Lipscomb University Presents the 7th Annual 5 Minute Film Festival

WELCOME This is the seventh year of our 5 Minute Film Festival, but it’s the first time we’ve had such an abundance of quality work. With 100 entries in 2020, we simply didn’t have enough Official Selection shots to include all the films of merit.

It’s also our first year to welcome a new category: Best Animated Short.

Our thriving Animation program has produced some of the best films of the festival.

All submitted films and screenplays were assessed by a very diverse panel of 15 judges (none of whom are Lipscomb faculty), who then picked their first, second and third choices in the various categories (narrative, documentary, music video and screenplay). For animation, we had three animator judges, two of whom have done extensive work for Disney and one who worked for Jim Henson.

But what makes me happiest is the many collaborations represented tonight within our College of Entertainment & The Arts: Cinematic Arts students, acting majors, musicians, graphic designers, costume creators and non-arts majors have come together from all across campus to make these projects.

We were looking forward to hosting our 7th Annual 5MFF Gala at the brand new Shinn Events Center, but the global pandemic forced us to come up with a different plan. So while most of you will be live-streaming our Gala on much smaller screens, we’re grateful for the big-hearted prayers and support you give our students as we work toward a brighter future.

Steve Taylor

Director School of Theatre & Cinematic Arts

Melissa Forte

Chair Department of Cinematic Arts

P.S. One final note: as with past years, some of my personal favorites got overlooked by our otherwise superb panel of judges. So think of their omissions less as a form of rejection and more as future fuel for proving them wrong.

THE 7TH ANNUAL

5 MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL HOST (BY DEFAULT) Steve Taylor MUSICAL GUESTS Ele Ivory, Riley Buck PRODUCERS Matt Huesmann, Sydney Tooley, Steve Taylor ANIMATED OPENING: Aedan Peterson & Joel Guthrie SUPERCUT MONTAGE: Noah Bassett AWARD NOMINEE MONTAGES: Sydney Tooley GRAPHICS: Corbin Schmidt 5MFF 2020 STEERING COMMITTEE Samantha Gerard, Bekah Hubbell, Phynley Joel, Blake Thompson SPECIAL THANKS Mike Fernandez Scott Baker Melissa Forte Kymberly Yates Mike Nawrocki Dave DeBorde Tom Bancroft Eric Stars Chadwick Pelletier Brinn Daniels Beki Baker Nat McIntyre June Kingsbury

Andy Bleiler Chelsea Flowers Sissy Simmons Charlotte Poling Brown Bannister Ben Blasko Jeff Fincher Jessica Hudkins Rocky Horton Angela Lee Haley Sue Pearson School of Art & Design graphic design students

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS DOCUMENTARIES

COLD FEET DIRECTED BY NOAH BASSETT The story of Arina Podryadchikova and her passion for ice skating.

MY GRANDMOTHERS AND THEIR FRIENDS: THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SOUTHERN WOMAN DIRECTED BY GRACE BRETHERICK Stories and views from a coterie of wise women.

DIY NASHVILLE DIRECTED BY BLAKE THOMPSON AND PHYNLEY JOEL A glimpse inside Nashville’s DIY music community.

SALT WATER TAFFY DIRECTED BY DYLLAN RECTOR The hypnotic workings of a hundred-year-old candy making machine.

SEA TURTLE HATCH IN MONTEZUMA, COSTA RICA DIRECTED BY WILL SMITHERMAN Volunteers work to save a dwindling population of endangered sea turtles.

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS MUSIC VIDEOS

CHARIZARD BY AGENT PACO DIRECTED BY MASON MARTIN

DARKSIDE BY THE UNTAMED DIRECTED BY SARAH BARNES

FEELING EXCHANGE BY FUTURE CRIB DIRECTED BY PHYNLEY JOEL

FIRE BY THE BELLES DIRECTED BY CORBIN SCHMIDT

TYPICAL BY MOODY DIRECTED BY NATANE DILLAHUNT

VENOM BY DEE SMIFF DIRECTED BY AUSTIN SENA

WHY DON’T YOU COME TO CHURCH WITH ME” BY STEVE HAUPT DIRECTED BY ROCKIE BRITZMANN

YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC BY LIPSCOMB QUEST TEAM, PINK EMU WINDMILL KIDS DIRECTED BY RILEY BUCK

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS NARRATIVES

DEATH OF THE FINAL GIRL DIRECTED BY SAM JONES

DODGEBALL THINGS DIRECTED BY RILEY BUCK

During her closing shift at a grocery store, a young worker must fight for survival while being stalked by a masked killer.

