Hello all,

I just wanted to send out an update to let everyone know that even though the Omaha Film Festival won’t be for another seven months, we’re all working hard throughout the year to bring the city of Omaha and surrounding areas the best festival we possibly can. Several exciting things are in the works so stay tuned.

Our Call For Entries period is going on NOW so if you or anyone you know is working on a film, get it finished and get it to us! Check out the website for entry forms, dates, and information.

One new announcement that we can make right now is our new location. We’re thrilled to announce that the OFF’09 will have a new home at the Great Escape Theatre, off of 72nd & Sorenson. This beautiful new theatre is a 16-plex and has the latest in technology, seating, etc. and will be a great place to host our 2009 festival. We will utilize four of their screens through OFF week so there will be plenty of choices for all of your independent film watching needs.

Mark your calendars now – the film festival will run from February 23rd thru March 1st

Another exciting piece of news – OFF was mentioned in the current issue of Move Maker Magazine, Issue 76, Volume 15 – Summer 2008 on page 110. Here’s what the article had to say:

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Omaha Film Festival- Hollywood’s New Testing Ground
Forget Peoria. “Will it play in Omaha?” is the question that more and more Hollywood players are asking – and they’re getting their answers at the Omaha Film Festival.
The third annual event, which roared into town February 16-24, brought a handful of Hollywood’s biggest names as it kicked off with a two-day Screenwriting/Filmmaker Conference.
The conference featured discussion panels with screenwriters Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), Jon Bokenkamp ( Perfect Stranger) and Josh Stolberg (Good Luck Chuck), editors Tom Elkins (Wanted) and Mike Hill (The Da Vinci Code) and a two-day workshop with writing gurus Jeff Kitchen and Lew Hunter.
“I think that our education initiative has set us apart from a lot of other festivals in the region, and having that component to what we do has strengthened our attraction,” notes Jason Levering, the fest’s executive director.
The excitement of the OFF’s organizers is contagious. “The people who run it are very passionate about filmmaking, and particularly filmmaking in Nebraska,” says Justin Lerner, who travelled to the event from Los Angeles and won over the crowd to take home the Audience Award for his short, The Replacement Child. “After I won the audience award, the festival staff asked to take their picture with me and have me sign some DVDs, which was surreal. Nobody had ever asked me for that, so I was a bit taken aback, but it speaks to their respect and admiration of filmmakers and artists.”
“We ourselves are filmmakers at heart,” admits Levering. “We all work on our own independent film projects and we provide a lot of support to the local filmmaking crowd. So when we set out to create the OFF back in 2005, we were determined to become a teaching festival so that aspiring filmmakers in the Midwest would have better opportunities to work on their craft right here in Omaha… And believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg.” – Jennifer M. Wood
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Thanks for your patronage and support of the Omaha Film Festival. It’s a labor of love for all of us and all of the positive feedback gives us encouragement to continue. Feel free to forward this to anyone you know that may be interested.

As always, if you wish to be removed from this list, just send me a message and I’ll be happy to take you off. Well, not happy, but you know what I mean…

Support art in Omaha!

Marc Longbrake
Omaha Film Festival
Program Director

www.omahafilmfestival.org

p.s. Given the tremendous amount of growth we’ve experience over the last few years and the addition of the conferences and other special events that we’re planning, our operating expenses have increased. If you have any business or personal contacts that may be interested in talking to us regarding sponsorship, donations, etc. please don’t hesitate in contacting me. As you know, we are a 501(c)3 and we can offer tax incentives for any contributions made.