Watch 2020 Entries will be live in Early 2021.
| Team Name | Level | State | Bio | Turned in? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3iCreate | (A) | MD | Creators coming together to create | n |
| 9:51 Productions | (A) | MD | - Director/Screenwriter- Dominic LoCicero Director of Photography - Eric Starick Lead Actor - Micah Forrest | n |
| Aging Eagles | (A) | MD | Two middle aged guys make movies that entertain us and hopefully you too. | y |
| Ah Muh Face! | (A) | MD | Offending old people since 2002! | n |
| Anne & Amy | (A) | VA | Two women, one unlikely sisterly friendship. An artist, a teacher. A blond, a brunette. Both moms. Bound together by destiny ... and coffee... | y |
| Black Fox Pictures | (A) | MD | We only play the first track off the Led Zeppelin 4 album. | y |
| Blood Bunny Studios | (S) | AZ | I've been doing acting since I was nine and now I want to do a film on my own. I'm thirteen and I want to do more acting and filming when I grow up. | y |
| Brain Map Productions | (S) | WV | 3 Shepherd students who like to make films specializing in horror. | y |
| Bright Boy Alert | (A) | MD | Animation. Plagued. But for real with the plague this time. | y - late |
| Can We Change This Later ? (Productions) | (P) | MD | A unique group of humans with a strange sense of humor and a broad range of experience who enjoy making movies. | y |
| Carpet Wall | (A) | MD | Making movies after the bell except not any more because we’re old | y |
| CC | (S) | WV | College students begging for (remote) work and videos to make, wishing for a happy, healthy world. | y |
| Cerko Sisters | (S) | MD | Thrill Seeking Females Just Looking to Groove | n |
| Cinema Criminals | (A) | CT | By & for the creative outcasts. | y |
| Comatoast | (P) | MD | - All buttered up! | y |
| Crowded Elevator Pictures | (P) | IL | We may have relocated our home base to Chicago, but we left our heart in Frederick! Our doctor says we need the heart back if we “want to live...” We’re hoping someone at 72 Fest could do us a solid and ship that back to us? | y |
| Dead Filmmakers Society | (A) | MD | Just some old boys who, one misty night in the cemetery, decided to resurrect their childhood dreams of making movies. | y |
| Deer Friends | (P) | MD | Deer Friends is a DC-based sketch team that has never done a political sketch. | y |
| Dishwasher Safe | (P) | VA | When possible, we like to use our on-hand resources and generate original, quality, polished, and stylistic, films while keeping our budget at a minimum. The artists formerly known as Visually Wired are entering our 6th year in the Festival (And, oh boy, isn't it a doozy!). Looking forward to whatever wackiness this year will bring but, no matter what, a film will be made in 72 hours! | y |
| Doodle Dame | (S) | MD | Mother eaten by sharks, father eaten by bears. Doodle dame was abandoned on the doorstep of a Tibetan monetary at 3 days old. She killed her first mountain puma at 5 years old, and wears its skin as her only piece of clothing. After breaking up with Donatello from the ninja turtles, she swore she’d never love again, and turned to animation. Once a trained assassin for team bebop, she joined the 72 film fest to regain her honour. | y |
| Dreamin' About Dumplings | (P) | NY | A group of NYC Asian American filmmakers/youtubers/videographers trying to tell a story. | y |
| EEG Productions | (A) | MD | Same as last year | y |
| Ellen's Page | (S) | NJ | 4 Film majors, a musician and an engineer walk into a bar... | y |
| Film.Lovables | (P) | MD | To you all: thank you for the privilege of participating in 10 years of fun with 72 Film Fest. There have been so many amazing movies by so many fantastic teams; we admire your talents and achievements greatly. We appreciate you putting up with our weirdo movies for as long as you have, and hope this year's movie actually turns out halfway decent for once! We don't know the future of Film.Lovables, but we will at least make this year a memorable one. We love you and thanks for a wonderful decade. | y |
| Frexit | (A) | NY | Frederick belongs to Britain now. Please head to your nearest queue at the brolly dispensary. | y |
| Goldfish Media | (A) | MD | Every single aspect of making movies is a giant pain in the ass and it’s never worth it. | y |
| Great Vengeance & Furious Anger | (P) | MD | #FEARTHEMULLET | y |
| IC Movie Mouth | (S) | MD | IC Movie Mouth is a team of 2 quite dazzling young boys: Luke and Alex that will one day prove they are probably the worst filmmakers alive. | y |