A team of Stranger Things knockoffs preps for the biggest night of their lives: Lipscomb University’s Dodgeball Tournament.

LUNCH BREAK DIRECTED BY NOAH BASSETT

MISSED PITCH DIRECTED BY MEAGAN BRYNNE

After starting a new job, Karl is asked to a lunch that turns out different than expected.

Carson, Debby and Joel meet up to write a short film but find good ideas are hard to come by.

NINA DIRECTED BY AI KOJIMA

SKIP TRACER DIRECTED BY SYDNEY TOOLEY

Nina must choose between pursuing her artistic dreams and her mother’s practical desires for her future.

PRODUCED BY KATELYN BOTSCH & JESSICA HUDKINS

STILL DIRECTED BY SUMNER MCMURTRY PRODUCED BY RILEY BUCK

THE BUS STOP DIRECTED BY PAUL M. BOWMAN, JR.

A woman wakes up inside a cardboard box. With nothing but her wits, she must fight for her life to escape this claustrophobic nightmare.

A bounty hunter gains an unlikely protegé.

A young man meets an eccentric woman who warns him about a seat in a bus stop.

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS NARRATIVES

THE DARK AGES DIRECTED BY TIFFANY YOUNG PRODUCED BY KATELYN BOTSCH An ambitious graduate encounters the harsh realities of the real world.

THE DEVIL IS AN EXCELLENT SALESMAN DIRECTED BY AARON BRICKLE A devilish and dapper salesman approaches a recent divorcee with an offer.

WINDOWSILL DIRECTED BY AUSTIN SENA

WRITER’S LOCK DIRECTED BY BLAKE PETTIGROVE

Inside the mission to extinguish the most dangerous being known to man.

In a story of creative survival, an aspiring writer finds time to focus on his craft in an unexpected way.

SCREENPLAYS BEARPUNCHER DANIEL HAYCOX

THE WRITING CENTER BEKAH HUBBELL

A cowardly dog must learn to trust a monster in order to survive in the wilds of Appalachia.

Brian, a notorious bibliophile and yogi, is the best Writing Center employee his university has ever seen. His boring workday is turned upside down when a football player presents him with a new challenge.

HOME INTRUDER HAYLEY MULLINS A young girl awakens to find her home in disarray on a monthly basis. Are these occurrences the work of a home intruder or something more sinister?

PARALLEL PARKING CALLIE HANEY A stubborn boyfriend and anxious girlfriend go on a date. While attempting to arrive in time for a dinner reservation, they can’t find a place to park.

WHEELS SYDNEY THOMASON A brother and sister work to repair their relationship after a tragic accident.

WHY DON’T WE HAVE AN H.R. DEPARTMENT? SAM DABBS A man complains to his boss about the array of weapons she keeps in her office.

QUENCHED MADI WILLIAMS

WRITE OF PASSAGE JOEL GUTHRIE

A neglected cactus desperately tries to remind his owners to water him.

When 5-year-old Emily draws, she escapes to a beautiful world where anything can happen.

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS ANIMATION

DEPTHS DIRECTED BY SAMUEL ABNER

GOOD BOY RICHARD DIRECTED BY DANIEL HAYCOX

On a life threatening voyage, a sullen submarine captain travels to the bottom of the ocean in an attempt to reunite with his lost love.

A bumbling detective investigates a murder case in which a lovable dog is the prime suspect.

JURASSICALLY TRAINED DIRECTED BY JOEL GUTHRIE A T-Rex auditions for a jazz piano performance.

