For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeremy Jed Hammel
(818) 404-4853
FILMSHIFT, NEW INDIE FILM FESTIVAL, TO HIGHLIGHT
SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS SIDE OF FILMMAKING
Cambridge, Mass. – Coming this October 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th to the Coolidge Corner Theater, Somerville Theater, and Performing Arts Connection in Sudbury, is the Filmshift Festival. Filmshift is an independent film festival designed not only to entertain, but spark dialogue about the essential role small businesses and local entrepreneurs play in producing movies and strengthening our nation’s spirit and economy.
Named after “The 10% Shift,” a campaign launched by a group of New England entrepreneurs to encourage consumers to shift 10 percent of their everyday spending to local businesses, Filmshift will showcase more than 20 films including features and shorts from categories such as environmental/local issues, drama, comedy, horror, animated, and documentary.
Filmshift recently announced its first six films, which include “Split Estate,” an eye-opening documentary about the effects of natural gas drilling by large corporations on communities in our Western states, “Artistic License,” starring the Emmy Award-winning David Lago, and “Speaking In Code,” a locally-made documentary about a married couple’s mission to create a techno music scene to Boston. For a complete listing of the first films chosen, please visit www.Filmshift.org/films.
“Since film crews began popping up more frequently in the Commonwealth, so did discussions about the economic impact movies would bring to bear, locally,” said Filmshift director and founder Jeremy Jed Hammel. “The fact is, when it comes to the towns we work and live in, there is no more meaningful impact than the filmmaker who hires locally and hires small. So, we’ve designed FilmShift to highlight those who exemplify this practice.”
In keeping with its theme, Filmshift has partnered with several local businesses for sponsorship of the festival and prizes for participating filmmakers. These companies are: Powderhouse Productions (Somerville), The Longfellow Clubs (Wayland), Cambridge Naturals (Cambridge), Harmonix’s Beatles Rock Band, (Cambridge.) Final Draft, Inktip, Script Magazine, Jungle Software budgeting, Script Pipeline, ProductionHub, Atomic Production Supplies, Bunch/Casseday, and Wooden Nickel Lighting are Filmshift’s local or locally-minded prize sponsors.
Filmshift will donate 20 percent of gross ticket sales to two local non-profit organizations: Christopher’s Haven, a charity that provides low-cost housing to families of children receiving cancer treatment in Boston, and MetroWest Family Theater, an inclusive community theater group committed to casting roles regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or the presence of a disability.
Filmshift’s judging panel includes a professional screenwriter and analyst, a Creative Executive at The Cartoon Network, a film professor at Boston University and an award-winning filmmaker, and an Emmy nominated filmmaker, just to name a few.
“I am convinced that locally-based, small businesses will save our country both from this current economic downturn and from losing our diverse national identity,” adds Hammel. “Filmshift’s goal is to spark an ongoing discussion about the role that independent films and local businesses overall can play in affecting such positive change.”
About Filmshift’s Founder
Jeremy Jed Hammel is a multiple award-winning filmmaker, (including Best Comic-Related Film from Comic Con 2010 for “The Legacy,”) and has produced projects for The American Film Institute, NBC’s national network show, “Later,” and 2006 Sansevierian Film Festival Best Feature winner, “Fishes.”
Hammel won a Golden Kahuna Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the 2008 Honolulu Film Festival for his directing/producing/editing work on the music video for “The Night Divine” by international techno-music songstress, Lo-Fi Sugar.
A number of Hammel’s screenplays have won awards in screenplay competitions across the country, including the 2008 Woods Hole Film Festival and the 15th Annual Fade In magazine/Writer’s Network competition. One of his screenplays made to the Top 15% (out of 5,500) screenplays for The Academy’s 2008 Nicholl Fellowship.
Hammel has worked in every area of film/TV production, in nearly every capacity. His crew credits include the critically acclaimed hit series, “ER,” the Student Academy Award-winning film “Intermezzo,” Project: Greenlight script finalist, “The Achievers,” and the Sundance darling, “Next Stop, Wonderland,” which was filmed in Boston.
Hammel’s latest producing project, “The Legacy,” was accepted into the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner and won Best Comic-Related Film at Comic Con 2010. Directed by Mike Doto, the film’s teaser trailer can be viewed online at: http://www.seasidepictures.com/thelegacy. Doto’s previous film, the award-winning, “Peace,” is available on iTunes and stars Kurtwood Smith from “Worst Week,” and “That 70’s Show.”
Filmshift has given Hammel the opportunity to bring together his love of film with his desire to make the world a better place.
