September 3, 2024 • 21 mins
What if one weekend could transform a small-town festival into an international celebration of cinema? Join us as we sit down with Sydney Koppelmeyer, the marketing chair behind the Full Bloom Film Festival, to get an inside look at the ninth year of this incredible event in Statesville, North Carolina. This year's festival promises an eclectic mix of 41 films from around the world, including a special guest from China. We're excited to share the buzz surrounding the children's red carpet event for "The Inventor," penned by the writer of Ratatouille, and celebrate the record-breaking ticket sales that have everyone talking.
Eager to know what makes this festival truly special? We explore the jam-packed weekend schedule, from the box office opening at Lake Mountain Coffee to the grand celebration at the Iredell Arts Council with food trucks and live music. Learn about the strategic marketing partnerships that have propelled the festival's success, the special honors for local filmmakers and how community involvement through themed drinks and exclusive Southern Distilling bourbon bottles adds a unique touch. Don't miss out on hearing directly from filmmakers during Q&A sessions, making this an unmissable event for cinema lovers.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're all abuzz for the Full Bloom Film Festival in
Statesville, North Carolina.
Tune in now for all the details.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes
you on a captivating journeythrough the heart of one of
North Carolina's most charmingtowns.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome back to Discover Statesville.
Today, we are joined by SydneyKoppelmeyer, who is the
marketing chair for the FullBloom Film Festival.
Welcome.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
Sydney.
Thanks guys for having me.
We're glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
We for the Full Bloom Film Festival.
Welcome Sydney, thanks.
Thanks, guys, for having me,we're glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're excited to talk about all things.
Full Bloom Film Festival,richard's favorite time of the
year.
Got to go ahead and mentionthat out of the gate.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
It's a magical time, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
A lot going on it is.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's a good thing.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So Sydney.
This will be the ninth FullBloom Film Festival, so tell us
all about this year's event.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Oh my gosh.
So there's so much going onthis year.
Where to start right?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah right.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
So we have 41 films.
That's the big deal.
We have 41 films and this yearwe're hosting over 60 filmmakers
.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
So that's the most we've ever hosted in Statesville
.
They're coming from everywhere.
They're coming from a, they'recoming from a.
Lot are from North Carolina,which is nice, up in Winston a
lot of student films.
And then we also have fromCalifornia, chicago, texas, I
mean you name it.
They're represented here.
Our farthest travelingfilmmaker is actually from China
.
That's awesome.
(01:18):
So, yeah, it's going to bereally exciting.
A lot of great conversationsfor sure are going to be had
this weekend about the filmsthat we're showing.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
You mentioned 41 films.
41 films, so people understandthere's a variety of sessions.
Some will be feature-lengthfilms, but then a lot of the
sessions are collections ofshorts.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Some of those range from animation, comedy, drama.
We have it all, which is reallyspecial.
That's outstanding.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So, folks, Richard is on the board for Full Bloom
Film Festival and works veryhard with the team to bring this
to us.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Just hard enough with the team.
A lot of the team work veryhard.
A lot of the team worked veryhard.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
It's very passionate about the project, but Sidney
and Richard are very familiarwith Full Bloom Film Festival.
But what I think would be great, since you mentioned shorts and
I now know what that means.
But for our listeners, who maynot even know what a film
festival is or why we're havingthat in Statesville, can we
maybe just step back and talkabout what is?
I hear you call this a boutiquefilm festival, but what is a
(02:26):
film festival and what's soexciting about the Idle Arts
Council?
You know about you guysbringing having that here in
Statesville, north Carolina.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, so to start with, these are all independent
filmmakers.
They have a smaller moviebudget than when you would see
at the movie theater.
Well, no, I, that's right.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
So, all right, we do showcase independent filmmakers
from all over that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You know these films may not have been picked up by a
distributor yet, or anythinglike that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, that's true we also showcase a lot of student
films.
So we've had an ongoingrelationship with like School of
the Arts and Winston-Salem andothers, so we try to showcase
student films.
So it's a really coolopportunity to see film that
you're likely not going to seeanywhere else unless you
frequent film festivals Right Ofwhich there are many, but not a
lot quite like ours, and so Ithink you know one of the neat
(03:16):
things about ours is that youknow, here we are in Statesville
and you're watching reallyimpactful films that were made
in, you know, kyrgyzstan oryouyrgyzstan or all over the
globe, which is really cool yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
That reminds me.
Actually, a film I'm reallyexcited about this year is
called the Inventor, which is ananimation stop-motion film.
So you know, when you take ashot and then they adjust it's
usually a puppet or a clayperson and they're adjusting
them slightly.
There is a full featureanimation film that we're
screening this festival.
(03:50):
It was actually written by haveyou guys seen Ratatouille?
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I love Ratatouille.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
It's the same writer.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You don't have to have kids to enjoy.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Ratatouille I also enjoy Ratatouille.
No kidding, that was somethingwe're really excited about, but
that's a pretty large-scale winfor the festival in Statesville,
so it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's something new, because that is a film for
youth, right, yeah, so we'redoing a children's red carpet,
which is really cool.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We're rolling out the red carpet for our kiddos.
