A new event celebrating independent films, and the film industry in general, will come to Garvin County next weekend as the first-ever Red Brick Road Film Festival is held in Pauls Valley Oct. 14-16.
The three-day film festival is the creation of festival organizers Uraina Smith and Dathan Smith.
Uraina said the idea for the festival was hatched when the two friends began talking about how they would both like to put together a film festival, after they attended the Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival in Muskogee, Okla. It was the first independent film festival Uraina had attended, but Dathan has attended – and entered his own work in – festivals for years. “That’s kind of where it started,” Uraina said. “Just the conversation of ‘How cool would it be to do that?’” They began planning, using Dathan’s extensive festival experience and Uraina’s talent for organizing and planning events to pull together the best ideas from other festivals, and sorting through what they didn’t think worked as well, to come up with their own unique festival that would showcase the small Garvin County communities they both love.
“Dathan is from the film industry side of things, and I’m more from the acting and entertainment side,” said Uraina.
Dathan is the award-winning writer and director of an independent project titled “L.I.F.E the Anthology,” which currently consists of four episodes that were filmed partially in Pauls Valley and Wynnewood.
“It’s a great filming community, beautiful architecture, and we love the brick roads,” Dathan told Pauls Valley City Council members during a meeting in August.
He said as he’s submitted his own work to film festivals for the last three and a half years, he’s learned film festivals can be a great thing for a community.
“Not only do you have the community come, but the filmmakers come from wherever and all over and stay in the community and see all the different filming locations and the possibilities here,”Dathan said.
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase Pauls Valley and what we have to offer,” Uraina added. “Oklahoma is just now at the cusp of the film industry.”
But it is gaining traction fast, with state incentives offered to filmmakers who choose to film in Oklahoma.
According to the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, the state agency tasked with growing the film and music industry statewide, 34 film and television projects utilized the state’s film incentive in Fiscal Year 2020. Those projects employed 3,960 Oklahomans and contributed a direct fiscal impact of more than $32.8 million to the state’s economy. In Fiscal Year 2021, more than 11,000 local career opportunities were created with a direct fiscal impact of $170.4 million from 32 film and television productions utilizing the state’s incentive program. Those numbers do not include the more than 150 productions outside the state’s incentive program, comprised of commercial projects, music videos, student films and more.
Some of those projects were major productions featuring high-profile talent, including Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio; “Stillwater,” starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin; and “Tulsa King” starring Sylvester Stallone, which Dathan and Uraina both have scenes in.
Many of the film projects produced in the state have centered around metro areas like Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
As one of the only independent film festivals in the southern part of the state, Red Brick Road has the opportunity to draw people from all aspects of the film industry into rural parts of south-central Oklahoma.
“We have so much here to offer. It’s that really, pretty Hallmark look that a lot of production companies are looking for,” said Uraina.
“They are looking for older architecture, more things that are not so modern, so they can shoot these great films, like Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” set in the 1920s. They need more areas to shoot like this, more film friendly communities. So, that’s the main reason to get the filmmakers down here,” Dathan said.
The Red Brick Road Film Festival will feature filmmaker forums, kickoff meet-and-greet parties, a wine walk, two days of film screenings and an awards ceremony.
The festival will kick off Friday night with a wine walk beginning at 5:30 at participating downtown Pauls Valley businesses. The Vault, 111 E. Paul Ave., will also be hosting a live painting session with Tim Kenney, as well as music by the Pauls Valley Opry’s Woodie and Becky Hill.
Oklahoma television, stage and radio legend John Ferguson, popularly known as Count Gregore, will make a special red-carpet appearance at 7 p.m. inside the Pauls Valley Arts Council building, 220 W. Paul, followed by a panel discussion and question and answer time with John at 7:30 p.m.
Opening evening will be capped off by showings of two silent film classics.
“The kickoff evening, we will feature the film ‘Nosferatu.’ It’s the film’s 100-year anniversary. It’s perfect two weeks before Halloween – it’s the first film about Dracula. And we’ll also feature ‘A Trip to the Moon,’ another silent film, also 100 years old, but quite beautifully done,” Dathan said.
Those films will show at 8 and 8:20 p.m.
Juror selected films in the genres of animation, documentary, feature, music video and short film will be screened throughout the weekend at The Royal Theatre, 119 E. Paul Ave.; the Pauls Valley Arts Council Building; the Toy and Action Figure Museum, 111 S. Chickasaw St.; and The Vault.
The festival awards ceremony is at 2 p.m. Sunday. Cash prizes will be awarded for Best Feature, Best Short, Best Oklahoma Short, Best Documentary and Best of Fest. Recognition will also be given to best director, best actor and best actress.
Tickets are $10 per day, or $25 for all three days. To purchase tickets or see a full schedule for the festival go to redbrickroadfilmfestival. com. To view the list of best director, best actor and best actress nominees visit the “Red Brick Road Film Festival” page on Facebook.