5MFF 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS POSTER GALLERY

ABOUT OUR JUDGES GILLIAN ARNOLD has directed over 200 hours of prime time drama in Australia and Asia, including such high-rated programs as HOME AND AWAY, NEIGHBORS, BIG BROTHER and SINGAPORE IDOL. She developed the methodology for and produced the world’s first interactive news/drama series GOING HOME, which was written, shot and broadcast on the same day, five days a week. Over the years she has served on the jury panel for Australian Academy of Cinema Arts and Television and short film competition Tropfest as an assessor/judge. Gillian is now a US citizen and currently resides in Nashville.

RICKEY BOYD has extensive experience as a puppeteer, animation director and designer.

As a performer, he had the honor of working alongside his childhood idol Jim Henson. Projects include The Muppet Wizard of Oz, Muppets from Space, Dinosaurs (the series), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Jim Henson Hour, Sesame Street and Animal Jam. His work as Creative Director at Magnetic Dreams marries his love of puppetry and animation. There, he has overseen a host of animations including many for Sesame Workshop for which he won an Emmy along with the talented crew.

TONY BANCROFT Tony Bancroft realized a childhood dream when he was hired to animate for Walt Disney Animation Studios. During his 12-year career with Disney Studios, Bancroft helped create and animate Pumbaa, the lovable warthog in The Lion King; Kronk, the dim-witted sidekick in The Emperor’s New Groove; Cogsworth the nervous clock from Beauty and the Beast; and Iago the pestering parrot in Aladdin. He was the co-director of Disney’s Mulan, for which he received the Annie Award for Director of the Year; and animation supervisor of Sony’s Stuart Little 2, for which he received the Visual Effects Society’s top award for character animation. Tony recently went back into animation for Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns and, currently, Warner Brother’s Space Jam 2 where he is animating Looney Tunes characters. He and his twin brother, Tom, started a popular podcast focusing on the animation industry called The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast, which is the #1 podcast for animation on iTunes.

MICAH BUCKLEY is a professional screenwriter, actor, and Lipscomb M.F.A. hailing from Athens, GA. Most recently, he worked as Staff Writer for InTouch Ministries of Atlanta, GA and Brentwood Studios of Nashville, TN to develop two brand-spankin’-new children’s television shows. He wishes all participants of the “5-Minute Film Festival” the best of luck. “Pledge allegiance to the struggle, babies.”

DEVON COLLINS began his career as a producer and editor for Cinecraft Productions, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio, where he produced, directed and edited commercial spots and marketing and promotional media for Fortune 500 clients such as Progressive Insurance, Ernst & Young and Sherwin Williams.

He’s also worked with such national acts as Quincy Jones, En Vogue, Kym Whitley, Bell Biv DeVoe, Stokley Williams (Mint Condition), Vesta Williams, and many others on various promotional videos, interviews and event show segments. Devon has two feature films under his belt that he edited including The Path of the Wind starring Wilford Brimley (Cocoon) as well as a handful of shorts.

CHRIS CONDER has enjoyed a 30 year career as a director of photography, editor, producer and photojournalist. His work spans a variety of genres including local & national news, daytime television, network & cable reality shows, historical & human affairs documentaries, corporate videos, music videos and commercials. With 5 Emmy Awards to his credit, Chris is a visual storyteller with excellent compositional skills and an eye for editing. Over the years, he has worked on assignments all over the world with folks like Oprah Winfrey, Dan Rather, Peter Frampton, Rihanna and both Bush presidents.

BRIAN DAY spent 12 years working in Hollywood on various feature films and TV movies, followed by a career teaching filmmaking at universities in Los Angeles, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, and his current post as professor at Eastern Connecticut State. He’s also made documentary films that have been shown on PBS and distributed around the world.

KARISS FORTE is a writer and actress whose introduction to the art form began when her mother attended film school at Ohio University and Kariss was cast in various student films. After graduation from the same university, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee and recently graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in screenwriting/directing from Lipscomb University’s Cinematic Arts program. Kariss is currently living in Los Angeles, California and looks forward to a continued career in acting and television writing.