They can come take some photos.
It for our kiddos, they cancome take some photos.
The first 50 kids are going toreceive little paint kits, which
is really exciting because thefilm is actually about Leonardo
da Vinci and his kind of comingof age story and just to spark a
little creativity in our youngones.
So I really hope you guys are.
(04:39):
I hope children come out to seethat That'll be nice.
14 and younger are actuallyfree with the company of an
adult.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And that's happening on Saturday.
That's Saturday at 2.30.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
The red carpet starts at 2 to get your cute photos in
for your Instagram.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, so walk through the ticket process in the box
office If people haven't boughtonline.
Actually, start with someexciting news.
You shared some exciting newsearlier in the month.
Yeah, you did a presentationwith us earlier in the month.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Yeah, so we actually have a record-breaking ticket
sales as of right now, which isvery exciting.
It's our ninth year.
I feel like we're reallyhitting our stride.
I feel like we're reallyspreading the word with our
filmmakers, with our attendees.
A lot of people are coming back, which means the world to us,
yeah, so we're really excited tosee those ticket sales go up
(05:28):
and people get to see a lot ofindependent film from all over
the world in Statesville.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, that's amazing.
That's a lot to be proud of.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, it's super cool and one of the things so we
have access to sort of the backdoor of the tickets coming in
and so we can see who'spurchasing tickets and things
like that.
So one of the things that cameup in a recent meeting is you
know, we're looking at thepeople that are Sydney mentioned
all the filmmakers that arecoming from all over the place.
You know, we sort of know theusual suspects that come to the
(05:56):
film festival every year andwhen we're looking at recent
ticket sales there are peoplethat we don't know or recognize.
So that's outstanding.
That means that the word reallyis.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, kudos to marketing the marketing.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I really can't Enough .
Good things can't be said aboutthe marketing committee, but
that's the deal People arelearning about the film festival
.
We feel like we've had thisreally great gem here in
Statesville.
You've done a great job ofreally telling that story to
people both inside and outsidethe community.
We're getting a lot of trafficnow, which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and I saw that.
Sydney, you were able topartner with Visit North
Carolina.
They showcased it some, oh mygosh, we're so grateful for them
.
First Statesville that wasgreat, and I know that you're
bringing Visit nope, nc Tripping.
Yep, christina Riley from NCTripping is coming in.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I'm really excited about that one.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I love it when she's in town because I'm sure she
will be eating in ourrestaurants and featuring.
She comes in and she features.
I love NC Tripping in general,but I think that's exciting that
she'll be here this year.
Maybe it's her first filmfestival.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I think so yeah, so she's in for a treat for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, that's going to be exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So tell us, so start, box office opens this Wednesday
, yes, and kind of start thereand kind of run through.
What does a weekend at FullBlue Film Festival look like?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yes, sure.
So our box office is at LakeMountain Coffee so you can grab
a coffee, grab your tickets.
We always have volunteers onsite, so if you have any
questions about scheduling,about parties, they can help you
there.
And then we jump to Thursday.
So we kick off Thursday evening.
We're going to be, which I alsowant to say.
We are so integrated intodowntown, we are a downtown
(07:32):
festival, so a lot of our venues, a lot of our partners and
restaurants, I mean everythingis just so integrated so nicely.
So we're starting at theWallace.
I mean everything is just sointegrated so nicely.
So we're starting at theWallace, which is on Broad
Street, which is a new eventspace.
We're kind of hosting there fora cocktail hour which is going
(07:54):
to be a lot of fun.
We're partnering with Bee andBarrel, who's helping us with
some mead.
I don't know if you guys havehad any of that, so that's
really going to be fun to tryand a lot of honey-infused
things, keeping with that beetheme.
So we're kicking it off there.
Then we're heading over toShearer, which is on Mitchell's
campus, and we're going to dojust a curated selection of
shorts just to kind of kick offthe festival.
(08:15):
This is what you're going tosee, just build that excitement,
and then we're jumping intoFriday and Saturday, which are
full days of films.
By the way, you can look at ourschedule on our website
fullbloomfilmfestivalcombackslash schedule.
And you see how we did that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
It's the marketing man.
The marketing's so good and youshowed on the backslash because
I always have a hard time whichones.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Yeah and yeah.
So Friday's a full day of film.
We also have On that day,that's our meet and greet day
for filmmakers and for VIPs andsponsors to kind of mingle.
And what I also think is sospecial about this festival are
the conversations you get tohave with people all across the
(08:59):
world about their art, aboutStatesville, about you know what
prompted you to tell this story.
I mean, there's conversations.
It's my favorite part.
So that's just an opportunityfor that and that's actually
going to be up the road at theTevin's new gallery yeah,
culture Shock, culture Shock.
(09:20):
Yeah, so that's cool.
So we're incorporating againanother nonprofit and that's
going to be a really greatcouple hours.
And then let's see Friday we'reactually screening Bright
Leaves, which is Ross McElwee'sfilm.
