could to try and get people to the festival, especially to our assigned film," she said.

Campbell and her team worked with UCF assistant professor, Lisa Mills, to promote her documentary called The Young Composers Challenge.

She said they really pushed themselves to make Mills' film known to as many people as possible.

Mills has already won two national awards for her documentary, which was featured in the film spotlight at the festival with two screenings on April 11 and 18. She said the film producer class is "pretty cool."

"They're learning about how festivals work. They're learning about how to market their own films and they're learning how to interact with audiences and filmmakers," said Mills.

Hurter is a UCF alumnus who took the film producer class when he was in school. He said it's a great experience for students because it challenges them to get out there into the real world and see what it actually takes to promote a film at a festival, which is invaluable if they want to pursue film as a career.

Campbell said the job was demanding, but they are rewarded with the opportunity to be around accomplished filmmakers and attend great films, forums and parties without paying.

The forums included a series of panel sessions where industry experts divulge happenings in the film industry. Instructor and producer Randy Finch spoke in a panel called "The Art of the Producer" on Friday.

"As part of the film program, it is really important for us to know the industry," said Campbell. "This is a great way to do it. We're submerged in it, and we're forced to learn a lot, and fast!"