Myrtle Beach's Film Fest Continues to Grow

Nov 29, 2009

Who doesn't love the magic of movies? Nothing stimulates the senses and has the power to move or simply entertain us in 120-minutes (more or less), quite the way a good movie can. Many of us are self-professed cinema fanatics and collectively we purchase some 200 million movie tickets in the U.S. annually. Some creative movie buffs go a step further, bypassing Hollywood, to make and distribute their own movies, called "indies" and "art films." Jerry Dalton, owner of Dalton Picture and Entertainment Company (DPEC) of Loris, will once again screen more than 75 of these indies, from movie makers from around the globe (seriously), at the 5th annual Myrtle Beach International Film Festival (MBIFF) running Tuesday through Dec. 5 at Carmike Cinema Broadway 16, at Broadway at the Beach. With theaters happy to fill empty seats and sell a bag of popcorn or two (at a 1300-percent mark-up) Dalton's indie festival, and festivals like it, are showing up across the country, but why? "These festivals are profitable for the theaters," said Mike Lubensky, Carmike Cinema District Manager for the Carolinas. "People who don't like mainstream movies will come out, and we sell tickets during our slower [during the day parts] because of it. We also participate in the Independent Film Series program but this [film festival] is the only one like it at any of my theaters." Lubensky's industry, like many, faces tough challenges and anything to help the bottom line is appreciated. The at-home movie VHS/DVD revolution, started by Blockbuster in the 1980s, and modernized by Netflix and vending machine rentals from companies such as redbox and DVDXpress, have wreaked havoc on movie theaters around the globe, with U.S. attendance mostly flat since 2002, though enjoying a 4.5-percent up-tick so far in 2009. "When times are tough more people go to the movies," said Lubensky. "When times are good, they spend their money in other places." Since the Great Depression, anthropologists have noted that movies have been a traditional antidote to stress in hard times - but less so this go-round. Add in pressures from pricey tickets, pricier concessions, satellite and cable TV, on-demand Internet options, inexpensive home theater setups, plus HBO, Showtime and the two-dozen additional movie-dedicated channels, and theaters battle plenty of competition. Don't feel too badly though, according to the National Association of Theater Owners and AC Nielsen, the U.S. / Canada box office gross is still around $10 billion annually, though theaters only see a fraction of that pie. Small, limited theatrical release indie films account for less than two percent of that market, around $200 million in ticket sales. Despite all the reasons not to, we movie buffs go to the theater because it's the place where movies are best enjoyed - no e-mail, no cell phones or texting (usually), and fewer other distractions - not to mention a giant screen, stadium seating, digital projection, seven channels of sound, and copious amounts of popcorn served in 55-gallon drums. More often then not, I attend a late show and half the time I am the only person in a theater with some 300-plus seats. I go by myself if I have to, and am not afraid to look like a loser. Last week at a poorly attended 9:50 p.m. screening of "The Men Who Stare at Goats" at Carmike Cinema Broadway 16, a three-minute big-screen plug for The 5th annual Myrtle Beach International Film Festival played during previews. About five of us saw it. MBIFF and DPEC logos filled the screen along with various graphics, sound effects and a bevy of HD (high definition) visual delights. The promo looked and sounded professional. This was not the kind of piece you can slap together on your PC or Mac and have look this good. Before the previews were over, the five of us in attendance knew for sure the indies were coming to town, and all because of Carmike's cooperation and the determination of Dalton, a former pastry chef from Pine Lakes. INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION WITH LOCAL FLAIR To say Myrtle Beach has an "International Film Festival" is kind of like saying we have an "International Airport" - and we do. With 76 submissions from seven countries, the little film-fest that could began at Horry-Georgetown Technical College before moving to an actual cineplex, and manages to grow and serve a population of indie film buffs and producers, who couldn't care less about Hollywood. "Most of these producers do it for the love of moviemaking," says Dalton, the MBIFF chief architect and owner of DPEC, a Loris-based film production and distribution business focusing on independent movies. The MBIFF was named one of the "25 festivals worth the submission fees" by MovieMaker Magazine. Several indie moviemakers will travel to Myrtle Beach for their screenings, according to Dalton, and represent entries from England, Japan, Canada, France, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. "The quality of submissions this year is phenomenal," said Dalton. "Because of our distribution options, that's brought in the best. Especially the music videos - they're top quality." DPEC was recently invited