So Ross is receiving our Buzzrecipient award this year and he
(09:46):
is a local guy, someone fromthe community I love them, yeah
and has gone on to achieve a lotof success in film with Bright
Leaves.
He's also a professor atHarvard for film studies, so
it's just what a treat that wehave him here.
He's literally coming home.
We're celebrating him, we'rehonoring him and then, after
(10:08):
we're screening his film, we'reheaded over to the Arts Council
for a Big Fat Party.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
And that's going to be super fun.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
There's going to be food trucks, there's going to be
live music, you name it.
It's going to be so much fun.
I don't know if you guys had achance to go last year, that's
been my favorite night.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
That's an important one to showcase because you know
, as Sydney talks through theevents over the weekend, you
know she mentioned VIP sponsorevents.
So, like the meet and greet andlike the Thursday night
screening and party, those areall VIP sponsor events and you
can purchase a VIP ticket.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
You too can be a VIP the.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Friday night party, though, is open to the public,
so you do not even have to havecome to a film to come to the
Friday night party at the ArtsCouncil.
You can just come out and therewill be music, and we just want
people to come out and have agood time and celebrate the
festival.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
It'll be a really fun night.
That's always a big night forus.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah Well, richard was saying you don't even have
to have bought tickets to thefestival and you mentioned it,
you touched on it early on, butjust especially with the kids
VIP that you're doing onSaturday.
Now you can buy day passes,right?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yes, yeah, you can buy a single session ticket.
You can, we have so manydifferent types of tickets.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
You've got your single session, your day pass,
your festival pass and your VIPpass, and if you're a couple,
there's a VIP couple pass whichwe give you a little bit of a
deal there.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Or you can just get with your buddy and you can save
a little money buying the VIP'scouple's pass.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
We don't ask for any documentation of a relationship.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I need to see it.
Okay, so we went through Friday, so tell us about Saturday.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Saturday, another full day of film, which, oh
again, we should talk about ourvenues, sorry.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Again.
We're all throughout downtown.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I know we have a venue at Center.
We should talk about our venues.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Sorry Again, we're all throughout downtown Somehow
we should talk about it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
I know it's a lot.
We have a venue at Center StageAlliance, which is on Broad
Street.
We have a venue at the ArtsCouncil of course Acoustics are
great in there for film.
We love it.
And then we also have a venueat Shear Hall, which is a lot of
our red carpet films are there.
And then we have one over atRotary, which is up the road too
, so everything's walkingdistance, which it's wonderful
(12:13):
for filmmakers attendees.
A lot of film festivals arelike scattered in cities, so
there's a lot of driving, nothere, which is another great
part of our downtown, okay, butSaturday, saturday is a full day
of films and that evening weare screening.
(12:35):
Oh, oh gosh, I'm blanking theKeeper.
Sorry there's so many films torecall.
I would jump in and bail youout, but I mean, remember Is it
a different film.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I was like no, I'm like bail her out, bail her out.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I'm like I don't remember what it is.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
It's actually called the Keeper, which is a really
touching film based on a truestory of a veteran who's hiking
the Appalachian Trail, who'sstruggling with depression and
suicide.
So when that film was submitted, we instantly actually thought
of Purple Heart Homes, which issuch a wonderful resource we
(13:07):
have in Statesville.
We're so lucky to have themhere, but they're also a
national brand, so we'reactually partnering with them
that evening and just to kind ofhelp tell that story, talk
about the need, talk about justthat really important story of
our veterans and how we cansupport them.
So again, we're so integratedinto this town and I love it so
(13:30):
much, so that's going to bereally special.
And then, after we always haveto end the night with a party,
so after we're going over to theend on front street, which is
just a gorgeous, gorgeous indowntown, and we're hosting um,
that's our awards night, so ourfilmmakers will receive those
awards.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
We're so lucky to have that bed and breakfast as
an asset and Gerilyn and Mike dosuch a nice job with it and
they do a great job with youguys helping with hospitality.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Gerilyn's on our.
She's on the Full Bloom FilmFest board.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, lucky to have them in the community.
So you mentioned Lake Norman,not Lake Norman, lake Mountain.
Yes, coffee Shop is the boxoffice and one of the things you
guys did last year that Ithought was really cool and
maybe they did it, but there wasa themed drink for the film
festival.
Do we think we're going to seethat?
Come back?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I have hinted at them .
I wish I had that much power.
I frequent their coffee shop somuch.
But I've hinted that went overso well, it did it was such a
cute, touch.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And it was a good drink.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Oh yeah, and also I'm just so grateful that we're
also they're open to ourfestival and to us and they're
integrating as well.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, box office has been there for a number of years
now.
It's the perfect spot.
Now, speaking of drinks, we dohave another community partner.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yes, now it's the perfect spot.
Now, speaking of drinks, we dohave another community partner
yes, oh yes, southern Distilling.
We love Southern Distilling andthe Film Festival, so we
actually partnered with them acouple months back about doing a
couple reserved bottles ofbourbon.
I went to the tasting, whichwas really fun.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You guys did a full barrel.
I don't think the rest of theboard got.
I went to the tasting, whichwas really fun.
