Last week the Maine film community got quite the shock. The founder and operator of one the states most successful and well run film festivals (LAFF) was arrested for possession of child pornography. I do not know Joshua Shea very well, in fact I had only met him a handful of times for festival related activities. I would have never imagined that he would be someone to be suspected of such a heinous, and exploitative crime. At this point he has not been arraigned nor tried for this so I do not have proof that he is even guilty. That is the beauty of our justice system, the presumption of innocence. That being the case, this is not the place where you'll find people going off on Mr. Shea. My attitude may change if he is convicted, but I'm not one to leap to conclusions.
The one conclusion I will make is that just the perception of the founder of the festival being involved in such criminal activity has done irreparable harm to the film community. A festival we have loved is gone and many filmmakers and patrons are out money and time and now six days later people are starting to get refunds. The worst part is the lost opportunity for filmmakers that had intended to screen their work at the Lewiston Auburn Film Festival who now have to find other ways to get their work out to the public and start all over again.
Now that the shock is wearing off a little, I have good news to share. If you have not heard about it yet, some filmmakers and former festival organizers have formed the new Emerge festival which will happen this June 14th at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. This ma(FMI: Emerge Festival).
More inspiring to me though is the showings that will be held at the Saco Drive-In of How To Kill a Zombie and Hanover House on May 9th and 10th. The drive in is a great location to screen these horror films and you can buy your tickets in advance via Eventbrite. I already have my ticket for Friday night. i hope to see you there.
The one conclusion I will make is that just the perception of the founder of the festival being involved in such criminal activity has done irreparable harm to the film community. A festival we have loved is gone and many filmmakers and patrons are out money and time and now six days later people are starting to get refunds. The worst part is the lost opportunity for filmmakers that had intended to screen their work at the Lewiston Auburn Film Festival who now have to find other ways to get their work out to the public and start all over again.
Now that the shock is wearing off a little, I have good news to share. If you have not heard about it yet, some filmmakers and former festival organizers have formed the new Emerge festival which will happen this June 14th at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. This ma(FMI: Emerge Festival).
More inspiring to me though is the showings that will be held at the Saco Drive-In of How To Kill a Zombie and Hanover House on May 9th and 10th. The drive in is a great location to screen these horror films and you can buy your tickets in advance via Eventbrite. I already have my ticket for Friday night. i hope to see you there.
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