— by Lin McNulty —
The Orcas Island Film Festival awards grants of $5,000 to three filmmakers to explore the San Juan Islands and use it as a canvas to create short films that inspire, inform, and entertain. The three winning independent filmmakers then have the chance to bring their film project to life, using the magic of the San Juan Islands as a backdrop during the summer of 2017.
These three grant winning films are featured at the 2017 Orcas Island Film Festival where the audience will choose a first prize winner who will be awarded a festival trophy and will have the honor of being featured in the prestigious Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) in 2018.
Rigged! A Tail of Corruption by Heidi Cuda
4th Annual Orcas Island Film Festival short film grant winner Heidi Cuda with Rigged! A Tail Of Corruption.
Heidi Siegmund Cuda is an Emmy award-winning investigative producer, broadcast journalist, author, columnist, music critic, screenwriter and free press activist. After 15 years as an investigative producer for Fox 11 News Los Angeles, she resigned to pursue TV development, screenwriting and social justice activism. In addition to her television work, she spent 15 years as the Los Angeles Times nightlife columnist and urban music critic. She also authored seminal rap and punk books including Sublime’s Brad Nowell: Crazy Fool and The Ice Opinion, with Ice T. She wrote, produced and hosted the Fox 11 economic series, “Saving the California Dream.” She most recently worked as a producer on Al Jazeera America’s noted science show TechKnow and is writing and directing a film she produced from the Women’s March in Washington. Currently, Cuda is in preproduction to direct and produce a film she cowrote, “Zombie Newsroom,” a satire about corporate local tv news, which she films this fall. She fell in love with Orcas Island while working on her first screenplay, “The House Near Paris,” with an island resident, whose godmother is the focus of the World War II epic.
Watch here: www.orcasfilmfest.com/rigged
It Takes An Island by Tashi Litch
4th Annual Orcas Island Film Festival short film grant winner Tashi Litch is 15 years old and lives with his family on a small farm on Orcas Island. He has always loved cameras and over the past few years has had a special interest in video production. Since he was 11 he has come to local film shoots and been mentored by several professional film makers on the island.
His primary activity is playing the mandolin. He started violin at the age of 5, and picked up his first mandolin when he was 8. He loves Bluegrass and other traditional music. Tashi and his brother Kaj, formed the band Brograss (www.brograssmusic.com), playing regularly on the island, as well as across the USA in the summer season.
He is delighted to receive this grant from the Orcas Island Film Festival to be able to combine the passions, making a film about being a kid growing up playing music on this wonderful island that is home.
Watch here: www.orcasfilmfest.com/it-takes-an-island
Falling Into Place by Einar Johnson and Antonella Fragapane
4th Annual Orcas Island Film Festival short film grant winners Einar Johnson & Antonella Fragapane with Falling Into Place.
Einar’s career in professional video production began in the 90s shooting and editing for local news channels. In 2000 he moved to the UK and continued his career in Glasgow and London, working to create promotional videos for one of the world’s largest technology institutes with 56 locations globally. In 2011 he co-founded Pixel Bokeh Productions with his wife Antonella, and returned back to the Seattle area.
Originally from Italy, Antonella moved to London where she worked as a Sound Engineer for live venues and studio recordings. She honed her video production skills while working in London’s busy post-production industry. She has worked on projects for BBC and Technicolor in the UK. After moving to the US in 2007, she worked at Lucas Film’s THX in Marin County before coming to Seattle to co-Found Pixel Bokeh Productions.
Watch Falling Into Place Here: www.orcasfilmfest.com/falling-into-place
The winner will be announced at the Saturday Night Awards party during the festival.
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