You guys did a full barrel.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
I don't think the rest of the board got an invite
to that.
We came for two barrels, weleft with three, so it was a fun
trip for sure Ponsors shouldhave been invited to that.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm not quite sure how that happened.
I'm not sure I was invited tothat.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, it's who you know, nice.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Clearly not enough people.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Yeah, so actually they're going to be featured.
Southern Distilling is going tobe, or those bottles
specifically are going to befeatured throughout the festival
.
They're reserved bottles,meaning only from that barrel.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
There's no other bottles like it, so that's just
another great perk They've gotthe Full Bloom Film Festival
logo on the bottle and you cango buy these right.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yep at your local ABC .
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Yeah, they're available now that's super cool.
Collector's item.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, did you negotiate a give back on the
bottle sales?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
If you come to a party there might be some you
can try, and I'm not a bourbongirl, but they're pretty good.
I mean they're pretty good.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I mean, they're pretty impressive.
I am a bourbon girl.
Oh good, I will be looking for.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I'll know where to find you so another cool thing
that you mentioned, youmentioned on the front end about
the 60 filmmakers coming, whichis cool, and so we also
mentioned that you know anopportunity to see films here
that you would never see outsideof other film festivals unless
they get picked up.
You know some of these filmsare probably right on the cusp
of getting picked up by adistributor For sure.
(16:33):
But one of the cool parts abouthaving those filmmakers attend
is that at all these sessions,the majority of the sessions
here will have Q&A sessionsafter a lot of the screenings.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I think only two of our sessions don't have a Q&A at
this point.
That could change.
We're still getting feedbackfrom filmmakers if they're
coming.
But yeah, so almost every filmscreening you're going to go to
you'll be able the director or afilmmaker will be there to talk
about their film and you canask questions.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Which is really cool, because sometimes you know you
finish a film and you're likeGod I wish that I knew why they
did.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, you know, know it'll end and you're like oh,
I'm so curious, yeah, and solike you've got the, you've got
the people.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
That I'm not saying they'll tell you, but they might
.
They might give you someinsight as to why they chose to
do what they did, which is,which is pretty cool, very
special.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, those talks with the filmmakers are are very
, very interesting speaking oflike just filmmakers in general.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
we have a lot of local film talent here.
We have one film called theGood Daughter, and their costume
designer, molly, is actuallyshe's from here, right, yeah, so
she's from here, which againstates also rich with talent.
This is just another example.
And we also have a film calledthe Grief Counselor by Jason
Keating, and he he lives inStatesville.
(17:47):
It was filmed in Statesville.
It was actually filmed at oneof the offices the Piedmont
offices I work in.
So yeah, a lot of local tiesthroughout this festival, even
in our filmmakers.
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, yeah, molly Morgan, just fun fact.
But 15 years ago and we'retalking about coffee I was I
don't know if smart enough ordumb enough to own a coffee shop
here in Statesville, and Iliked my coffee shop too.
We definitely got to meet a lotof people, but the fact of it
is that our team member who wasthe best we loved her was Molly
(18:25):
Morgan.
Oh, I didn't know that, andthat is how I got to know Molly.
Oh yeah, and as she graduatedhigh school and went off to
college and decided that costumedesign was her passion, so
she's.
She's traveled to many statesworking on several different
productions and films, and I wasto watch her expand like that
and really be able to grow inher passion, and then to hear
(18:47):
that she's the costume designeron a film right here in
Statesville.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That that is.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That is cool.
I'm excited about that one.
Yeah, so you said online theprogram and everything's online.
Now that'sfullbloomfilmfestivalorg.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Go online and watch the teaser.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, that is also one of my favorite parts every
year is Brandon on y'all's teamis very creative and he takes
all the trailers and puts themtogether and flows them into a
trailer.
I think this year is one of myfavorites.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Me too, it's pretty compelling.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
I do that every year.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So this is the third or fourth year that he's made
this teaser, and so you knowpainstakingly he goes through
every film, made this teaser andso you know painstakingly, goes
through every film, picks out aclip from every film and puts
together basically a real teaserfor the festival.
That showcases every film andit puts music to it and it's
very compelling.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This year I had all the feels we could submit it to
the film festival.
Yeah, yeah.
It's like, oh, I'm going tosmile, I'm going to laugh, I'm
going to cry that it to the filmfestival.
It's like, oh, I'm going tosmile, I'm going to laugh, I'm
going to cry, that's the weekend.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
If you're sitting on the fence about I'm not sure if
this is for me go online andwatch the teaser.
You'll see something thatengages you, that you want to
come out and see.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We are excited and proud that Statesville's home to
a film festival like Full Bloomand excited to partner with you
guys in it, and you guys aredoing amazing work.
So keep up the good work.
We will be there.
We will be be there this weekand I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I'm going to stop by.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
You're going to stop by.
I should be schlepping.
He'll be on the golf cartsomewhere right?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
More than likely Hair blown in the wind.
Yeah, more than likely hairblown in the wind that's right.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
That's right fullbloomfilmfestivalorg guys,
don't miss it.