| Jagged Edge Productions | (A) | MD | Just a few amateur filmmakers having a few yuks! | y |
| LALAROC + LEECA PRODUCTIONS | (A) | NM | We are the flower | n |
| Montressor Media | (A) | MD | Scorsese thinks movies have become theme park rides. If that's the case, we deserve engineering degrees. | y |
| One Way Productions | (A) | MD | We’re a small team who enjoys making funny films with a touch of darkness. | y |
| Party Dog | (A) | MD | Party Dog is a two-person, quarantine-era spinoff. | y-late |
| Pecos Bill and the Wranglers | (P) | MD | y | |
| Psychedelic Samurai | (P) | MD | A group of Ronin with high aspirations no lords or masters, so we decided to make movies. | n |
| Raven Lost Pictures | (P) | MD | Three little birds making movies. | y |
| Screenburn Productions | (A) | MD | The production boys hailing from Harford County, Maryland are back for a 3rd year. A lot of our stories happen outside (in the woods typically), making us tailor made to create weird films in a distanced world. That said, we're missing those chill after parties. | y |
| Shrug Productions | (P) | MD | We are a group of Filmmakers and Improvisers who met at a film camp. Somehow we still like each other. | y |
| Skinhunger Productions | (A) | MD | Two filmmakers that keep having to explain that skinhunger doesn't mean cannibalism. | y |
| Skybox Media | (P) | MD | Back in the saddle after a brief intermission. Enjoy the show. | y |
| Smash Productions | (S) | MD | uhhhh | y |
| SRK Video | (A) | MD | The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late SRK VIDEO. GENERAL JACOB dispatches secret agents to gather intelligence, while JESSE, the last hope of the Jedi, trains for battle against the diabolical OMAR. Meanwhile, Supreme Leader [RAN OUT OF NAMES] rages in search of the phantom, determined to destroy any threat to his power.... | y |
| Star Wipe Films | (P) | MD | A close-knit group of filmmakers who love seeking adventures and finding new stories to tell! | y |
| Stellar Door Studios | (A) | MD | A buncha downtown creatives who like making stuff. | y |
| Stepdad Productions | (P) | MD | Having just lost half of their assets after a bitter divorce with Stepmom, Stepdad Productions sunk into a deep depression. After eating dangerous amounts of Halo Top and listening to some pretentious jazz album you’ve never heard of, Stepdad Productions came to the conclusion that they needed to reconcile with their former spouse. Approaching Stepmom’s condo with flowers and optimism, Stepdad Productions made an impassioned plea that they were meant for each other and destined to make films together forever. However, Stepmom rebuffed Stepdad Productions, telling them that she wanted to focus on true art and not non-sensical comedies. Hearing that their comedies weren’t true art threw Stepdad Productions into a rage! Deciding to go with Plan B, Stepdad Productions murdered Stepmom and devoured her body. With a full belly after having consumed her, Stepdad Productions felt tremendous power flowing through their veins and was able to ascend a higher plane of existence. Stepdad Productions is currently traveling throughout the cosmos looking for an interesting film location that would serve as cool backdrop for a bicycle-turned-CIA agent that wants to go to culinary school. | y |
| STRANDEAD | (A) | MD | STRANDEAD is art without overthinking. Built upon the premise that some creative work is best expressed in its initial draft form, STRANDEAD has existed - sporadically - since 1989. STRANDEAD's Team Leader, Denis Superczynski, loves playing in the art bin and hopes to be able to say on his deathbed, "Dang, I never really mastered anything. Maybe I should have tried harder...or something." STRANDEAD's super groovy, enigmatic, smash hit film from Year 13, "Mrs. Huston, We Have A Problem" continues to resonate with fans across Frederick County who absolutely and completely believe that this was Denis' first film. With this year's film, STRANDEAD hopes to finally solve the mystery of who killed William Deane Tanner. (Hint: It was Baby Peggy, in the Conservatory, with a shiv fashioned from a jumbo rainbow lollipop) | y - late |
| Ten/One Films | (A) | AZ | Arizona Grown Film crew with 14 years experience in timed film challenges. Love participating and seeing the work of everyone involved. | y |
| The Second to Last Brownie | (A) | MD | It's entirely guilt free. | y |
