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The Kokomo Howard County Public Library’s three branches will feature some unusual activity this weekend. The sight of lights, camera, and action likely will appear inside and outside of the buildings as the library hosts a 48-hour film contest with the help of Sun King Kokomo.
“Digital” Ben Rutz, who runs the Digital Den at the downtown library, was joined by Skye Wilson, event coordinator for Sun King Kokomo, on Friday evening to welcome and register contestants for the event. And they didn’t have long to wait. At almost 7 p.m. on the dot, the first filmmakers arrived at the brewhouse to get their contest envelopes.
Showing up early had its advantages. The deadline for submitting films is Sunday at 8 p.m., so every minute could count.
“As soon as you start the contest, you have 48 hours to write, record, edit, and submit your film, which needs to be between three and 10 minutes in length,” said Rutz. “But it’s not just making a movie. You have to follow the requirements.
“You have to use the required line in your film, which is ‘We’ve been trying to reach you.’ You have to use the genre you are given, and each contestant gets a different genre. They can mix it up a little bit. If they get ‘action’ as their genre, they can have romance in there if they want. They can make it a comedy. As long as there is some action, it’s okay.”
Jermaine Claitt was third in line to register for the competition. He and co-creator Bernard Evans run One Take Films in Kokomo. The genre he received was romance.
“I spent the last week coming up with a few ideas,” said Claitt. “I saw the contest on Reddit, clicked on a couple links, and realized this is where I need to be. Bernard and I have been making music videos with some of the local rappers, so I figured three to 10 minute short films are basically what we do. And I love a challenge!”
The contestants have another important requirement: part or all of their film must be shot on location at one of the library’s three branches.
“Not only do you have to figure out how to incorporate that into your story, you have to figure out how to deal with other people trying to use the same location for their films at the same time,” said Rutz. “That’s a little extra challenge.”
Rutz explained that the entire film doesn’t have to be filmed at a library location. The location just has to be in the film and obviously identifiable.
“You can just have someone run by the library,” said Rutz. “You don’t have to come inside. It just has to be in there somewhere.”
Rickey Larrison and Dylan Bridgewater were second in line to register. The two Northwestern High School juniors represented their performing troupe, IMB James. Not long after receiving the competition envelope, the remaining six members of the troupe arrived, excited to learn that comedy is their genre for the contest.
“This is our first try at something like this,” said Bridgewater, who is an actor. “We really just make films for fun on YouTube, so we figured we’d try to do something a little higher level.”
“Comedy is pretty much all we do,” added Larrison, who also acts. “Most of our shorts have been comedy, even if we have other elements in our work. Our goal is to make people laugh, so this shouldn’t be very difficult for us!”
The contest culminates with a screening of each of the submitted films this Friday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m. at Sun King. The public is welcome to attend, but be warned: seating is limited.
“Doors open at 6 p.m. so people can come and hang out before the screening,” said Wilson. “Last year, we had more than 80 people show up for the screening. The room only holds 120 people, so if we get significantly more people involved this year, we may have to turn people away. So, I want to encourage people to show up early.”
Wilson explained that the event is family-friendly, however a bartender will be in the room serving beverages. Sun King also arranged for a food truck to be stationed on Buckeye Street outside the venue. Samano’s will be offering authentic Mexican food that evening.
Following the screening, awards will be handed out to the competing films, including best film, best acting, and the “Oh, Wow!” award for the most surprising moment in the films.
For additional information about this event and other activities taking place at the library, visit www.khcpl.org.