The Wet Your Pants Comedy Film Festival… Good Fun for a Great Cause
The First Annual “Wet Your Pants Comedy Film Festival” was held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Carmel Community Playhouse. I was fortunate to be asked to help out with the event. The idea for this fun packed festival came from a personal tragedy for it’s founders. Steve Pearce fought a long battle with Kidney Disease. Along the way he became an ardent supporter and volunteer for the Nation Kidney Foundation. He did a great job spreading awareness and raising funds for the foundation. He also made a lot of good friends and was always making the lives of everyone who knew him better through laughter. When he finally lost his battle earlier this year his family decided to keep his spirit alive through what he loved most… laughter. All of the proceeds from the festival went to the National Kidney Foundation.
Heading up the Festival was Steve’s brother Brian Pearce and their parents. Brian has Produced several films and is currently a Voluntary Board Member of the Indiana Filmmakers Network. This year’s festival was arranged at a break-neck speed. They had only a couple of months to put together what most festivals take a year to organize. It was very important for the family that the festival be held on November 21st… Steve’s Birthday.
In the short amount of time they actually got twice as many entries as needed for the festival. The submissions were whittled down to the fifteen films selected for screening. Most of the films screened had some kind of local connection. There was no shortage of laughter. There were several feature length films including, Zorg & Andy, Open Mic’rs, and 29 Reasons To Run. There were also a dozen short films…
Many festivals take years before they turn a profit for their charities… not this one. The very first Wet Your Pants Festival was able to make a generous donate to the National Kidney Foundation. The attendance was great and everyone had a wonderful time. The day was split into four blocks of films with Q&A sessions between each. There was plenty of time to meet the filmmakers.
The films competed for three awards.
“Best Film of 2009″ award was decided by a group of local industry professionals and personalities. It was won by Gary Weeks’ film “Clones Gone Wild” . A story of what happens when your clone is cooler than you.
“The Audience Choice Award” as it’s name implies, was decided by the audience members…hmmm what a neat idea. This award also went to Gary Weeks, this time for his film “29 Reasons to Run”. A cross country journey by two friends who really need to get their lives together.
The Third award was the “Steve Pearce Memorial Award”. This award was presented by Steve’s family to the film that most matched Steve’s odd sense of humor. It was given to Director Steve Wright’s short film “Cat Clock”. I can’t really describe this film… it would give the whole thing away and wouldn’t nearly do it justice.
The Family has already started making plans for next year’s festival. I’m really looking forward to what it will bring.
Posted by admin on December 8th, 2009 :: Filed under Film Festivals,Film Screenings,Film Shoots
Tags :: Brian Pearce, Film Festivals