Lots of great things happeningin Statesville, north Carolina.
Thank you, sydney, weappreciate you being here yeah,
come see us.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Come see us this weekend, thank you thank you for
joining Discover Statesville.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
you can email us at discover at statesvillenccom.
Check us out on Facebook atDiscover Statesville, nc hashtag
Discover Statesville and ourwebsite statesfulnccom.
Catch us next week as wecontinue on our journey to
uncover the hidden gems,culinary adventures,
entertainment, and to beinspired and enlightened as we
(21:06):
Discover Statesville.
We're all abuzz for the Full Bloom Film Festival in
Statesville, North Carolina.
Tune in now for all the details.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes
you on a captivating journeythrough the heart of one of
North Carolina's most charmingtowns.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome back to Discover Statesville.
Today, we are joined by SydneyKoppelmeyer, who is the
marketing chair for the FullBloom Film Festival.
Welcome.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
Sydney.
Thanks guys for having me.
We're glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
We for the Full Bloom Film Festival.
Welcome Sydney, thanks.
Thanks, guys, for having me,we're glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're excited to talk about all things.
Full Bloom Film Festival,richard's favorite time of the
year.
Got to go ahead and mentionthat out of the gate.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
It's a magical time, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
A lot going on it is.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's a good thing.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So Sydney.
This will be the ninth FullBloom Film Festival, so tell us
all about this year's event.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Oh my gosh.
So there's so much going onthis year.
Where to start right?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah right.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
So we have 41 films.
That's the big deal.
We have 41 films and this yearwe're hosting over 60 filmmakers
.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
So that's the most we've ever hosted in Statesville
.
They're coming from everywhere.
They're coming from a, they'recoming from a.
Lot are from North Carolina,which is nice, up in Winston a
lot of student films.
And then we also have fromCalifornia, chicago, texas, I
mean you name it.
They're represented here.
Our farthest travelingfilmmaker is actually from China
.
That's awesome.
(01:18):
So, yeah, it's going to bereally exciting.
A lot of great conversationsfor sure are going to be had
this weekend about the filmsthat we're showing.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
You mentioned 41 films.
41 films, so people understandthere's a variety of sessions.
Some will be feature-lengthfilms, but then a lot of the
sessions are collections ofshorts.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Some of those range from animation, comedy, drama.
We have it all, which is reallyspecial.
That's outstanding.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So, folks, Richard is on the board for Full Bloom
Film Festival and works veryhard with the team to bring this
to us.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Just hard enough with the team.
A lot of the team work veryhard.
A lot of the team worked veryhard.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
It's very passionate about the project, but Sidney
and Richard are very familiarwith Full Bloom Film Festival.
But what I think would be great, since you mentioned shorts and
I now know what that means.
But for our listeners, who maynot even know what a film
festival is or why we're havingthat in Statesville, can we
maybe just step back and talkabout what is?
I hear you call this a boutiquefilm festival, but what is a
(02:26):
film festival and what's soexciting about the Idle Arts
Council?
You know about you guysbringing having that here in
Statesville, north Carolina.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, so to start with, these are all independent
filmmakers.
They have a smaller moviebudget than when you would see
at the movie theater.
Well, no, I, that's right.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
So, all right, we do showcase independent filmmakers
from all over that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You know these films may not have been picked up by a
distributor yet, or anythinglike that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, that's true we also showcase a lot of student
films.
So we've had an ongoingrelationship with like School of
the Arts and Winston-Salem andothers, so we try to showcase
student films.
So it's a really coolopportunity to see film that
you're likely not going to seeanywhere else unless you
frequent film festivals Right Ofwhich there are many, but not a
lot quite like ours, and so Ithink you know one of the neat
(03:16):
things about ours is that youknow, here we are in Statesville
and you're watching reallyimpactful films that were made
in, you know, kyrgyzstan oryouyrgyzstan or all over the
globe, which is really cool yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
That reminds me.
Actually, a film I'm reallyexcited about this year is
called the Inventor, which is ananimation stop-motion film.
So you know, when you take ashot and then they adjust it's
usually a puppet or a clayperson and they're adjusting
them slightly.
There is a full featureanimation film that we're
screening this festival.
(03:50):
It was actually written by haveyou guys seen Ratatouille?
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I love Ratatouille.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
It's the same writer.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You don't have to have kids to enjoy.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Ratatouille I also enjoy Ratatouille.
No kidding, that was somethingwe're really excited about, but
that's a pretty large-scale winfor the festival in Statesville,
so it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's something new, because that is a film for
youth, right, yeah, so we'redoing a children's red carpet,
which is really cool.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We're rolling out the red carpet for our kiddos.
They can come take some photos.
It for our kiddos, they cancome take some photos.
The first 50 kids are going toreceive little paint kits, which
is really exciting because thefilm is actually about Leonardo
da Vinci and his kind of comingof age story and just to spark a
little creativity in our youngones.
So I really hope you guys are.
(04:39):
I hope children come out to seethat That'll be nice.
14 and younger are actuallyfree with the company of an
adult.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And that's happening on Saturday.