| The Soccer Moms | (S) | NJ | Hailing from South Jersey, Hunter, Mark, Mike and Sophia (and a few others on the rare occasion) comprise the team. The Soccer Moms look to make their best short yet. | y |
| The Storytellers Nook | (S) | MD | y | |
| Twilight Jones Productions | (A) | MD | We Are Marshall | n |
| Uncanary | (A) | VA | A family affair. | n |
| Unimental West | (A) | WV | We're a quarantined portion of Team Unimental, comprised of folks that have participated in every single year of the Film Fest. | y |
| Void Where Prohibited (VWP) Media | (A) | MD | We're a group of friends who came together to collaborate, create, learn, discover, and experience all aspects of filmmaking. | y |
| Washington Film Festival Team | (A) | MD | wa ge | y - late |
| Weapons Grade Geranium | (A) | MD | Sixth time is the charm, right? Or is it our seventh time? Seventh time is the charm. (Ninth if you count that other team. So yeah. Ninth time is the charm.) | y |
| weoughta productions | (S) | MD | Team Bio: Teeming with Bio | n |
| West End Media | (A) | WV | Living on the west end of town, Liz and her cat Xena have seen enough oddities to inspire many strange tails. | y |
| WinMore Productions | (A) | NJ | We're a team of young filmmakers with a passion for creating and film, excited to test ourselves and see what we can do! | y |
| Zimm Media | (A) | MD | Ive always wanted to do this. | y |
2020 Hosts
DOUG POWELL was born in a trailer park in Illinois and raised by some weirdos from Iowa. After joking his way through public school and disregarding the advice of everyone, he joined the Marine Corps. After what seemed to Doug (and the Marine Corps) like an eternity, he moved on to become a stand up comedian in the Washington D.C., Baltimore area. A short period after this, he came to the realization that DC and Baltimore are not where comedians go to do that job. But he still did for like 13 years. During that time, Doug had a left-handed daughter, he worked here and there.. Went to college like 5 different times without so much as an Associates Degree. Was gonna be a teacher or a sound engineer or whatever…anyway, he did lots of stuff. You get the point. Then he’s all like, oh I know… farming, that’s what I want to do. So Doug started a farm and grew food for a restaurant in downtown Frederick called Cafe Nola. Went pretty well. That went on for like 3 years and then Doug was like, hey…what about making ringtones and managing ringtone producers all across the country. So that happened for like 4 years or so. He gets married to a left-handed woman, has another little left-handed girl. Then Doug was like, fuck it, I’m gonna be an electrician. That’s what I’ve wanted to do for like a year or whatever. So that’s what he did. He’s been doing that for about 5 years or so. Last year, Doug started an online profile called @modern_electrician where he makes fun of the life of a tradesperson while offering inspirational and motivating ideas and insights. During all of that (for the last decade anyway) Doug has spent time every year helping to produce and co-host the 72 Film Fest. Out of all of that stuff, this is his favorite.
Check out Modern Electrician Podcast and his company Lumen Brothers Electric.
MIKAEL JOHNSON is once again happy to back for year 14 of the 72 Film Fest! Mikael would like to thank his family and his Frederick families the 72 Film Fest and Maryland Ensemble Theater for all their support and generosity over the years.
2020 Jury
EDUARDO SANCHEZ was born in Cuba in 1968. He studied Television Production at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD and received his BA in Motion Picture Production from the University of Central Florida in 1994.
It was at UCF where Eduardo met his future Haxan Films partners and in 1998 he co-wrote, co-edited and co-directed THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. He also designed and built the original BLAIR- WITCH.COM website and co-directed the TV special CURSE OF THE BLAIR WITCH for the Sci-FI Channel.
Eduardo directed the alien-abduction feature film ALTERED in 2005 and the Chinese ghost film SEV- ENTH MOON in 2009, starring Amy Smart. He then wrote, directed and edited the psychological horror film LOVELY MOLLY in 2012 and co-directed the zombie short film A RIDE IN THE PARK that was part of the anthology film V/H/S/2 released in 2013. His Bigfoot found footage film EXISTS premiered at SXSW 2014, winning the audience award in the Midnighters section. He recently co-directed the short film CALL CENTER, which is part of the feature anthology PORTALS, released in 2019.