to screen a film of its choosing and to represent its distribution network at the Mecca of all film festivals - Cannes Film Festival held on the French Riviera in May. "We'll go if we can raise enough money," said Dalton. "It's an expensive venture." Dalton is a bit of an enigma. After moving to Myrtle Beach from Oregon in 1984 to obtain a culinary degree from Horry-Georgetown Tech, he and his wife, Susie Dalton, eventually opened a restaurant/bakery, Perfections, where Jerry Dalton specialized in pastries. "We sold the business four years later and started full time with DPEC, but I've been messing around with independent film since I was nine," he said. Before the Daltons sold Perfections they shot a cooking video and went on to sell around 1,000 copies, and the Daltons saw the potential for profit. They began to grow their indie film and commercial video production/distribution business and DPEC is now the sole distributor of indie films each month to between 20-100 Carmike Theaters in 35 states, called The Independent Film Series. "We don't run the indies in the summer or at Christmas time," said Dalton, "that's blockbuster season." Additionally DPEC takes analog movie prints and makes digital prints for distribution to the growing legion of digital movie theaters - film is quickly being replaced by hard-drives. DPEC is also the parent company of the fledgling Pro Models, Inc., and Pro Talent, Inc. After a massive open casting call earlier this year, these DPEC subsidiaries are having some success in placing talent, with one of its models appearing in two movie trade publications; MovieMaker Magazine, and Indie Slate. DPEC also produces a television program, "DPEC TV," which is broadcast daily on Time Warner Cable (channel 47) at 12:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., as well as HTC (channel 4) at 6 a.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m. The current TV programming is focusing on Dalton's film festival and features clips from a few of this year's entries. "Altered Courses," a DPEC film released in 2004, was written, produced and directed by Jerry Dalton. The film was partially shot in Myrtle Beach and showed on 112 screens in 37 states. Without giving up hard numbers, Dalton says he can make a profit producing and distributing indie films though, surprisingly, he has never personally shown at a film festival anywhere, and thinks it's in bad taste to present one of his flicks at his own festival. "We go straight to distribution," he says. "That's what most people are looking to achieve from entering a film festival anyway. We had our movie ["Altered Courses"] at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and a few other retail outlets a few years ago. Distribution is the key to everything, and negotiating smart deals. That's sort of my forte - film negotiation." Netflix offers Dalton's movie as a rental. WHAT'S ON SCREEN At this year's MBIFF, the 76 films are categorized into subsets: Shorts (30-minutes or less), Animation, Feature Project, Documentary, Music Video, and Anything Goes (a mish-mash of films that didn't fit elsewhere). Additionally Wednesday's offerings includes a two-hour block (2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.) of senior interest (with discounted ticketing), an obvious nod to the Myrtle Beach area's plethora of retirees. At the MBIFF you'll have opportunity to see everything and anything from rock 'n' roll music videos, to faith-based feature films, dark comedies, family-friendly features, musicals, documentaries and even commercials - it's all here and it's all produced outside of the commercial film industry mainstream. (See accompanying guide to the MBIFF on page 13 for specific times and synopses). While few pre-screening reviews were available, realize you'll be seeing the works of up-and-coming moviemakers - some will be better than others, some may be exceptional, but ultimately quality is in the eye of the beholder. None of the films are rated, so beware before taking children to certain features. Dalton had more entries than time allowed for and claims to have rejected sub-par submissions and picked the cream of this year's crop, including: the seven-minute "Worth" about "not judging a book by its cover," according to the film's Los Angeles-based writer, director and producer Kathi Carey, and "Escrow: The Musical," a 116-minute feature-length musical comedy about "three confused thespians" who "have five days to write, rehearse and perform a production," according to the film's Web site. Most of the films presented have Web sites, video interviews and/or trailers, links to which may be found on the MBIFF Web site myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com. Remember the movies "Clerks," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Sideways"? Remember directors like Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith? All were indie movies and unknown indie directors until a cult following and tireless efforts at film festivals paid off. Today's MBIFF submission could be next year's Oscar favorite. Who knows? "I learned early on that Hollywood is closed to most outsiders," said Dalton, "and so I decided to build my own road."