At the beginning of August, in the middle of North Carolina, there is Asheboro, and we literally mean in the middle, often referred to as the “bullseye of the state” from it’s titanesque tower of power, and native to the area, Ty Brueilly. We then zoom into the lobby of the historic and charming Sunset Theatre where nearly a hundred of people gather to discuss the most recent block of independent films that were just shown as part of the third annual Mightier Than The Sword Awards at Sunset Film Festival.
“When I saw that many people clustered up talking about the films that they just saw, I was ecstatic. That’s what this is all about, showcasing art that usually isn’t available anywhere else, and making sure I do all I can to have these artists, actors and directors travel to Asheboro and represent their films. Most of the times these filmmakers are looking for distribution, funding, casting and the like, so I strive to provide an event and an atmosphere that will respect their valuable time and have them all in one place so that maybe they can start finding what they need for their next step. I then go the extra mile and offer the opportunity for them to speak to the crowd in an intimate on stage, sit down conversation.” Brueilly said.
“There is a lot of power in that method, because the audience can immediately get to know the team that created the film. It makes it that much easier to approach each other once you hear how relatable that they are to the rest of us. We are all humans and sometimes we forget that. While backstage, one of our on the spot moderators, Tonya Marie admitted that one of the artists seemed “a little more scary at first” before she was introduced to him, yet she began to quickly understand that was just the way they perform their art and not really them.” Brueilly continued.
The three day festival was jammed with solid programming from 11:30am on Friday August 7th until 11:30pm on Sunday August 9th. Over 70 titles were shown, live performances from musicians and comedians filled opening night. Two brand new blocks were added this year, with a viral content creator block and a Festival Pro Tips and Pitch Hour.
“Those two new engagements were really risky to put together. It was a heavy handed dice roll. I had no idea how it would go, and neither did the participants. I sacrificed two full hours of showing films to offer this, so both days I was second guessing the decision, because nobody was used to the ideas, nor did I have a really solid foundation to base it off of, so I had to create one. Thankfully the content creators, Ben Jones, Todd “Nappy Buffalo” Norman, Major Keysss and BJ Owens really took some ownership of the block and it went off better than I could have imagined.
Same as the Festival pro tips and pitch hour. I was seconds away from just showing another film instead because there wasn’t much engagement or sign ups at first. Rigarrao productions and Tremayne Goff said, let’s do it, there’s at least one pitcher in here now. Then we did it and several came up, a few filmmakers said it was the most beneficial part of the festival for them, and a reminder to keep tight to the schedule and trust the process.” Brueily said.
As for the films, our team was able to watch several of the submissions and be a part of the judging process. Our top ten picks were;
‘The Sight Unseen’ directed by Shawn Antoine II
‘Elephants’ directed by Cassie Bryant Hay
‘Generational’ directed Joseph Galyean
‘Trigger’ directed by Ashley Zahorian
‘Coloring Girl’ directed by Robert Wesley Filion
‘Boonerang: Returning To The High Country’ directed by Bradley Pearce
‘Sanpaku Eyes’ a music video from MVNCH
‘Clean Getaway’ directed by Patricia Rigney
‘Blood Thirsty’ directed by Nachela Knox
‘Yard Saleing’ directed by Tom Logan
Brueilly explains of the programming, “I take a ton of pride in the films that we end up programming. I meticulously place them in certain blocks that I feel will flow the best and also provide the best chance at likeminded individuals being in the same room at the same time for possible networking and building. I learned that as a head of a record label in 2005 and how extremely important a track listing order is for an album, just a minor adjustment in placement can make or break the flow and reception of the work.”
Aside from the programming, Brueilly ended up assembling a team of people and production companies just as powerful and ambitious as the festival itself;
Sean Hatiz, fresh off major screen time on ‘The Odyssey’ ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ and ‘Michael’ brought Happy Fright Films in from Hollywood.
Patricia Rigney & Kevin Carrao flew in from Los Angeles as a moderating/red carpet interviewer dream team with Rigarrao Productions.
Ryan Camp, an Asheboro native, life long filmmaker and 2004 Battle For Ozzfest runner up musician brought Camp Films to help produce the festival.
Ryan James, Hollywood actor and producer, known for his role as ‘Bow Tie Guy’ in ‘Terrifier 2’ and Zine in ‘Mutilator 2’ brought his Pink Plaid Productions and round out the production team was Tremayne Goff, Shad Baisden, Jeff Craft, Brayden Daugherty & Danica Farrar.
“The team was incredible, they are the reason we could fire on all cylinders. It didn’t start that way though, there was a slow and stressful few hours at the beginning where we were all trying to get our bearings, but like Kevin Carrao told us, “it’s just like day one on set” so that helped us all realize, this is temporary and kept us on track. The groove was quickly established and we had some last minute, on the spot additions to the team like Snoff The Maker, Tonya Marie and Book Zombie & NCC Records. It was a great flow and one that we all are eager to continue next year.” Brueilly said.
And just like that year three is in the books, and year four is slated for August 2027, again at the Sunset Theatre. Follow ups with Brueilly are already scheduled, and we also plan to speak with some of the filmmakers, producers and performers of the festival, so stay tuned.
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