In television, Eduardo was the Producing Director on Season 4 of the USA series QUEEN OF THE SOUTH. He was one of the lead writers on the 2014 ABC series THE QUEST and directed the first four episodes of the Glen Morgan (THE X-FILES) BBC America series, INTRUDERS, which premiered in 2014. His fifth episode of SUPERNATURAL (final season) airs on CW later this year.
He lives with his wife, Stefanie, their three children, Bianca, Lucas and Lennon, and a ridiculously large Star Wars collection in Urbana, Maryland.
JEFFERY KEILHOLTZ is Artistic Director & CEO of Phenomenology, Inc., an innovative production model in Frederick, Maryland, with a mission to create opportunities that enhance the public exposure of local professional artists and technicians by producing compelling performing arts projects to showcase their gifts. Acting resume includes: OFF-BROADWAY: Nightswimming, Balm in Gilead; Beirut Rocks; REGIONAL: Stupid F*cking Bird, American Buffalo; TELEVISION: The Sopranos; TRAINING: Lily Lodge (Actors’ Conservatory); Sergey Dreiden (Moscow Art Theatre); Andy Goldsworthy (apprentice, White Walls); PUBLICATION: Living Off-Stage: A Technique In Continuity, published in Stanislavski Studies, a peer-reviewed journal; FEATURED SPEAKER: on acting technique at 2014 International Academic Forum (Europe, USA). www.phenoart.org
PATTY MEYERS is a freelance film producer in the Washington, DC metro area. She is retired from 20+ years in the US Army in which she worked as a Military Intelligence Analyst. She has over ten years of experience in the film industry, has produced five films and worked on many others in various crew positions. Currently, she has a feature film and a short film, both of which she produced, in the film festival circuit. Patty also coaches and judges competitive high school speech and debate.
SKIZZ CYZYK is a filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, and film festival careerist. He has held positions at MicroCineFest, Maryland Film Festival, Slamdance, and Atlanta Film Festival, as well as serving on juries and advisory boards at many other festivals. His films include Hit & Stay, Freaks In Love, Alfred Jarry & ‘Pataphysics, Little Castles, Managers Corner, multiple music videos (Beach House, Young Fresh Fellows), and the recently completed documentary feature, Icepick To The Moon. He writes for music and film magazines, is on the Board of Directors for Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and performs music with The Stents, Go Pills, The Jennifers, Garage Sale, Half Japanese and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.
BRENDA KINZINGER is a producer/editor at Baltimore County Public Library, where she uses cutting-edge technology with seasoned storytelling to move the library audience. Her other passion is costume designing with her twin sister, Joyce, for theater and dance productions. Theater credits include “Cats”, “Tarzan”, “Into the Woods”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, and “Young Frankenstein”. She looks forward to reviewing all the creative work of the participants in the 72 Film Fest!
Rob Hagans taught himself screenwriting by reading & re-reading The Matrix script from the DVD at age 17. His first screenplay got him suspended from school.
In taking on the role of parental figure at 22, Rob decided to make success as an independent filmmaker a necessity in order to give his adopted children a positive black male role model. He is the architect of three micro-budget feature films, and the figurehead for his Bespectacled Mofo brand/YouTube channel.
Being a judge for the 72Fest brings Rob full circle as he has been a participant many times from it’s inaugural year.
CAOIMHE CARTY is a Northern California-based Video Editor from Ireland, which explains the confusing name. Originally intending to be a Zoologist she moved to the US and fell into the world of film, where she was able to combine her skills as an artist and classically trained musician.
She has worked on a wide range of projects, including Green Day’s feature film Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk, broadcast shows for Animal Planet and Science Channel, TV commercials, Short Docs, and more.
When not working she enjoys sketching, boxing, and writing the plot outline for her detective show which she hopes to some day pass off to someone who can actually write.
RICHARD JEFFERIES grew up in Frederick, Maryland, where he graduated from Frederick High School in 1974. After 34 years of building a career in Hollywood, Richard returned to live in the Frederick Area. During his time in Hollywood, Richard delivered 28 Feature Film writing assignments to major studios including Tron: Legacy, Cold Creek Manor (which he also executive produced) and Man of The House at Disney, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at Fox, Searchers and The Bad Place at Warner Bros. Richard has done uncredited writing work on many movies including Sci-Fi features Virus, Species and Imposter. Richard wrote, directed and produced Organizm aka Living Hell, which premiered on SYFY Channel and wrote the cult honor classic Scarecrows. Richard joined Wisearce Films in 2010, where he co-wrote and produced the Christmas Comedy Elf-Man.