That's Saturday at 2.30.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
The red carpet starts at 2 to get your cute photos in
for your Instagram.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, so walk through the ticket process in the box
office If people haven't boughtonline.
Actually, start with someexciting news.
You shared some exciting newsearlier in the month.
Yeah, you did a presentationwith us earlier in the month.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Yeah, so we actually have a record-breaking ticket
sales as of right now, which isvery exciting.
It's our ninth year.
I feel like we're reallyhitting our stride.
I feel like we're reallyspreading the word with our
filmmakers, with our attendees.
A lot of people are coming back, which means the world to us,
yeah, so we're really excited tosee those ticket sales go up
(05:28):
and people get to see a lot ofindependent film from all over
the world in Statesville.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, that's amazing.
That's a lot to be proud of.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, it's super cool and one of the things so we
have access to sort of the backdoor of the tickets coming in
and so we can see who'spurchasing tickets and things
like that.
So one of the things that cameup in a recent meeting is you
know, we're looking at thepeople that are Sydney mentioned
all the filmmakers that arecoming from all over the place.
You know, we sort of know theusual suspects that come to the
(05:56):
film festival every year andwhen we're looking at recent
ticket sales there are peoplethat we don't know or recognize.
So that's outstanding.
That means that the word reallyis.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, kudos to marketing the marketing.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I really can't Enough .
Good things can't be said aboutthe marketing committee, but
that's the deal People arelearning about the film festival
.
We feel like we've had thisreally great gem here in
Statesville.
You've done a great job ofreally telling that story to
people both inside and outsidethe community.
We're getting a lot of trafficnow, which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and I saw that.
Sydney, you were able topartner with Visit North
Carolina.
They showcased it some, oh mygosh, we're so grateful for them
.
First Statesville that wasgreat, and I know that you're
bringing Visit nope, nc Tripping.
Yep, christina Riley from NCTripping is coming in.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I'm really excited about that one.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I love it when she's in town because I'm sure she
will be eating in ourrestaurants and featuring.
She comes in and she features.
I love NC Tripping in general,but I think that's exciting that
she'll be here this year.
Maybe it's her first filmfestival.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I think so yeah, so she's in for a treat for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, that's going to be exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So tell us, so start, box office opens this Wednesday
, yes, and kind of start thereand kind of run through.
What does a weekend at FullBlue Film Festival look like?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yes, sure.
So our box office is at LakeMountain Coffee so you can grab
a coffee, grab your tickets.
We always have volunteers onsite, so if you have any
questions about scheduling,about parties, they can help you
there.
And then we jump to Thursday.
So we kick off Thursday evening.
We're going to be, which I alsowant to say.
We are so integrated intodowntown, we are a downtown
(07:32):
festival, so a lot of our venues, a lot of our partners and
restaurants, I mean everythingis just so integrated so nicely.
So we're starting at theWallace.
I mean everything is just sointegrated so nicely.
So we're starting at theWallace, which is on Broad
Street, which is a new eventspace.
We're kind of hosting there fora cocktail hour which is going
(07:54):
to be a lot of fun.
We're partnering with Bee andBarrel, who's helping us with
some mead.
I don't know if you guys havehad any of that, so that's
really going to be fun to tryand a lot of honey-infused
things, keeping with that beetheme.
So we're kicking it off there.
Then we're heading over toShearer, which is on Mitchell's
campus, and we're going to dojust a curated selection of
shorts just to kind of kick offthe festival.
(08:15):
This is what you're going tosee, just build that excitement,
and then we're jumping intoFriday and Saturday, which are
full days of films.
By the way, you can look at ourschedule on our website
fullbloomfilmfestivalcombackslash schedule.
And you see how we did that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
It's the marketing man.
The marketing's so good and youshowed on the backslash because
I always have a hard time whichones.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Yeah and yeah.
So Friday's a full day of film.
We also have On that day,that's our meet and greet day
for filmmakers and for VIPs andsponsors to kind of mingle.
And what I also think is sospecial about this festival are
the conversations you get tohave with people all across the
(08:59):
world about their art, aboutStatesville, about you know what
prompted you to tell this story.
I mean, there's conversations.
It's my favorite part.
So that's just an opportunityfor that and that's actually
going to be up the road at theTevin's new gallery yeah,
culture Shock, culture Shock.
(09:20):
Yeah, so that's cool.
So we're incorporating againanother nonprofit and that's
going to be a really greatcouple hours.
And then let's see Friday we'reactually screening Bright
Leaves, which is Ross McElwee'sfilm.
So Ross is receiving our Buzzrecipient award this year and he
(09:46):
is a local guy, someone fromthe community I love them, yeah
and has gone on to achieve a lotof success in film with Bright
Leaves.
He's also a professor atHarvard for film studies, so
it's just what a treat that wehave him here.
He's literally coming home.
We're celebrating him, we'rehonoring him and then, after
(10:08):
we're screening his film, we'reheaded over to the Arts Council
for a Big Fat Party.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
And that's going to be super fun.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
There's going to be food trucks, there's going to be
live music, you name it.
It's going to be so much fun.