MAX HSU was Inspired by a love of filmmaking and graduated college with a camera in hand. A chance meeting about a music video resulted in him making music rather than filming it. After a Grammynominated detour as a songwriter/producer with more than 150 song placements in film and television, Max has returned to his love of visual storytelling and can

once again be found shooting music videos with a narrative focus. photo credit: Breezy Baldwin MYAH NAOMI LIPSCOMB is a 2017 Summa Cum Laude graduate of the M.F.A. Film & Creative Media program at Lipscomb University. Myah is also the creator and lead actress of the upcoming television comedy series, #WeirdMYAH. While at Lipscomb, she produced a mini-series of the show along with a 30 minute episode titled “#photobomb” as her thesis film project. This episode was featured in the 2018 Nashville Film Festival; won “Best TV Pilot” at the 2018 National Black Film Festival in Houston, Texas; and earned her a development deal with producer Joel Eisenberg. #WeirdMYAH will be premiering later this year while the two continue to pitch the full length #WeirdMYAH series to television networks.

JON ROYAL is a highly regarded theatre director and actor whose credits include Pipeline, Topdog/ Underdog and Smart People for the Nashville Rep, and the recent world premiere of Ghost for Nashville Children’s Theater. “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

Audre Lorde MARC SCIBILIA was born in Buffalo, NY to a family of musicians and barbers. Now splitting time between New York City and Nashville, his music embodies the eclectic feel and energy of both cities, melding the real musicianship and songwriting of a place like Nashville and the grinding energy of New York. Bringing his rich Springsteen-esque vocals to stadiums and arenas around the world, and fresh off his first #1 hit, collaborations with rap legends Rick Ross and Jim Jones, Scibilia’s ability to jump genres effortlessly and carve his own path is only beginning to be realized. With over 150 million collective

ABOUT OUR JUDGES streams, and countless TV and film placements, from Super Bowl ads to major motion pictures, his career spans great diversity and is a defining model of what it means to be an artist in this modern time.

BEN SMALLBONE was

born in Sydney, Australia.

He is a director and writer, known for Priceless (2016), Taken (2006) and I Still Believe (2020). He has been married to Paige Smallbone since May 29, 2005. They have two children.

MORIAH PETERS SMALLBONE is a MexicanAmerican recording artist, actress and academic. She released two albums on SONY/Provident, and her sophomore album BRAVE hit number 9 on Billboard’s Christian Music Charts. After touring with acts such as MercyMe, Tenth Avenue North and For King & Country, Smallbone transitioned into acting, playing the lead role in the 2017 independent film, Because of Gracia.

Smallbone has since launched an alternative, all female band — TRALA — that charted on Apple Music’s Top 40 Alternative Chart. With a history in modeling and recent work in Paris Fashion Week, Smallbone has also accepted brand deals with Nashville apparel companies Nisolo and ABLE as well as Los Angeles couture designer GLAUDI. BRUCE W. SMITH is an American character animator, film director, and television producer. He is best known as the creator of Disney Channel’s The Proud Family, as well as the

supervising animator of Kerchak in Tarzan, Pacha in The Emperor’s New Groove, Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog, and Piglet, Kanga, and Roo in Winnie the Pooh. He won this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Short for directing Hair Love.

CHRIS WHITE is a film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who makes his home in Greenville, SC. Chris’ next film, Electric Jesus, stars Brian Baumgartner (The Office) and Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire) in a coming-of-age music-comedy about a Christian hair metal band touring the South during the summer of 1986. Chris wrote the screenplay and directed the film last summer in Columbus, GA. Chris has written about film and television for Paste Magazine and The Curator, and is an advisor to Upstate South Carolina’s Reedy Reels Film Festival and premier live music venue, The Spinning Jenny.

JEFF VENABLE has directed ads for brands like Cheetos, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, MOE’s, MoonPie, Mitsubuishi/ NatGeo, RiceARoni, Krispy Kreme, Hershey’s, Cracker Barrel, Lyft; the legendary intro for Monday Night Football and videos for some of the top names in music like Demi Lovato, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Jake Owen, Martina McBride (the list goes on...). In addition to being the most recent ACM Music Video of the Year recipient, he’s been nominated for 4 CMT Awards, one of Billboards TOP 50 videos in 2018, & another ACM Awards nod for Video of the Year in 2018. He lives in East Nashville with his wife Ally, his dog Jack, and his step-cat Dexter.