Arts Education

Tryon International Film Festival Reaches Out to Students

The seventh annual Tryon International Film Festival (TRIFF) takes place Friday, October 8, through Sunday, October 10, at screening venues throughout the town of Tryon. In addition to screening full-length and short features and documentaries and providing online access to all films for three weeks, the festival includes an opening gala, awards ceremony, industry trade show and workshops on a variety of topics led by producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and other professionals.

“We’re working hard to reach out to film students around the southeast and offer discounted student and educator rates, as well as a volunteer program to include students in the festival,” says TRIFF education director Ashley Crane. “We’re hoping to see tons of young filmmakers join us to watch incredible films, attend workshops with industry professionals and mingle with festival filmmakers throughout the weekend.”

Workshops offered this year include:

TRIFF Fast Filmmaking
This two-day workshop led by Alison Marek provides the basics of storytelling, cinematic grammar and shooting strategies to help participants craft short films that are memorable and emotional. Students need a smartphone with a camera, an editing app and a burning desire to share their dreams and perspective with an audience.

The Nuts and Bolts of Filmmaking
Instructor Frank Calo focuses on the reality of the business from all three stages of production. Topics covered include shooting schedules, budgets, contracts, financials, shooting techniques, writing techniques and all aspects of production for above-the-line and below-the-line crew.

From Screenplay to Screen
Instructors Kevin Bernhardt and Steven Esteb cover everything from elevating one’s screenplay to the best it can be, to the financial and production side of seeing one’s story come to life.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My
A wide-ranging discussion led by Gregg Jamback and Jamie Huss delves into behind-the-scenes obstacles, setbacks and pitfalls the filmmakers have experienced during their own careers—from production setbacks, frustrated talent and co-producing while in a relationship, to editing challenges, fundraising stress and film festival success and failure.

Screen Acting Technique
This workshop led by Ashley Crane allows participants to see themselves in front of the camera, learn movement and blocking techniques for screen acting and learn what it’s like to be on set.

TRIFF strives to contribute to the professionalism of the worldwide film community by providing workshops that are well-researched, organized and aimed at the people who need and want them most. Topics are largely inspired by the latest films received in order to find current filmmakers’ areas of interest. “We welcome the young, with their energy, creativity and daring, and we respect the working professionals’ experience and know-how,” says TRIFF co-founder Beau Menetre. “By connecting the two, we establish lifelong relationships, and we all know just how valuable relationships can be in filmmaking.”

Learn more at TryonInternationalFilmFestival.com.

Leave a Comment