I don't know if you guys had achance to go last year, that's
been my favorite night.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
That's an important one to showcase because you know
, as Sydney talks through theevents over the weekend, you
know she mentioned VIP sponsorevents.
So, like the meet and greet andlike the Thursday night
screening and party, those areall VIP sponsor events and you
can purchase a VIP ticket.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
You too can be a VIP the.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Friday night party, though, is open to the public,
so you do not even have to havecome to a film to come to the
Friday night party at the ArtsCouncil.
You can just come out and therewill be music, and we just want
people to come out and have agood time and celebrate the
festival.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
It'll be a really fun night.
That's always a big night forus.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah Well, richard was saying you don't even have
to have bought tickets to thefestival and you mentioned it,
you touched on it early on, butjust especially with the kids
VIP that you're doing onSaturday.
Now you can buy day passes,right?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yes, yeah, you can buy a single session ticket.
You can, we have so manydifferent types of tickets.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
You've got your single session, your day pass,
your festival pass and your VIPpass, and if you're a couple,
there's a VIP couple pass whichwe give you a little bit of a
deal there.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Or you can just get with your buddy and you can save
a little money buying the VIP'scouple's pass.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
We don't ask for any documentation of a relationship.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I need to see it.
Okay, so we went through Friday, so tell us about Saturday.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Saturday, another full day of film, which, oh
again, we should talk about ourvenues, sorry.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Again.
We're all throughout downtown.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I know we have a venue at Center.
We should talk about our venues.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Sorry Again, we're all throughout downtown Somehow
we should talk about it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
I know it's a lot.
We have a venue at Center StageAlliance, which is on Broad
Street.
We have a venue at the ArtsCouncil of course Acoustics are
great in there for film.
We love it.
And then we also have a venueat Shear Hall, which is a lot of
our red carpet films are there.
And then we have one over atRotary, which is up the road too
, so everything's walkingdistance, which it's wonderful
(12:13):
for filmmakers attendees.
A lot of film festivals arelike scattered in cities, so
there's a lot of driving, nothere, which is another great
part of our downtown, okay, butSaturday, saturday is a full day
of films and that evening weare screening.
(12:35):
Oh, oh gosh, I'm blanking theKeeper.
Sorry there's so many films torecall.
I would jump in and bail youout, but I mean, remember Is it
a different film.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I was like no, I'm like bail her out, bail her out.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I'm like I don't remember what it is.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
It's actually called the Keeper, which is a really
touching film based on a truestory of a veteran who's hiking
the Appalachian Trail, who'sstruggling with depression and
suicide.
So when that film was submitted, we instantly actually thought
of Purple Heart Homes, which issuch a wonderful resource we
(13:07):
have in Statesville.
We're so lucky to have themhere, but they're also a
national brand, so we'reactually partnering with them
that evening and just to kind ofhelp tell that story, talk
about the need, talk about justthat really important story of
our veterans and how we cansupport them.
So again, we're so integratedinto this town and I love it so
(13:30):
much, so that's going to bereally special.
And then, after we always haveto end the night with a party,
so after we're going over to theend on front street, which is
just a gorgeous, gorgeous indowntown, and we're hosting um,
that's our awards night, so ourfilmmakers will receive those
awards.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
We're so lucky to have that bed and breakfast as
an asset and Gerilyn and Mike dosuch a nice job with it and
they do a great job with youguys helping with hospitality.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Gerilyn's on our.
She's on the Full Bloom FilmFest board.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, lucky to have them in the community.
So you mentioned Lake Norman,not Lake Norman, lake Mountain.
Yes, coffee Shop is the boxoffice and one of the things you
guys did last year that Ithought was really cool and
maybe they did it, but there wasa themed drink for the film
festival.
Do we think we're going to seethat?
Come back?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I have hinted at them .
I wish I had that much power.
I frequent their coffee shop somuch.
But I've hinted that went overso well, it did it was such a
cute, touch.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And it was a good drink.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Oh yeah, and also I'm just so grateful that we're
also they're open to ourfestival and to us and they're
integrating as well.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, box office has been there for a number of years
now.
It's the perfect spot.
Now, speaking of drinks, we dohave another community partner.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yes, now it's the perfect spot.
Now, speaking of drinks, we dohave another community partner
yes, oh yes, southern Distilling.
We love Southern Distilling andthe Film Festival, so we
actually partnered with them acouple months back about doing a
couple reserved bottles ofbourbon.
I went to the tasting, whichwas really fun.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You guys did a full barrel.
I don't think the rest of theboard got.
I went to the tasting, whichwas really fun.
You guys did a full barrel.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
I don't think the rest of the board got an invite
to that.
We came for two barrels, weleft with three, so it was a fun
trip for sure Ponsors shouldhave been invited to that.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm not quite sure how that happened.
I'm not sure I was invited tothat.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, it's who you know, nice.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Clearly not enough people.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Yeah, so actually they're going to be featured.
Southern Distilling is going tobe, or those bottles
specifically are going to befeatured throughout the festival
.