Rona Mensah, still detests writing her bio…but here goes. Rona is a Board of Trustee and Ensemble Member of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) in Frederick. Most recently, she appeared in the MET’s production of Sweat, by Lynn Nottage. She loves the arts and when she’s not on the air as Morning Show Host on Today’s 97.5 in Martinsburg, WV she spends her time exploring the artistic landscape of the region. Each year she’s thrilled to serve as a judge and contribute to the festival. Here’s to the fantastic talent and creativity displayed by all the teams participating in the 72 Film Fest!
CELIA DE LA VEGA is honored to join the 72 Film Fest. As an established judge with film festivals including DC Shorts and the CINE Gold Eagle Awards, among others, as well as a veteran of short-form productions that include multiple 48Hrs entries, Celia is also a life-long actor, writer and director; day jobs notwithstanding. Most recently, Celia has expanded her creative efforts beyond acting in features, shorts, TV, voice over, radio and theatre as well as writing, directing, and acting in her own narratives to include action DP and fight/stunt choreography (award nominated and winning) enabled by her background in dance and choreography studies. Celia is proud to be affiliated with SAG-AFTRA, Actor’s Equity Association (AEA), Women in Film and Video (WIFV) DC, and the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), and looks forward to enjoying the creations of the artists participating in 72 Film Fest.
We want to welcome and thank all the wonderful Prize Sponsors of 2020!
Red Giant : Red Giant Complete Annual Subscription – Best Amateur
Final Draft : Final Draft Screenwriting Softwares – Best Student and Writing
FilmConvert: Nitrate Plugin Package – Best Cinematography
Archai Media: Weekend Red Camera Rental – Best Pro
Wonder Book: $20 Gift Certificates to all Winners
$100 Gift Ct – Most Hopeful and Best of the Fest
Warehouse Cinemas: 3 Tickets to Cinema – Unique Challenge
3 Tickets to Cinema – Producer Award
Phenomenology: Broadway Access Pro Annual Subscription – Best Acting
TreeTrekkers: 2 Adventure Park Tickets – Best Costume
Dublin Roasters: 1lb Bags of Special 72 Blend – All Winners
Neat Video: Software – Best Editing
Pumpernickel+Rye: Hoodie and Lunch GiftCard – Best of the Fest
Gambrill Mt Food Co: Gift Card – Best Sound
24×36 2020 Posters. – Best of the Fest and Audience Choices
awards designed by Roland Metal Art.
Producer Notes:
Year 15. Covid. We had pushed registration later in the year mainly to give us all a little break, but it ended up helping us while we tried to make the decision over whether to have a Fest or not. Would theaters be open? Would folks even be able to be in a room together to shoot? Can strangers come over to the house, or would it have to be just family. So many different questions throughout the year and so many stresses. But even if it was only families making movies – we wanted to have something for folks to do. Some sense of normalcy was so desperately needed. More teams signed up than any other year (partly due to our price reduction but mostly due to folks just needing something fun to do).
The search for an online screening option began and luckily we found Eventive. It worked great, a test was done, and we moved forward on an online Fest. A last minute technical issue with the platform forced us to rethink/redo ALL of our workflow in the week before screenings, but such was life in 2020. There were so many bigger things on our mind in 2020 to worry about technical challenges.
We wanted something easy for folks to do, so we just settled on WildCard – a frame from a previous team’s film that could be replicated in any way in a team’s film. To help shake off the feeling of 2020, we also optionally challenged folks to make a Hopeful film. Shae and Sam designed the poster and we were off.
The films this year were interesting and had probably the most running themes throughout the night- many including the Great Resignation, complaining about economy and employers lack of care, some gleefully engaging in cannibalism, while others providing some sense of hope.
We knew we wouldn’t really be able to get together through planning or shooting…but we wanted to do something fun for the screenings. So Mikael and Doug, plus Mike, Sam, Shae, Clark and and Adeline went to the park and shot some host footage and set ups for the awards.