They're reserved bottles,meaning only from that barrel.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
There's no other bottles like it, so that's just
another great perk They've gotthe Full Bloom Film Festival
logo on the bottle and you cango buy these right.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yep at your local ABC .
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Yeah, they're available now that's super cool.
Collector's item.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, did you negotiate a give back on the
bottle sales?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
If you come to a party there might be some you
can try, and I'm not a bourbongirl, but they're pretty good.
I mean they're pretty good.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I mean, they're pretty impressive.
I am a bourbon girl.
Oh good, I will be looking for.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I'll know where to find you so another cool thing
that you mentioned, youmentioned on the front end about
the 60 filmmakers coming, whichis cool, and so we also
mentioned that you know anopportunity to see films here
that you would never see outsideof other film festivals unless
they get picked up.
You know some of these filmsare probably right on the cusp
of getting picked up by adistributor For sure.
(16:33):
But one of the cool parts abouthaving those filmmakers attend
is that at all these sessions,the majority of the sessions
here will have Q&A sessionsafter a lot of the screenings.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I think only two of our sessions don't have a Q&A at
this point.
That could change.
We're still getting feedbackfrom filmmakers if they're
coming.
But yeah, so almost every filmscreening you're going to go to
you'll be able the director or afilmmaker will be there to talk
about their film and you canask questions.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Which is really cool, because sometimes you know you
finish a film and you're likeGod I wish that I knew why they
did.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, you know, know it'll end and you're like oh,
I'm so curious, yeah, and solike you've got the, you've got
the people.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
That I'm not saying they'll tell you, but they might
.
They might give you someinsight as to why they chose to
do what they did, which is,which is pretty cool, very
special.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, those talks with the filmmakers are are very
, very interesting speaking oflike just filmmakers in general.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
we have a lot of local film talent here.
We have one film called theGood Daughter, and their costume
designer, molly, is actuallyshe's from here, right, yeah, so
she's from here, which againstates also rich with talent.
This is just another example.
And we also have a film calledthe Grief Counselor by Jason
Keating, and he he lives inStatesville.
(17:47):
It was filmed in Statesville.
It was actually filmed at oneof the offices the Piedmont
offices I work in.
So yeah, a lot of local tiesthroughout this festival, even
in our filmmakers.
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, yeah, molly Morgan, just fun fact.
But 15 years ago and we'retalking about coffee I was I
don't know if smart enough ordumb enough to own a coffee shop
here in Statesville, and Iliked my coffee shop too.
We definitely got to meet a lotof people, but the fact of it
is that our team member who wasthe best we loved her was Molly
(18:25):
Morgan.
Oh, I didn't know that, andthat is how I got to know Molly.
Oh yeah, and as she graduatedhigh school and went off to
college and decided that costumedesign was her passion, so
she's.
She's traveled to many statesworking on several different
productions and films, and I wasto watch her expand like that
and really be able to grow inher passion, and then to hear
(18:47):
that she's the costume designeron a film right here in
Statesville.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That that is.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That is cool.
I'm excited about that one.
Yeah, so you said online theprogram and everything's online.
Now that'sfullbloomfilmfestivalorg.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Go online and watch the teaser.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, that is also one of my favorite parts every
year is Brandon on y'all's teamis very creative and he takes
all the trailers and puts themtogether and flows them into a
trailer.
I think this year is one of myfavorites.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Me too, it's pretty compelling.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
I do that every year.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So this is the third or fourth year that he's made
this teaser, and so you knowpainstakingly he goes through
every film, made this teaser andso you know painstakingly, goes
through every film, picks out aclip from every film and puts
together basically a real teaserfor the festival.
That showcases every film andit puts music to it and it's
very compelling.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This year I had all the feels we could submit it to
the film festival.
Yeah, yeah.
It's like, oh, I'm going tosmile, I'm going to laugh, I'm
going to cry that it to the filmfestival.
It's like, oh, I'm going tosmile, I'm going to laugh, I'm
going to cry, that's the weekend.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
If you're sitting on the fence about I'm not sure if
this is for me go online andwatch the teaser.
You'll see something thatengages you, that you want to
come out and see.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We are excited and proud that Statesville's home to
a film festival like Full Bloomand excited to partner with you
guys in it, and you guys aredoing amazing work.
So keep up the good work.
We will be there.
We will be be there this weekand I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I'm going to stop by.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
You're going to stop by.
I should be schlepping.
He'll be on the golf cartsomewhere right?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
More than likely Hair blown in the wind.
Yeah, more than likely hairblown in the wind that's right.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
That's right fullbloomfilmfestivalorg guys,
don't miss it.
Lots of great things happeningin Statesville, north Carolina.
Thank you, sydney, weappreciate you being here yeah,
come see us.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Come see us this weekend, thank you thank you for
joining Discover Statesville.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
you can email us at discover at statesvillenccom.
Check us out on Facebook atDiscover Statesville, nc hashtag
Discover Statesville and ourwebsite statesfulnccom.
Catch us next week as wecontinue on our journey to
uncover the hidden gems,culinary adventures,
entertainment, and to beinspired and enlightened as we
(21:06):
Discover Statesville.
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