<\/p>\n WATERTOWN \u2014 The eighth annual Snowtown Film Festival opens with a preview Friday night on WPBS. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n WATERTOWN \u2014 The Snowtown Film Festival, which received entries from 13 countries for this year\u2019s event, has always given local filmmakers a place to shine \u2014 a trend that continues this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Many of the nearly 500 films submitted for consideration to the festival have Northern New York roots. It\u2019s an outlet appreciated by those filmmakers. The Times talked to one filmmaker who submitted her first film to festival for this year\u2019s event and to another who submitted his second \u2014 returning after submitting for the first time at the inaugural fest in 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Megan D. MacDonald in 2019 founded Dawning Film Productions,<\/a> an independent film production company based in Watertown, doing everything from short and feature film production, wedding videography, commercial videos and social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms. MacDonald, a native of Richville who graduated from Gouverneur Central School District, wrote and directed the 20-minute short, \u201cMurray Triumphs!,\u201d which was selected for the film festival. It was filmed on location in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, such as in front of the closed Ogdensburg movie theater, outside The Old General Store in DeKalb Junction and in front of the Lifesaver monument on the village green in Gouverneur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The film\u2019s synopsis: \u201cA day in the life of down-on-his luck office manager, Arthur Murray, follows his journey from underdog to top dog … sort of.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She wrote the script of \u201cMurray Triumphs!\u201d for a screenwriting class at SUNY Potsdam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Following graduation from Gouverneur Central, Ms. MacDonald moved to New York City to attend the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. She then worked in the Big Apple as an actress for a few years before attending at SUNY Potsdam, earning a theater degree. She later took some film courses at SUNY Potsdam and worked for a while at The Arc \u2014 Jefferson-St. Lawrence, where she had tasks such as directing adults with disabilities in theater pieces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It was then off to the University of Glasgow, Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe University of Glasgow has a great production program, focused on low-budget filmmaking and using whatever resources you can, and presenting film and media in a variety of ways,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While a student in Glasgow, Ms. MacDonald created the short film \u201cLeaden Hearts,\u201d<\/a> which examines the power that objects hold over memory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen I moved back home, I decided to keep it going,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said of her filmmaking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She applied for a Decentralization Program grant through the New York State Council on the Arts and was awarded it, with the Gouverneur Community Center her sponsor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThat was enough money to actually pay the cast and crew, to rent equipment and to take care of all the little things that we would need for the film, \u2018Murray Triumphs!,\u2019\u201d Ms. MacDonald said. \u201cThat was phenomenal, because in our area, there aren\u2019t many local filmmakers that are able to fund projects like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms. MacDonald, who is employed by WWNY-TV, would like to empower local filmmakers by using such simple elements as networking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a very rich filmmaking community, but the networking is something that needs to be strengthened a bit more,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, bringing funding and resources into this area is vital. That\u2019s one of the goals of my production company \u2014 to kind of become a resource and a network for local, low-budget filmmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Her Dawning Film Productions company has different elements, but she\u2019s trying to grow its filmmaking production aspect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe want to do that in not only the stories we tell, but we also want to make sure that the people who are making these films are recognized,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She noted that herself and her director of photography, Cassandra L. Weed, are females working in a predominately male field.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe wanted to make sure we highlighted that and support female filmmakers,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Her next project is titled, \u201cGently As We Go.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be part of a three-part film series,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She\u2019s working with playwright Damon Falke.<\/a> In 2014, at the Edwards Opera House, she acted in the play, \u201cNow at the Uncertain Hour\u201d that he wrote. Ms. MacDonald said that Mr. Falke listened to it few years later when he found a recording of its production<\/a> that was produced and broadcast by North Country Public Radio. The pair then started up a correspondence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is a connection that I\u2019ve had for years, and as I was looking for my next project, it\u2019s fortuitous,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said. \u201cAs a filmmaker, it\u2019s really important to hold onto these connections when they\u2019re so few and far between.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The pair is looking to film \u201cGently As We Go\u201d in the Watertown area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDamon is hoping to meet up with me at some point this summer,\u201d Ms. MacDonald said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hopefully look at a few locations and move into principal photography in the fall. It\u2019s another production I\u2019d like to keep local and it takes place all in one room.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The team hopes to reach out to local Airbnb outlets and rental units for possible film locations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2015, at the inaugural Snowtown Film Festival, Carthage native Clay J. Dumaw had his film \u201cHold \u2019Em,\u201d shot in Watertown and Carthage, accepted for the festival. The film features a World Series of Poker-meets-\u201cHunger Games\u201d scenario. Previously, he also wrote and directed the horror film, \u201cGet Out Alive,\u201d also shot locally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHold \u2019Em\u201d ended up holding open some doors for Mr. Dumaw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAfter I made \u2018Hold \u2019Em,\u2019 there was a company out in Colorado Springs that saw trailers for the movie and offered me a job,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said in a phone interview from the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He was at the production company, Windstar Studios Inc., for about six years, he said, doing everything from TV show productions to branding advertisements for car companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt was nice,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said. \u201cIt was actually kind of like film school. I was able to relearn everything about storytelling. They had a sound stage and all these fancy cameras and equipment. They let me have access to all of that in my free time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Dumaw now works for AdPro 360 in Colorado Springs, but while at Windstar, he was allowed free use of its studio, which features a green screen, allowing producers to drop in background images behind actors. He took advantage of the studio to make the western, \u201cJack Wyatt and the Gun From Hell.\u201d In addition to directing the film, Mr. Dumaw also edited, created visual effects and did the sound design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is my first feature in a while,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said. \u201cI pretty much took a break from the movie thing for a while. I was relearning some editing, directing and cinematography. I got out here and realized there was so much I didn\u2019t know and it was, \u2018I\u2019ve got to wait before I jump into something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But in the back of his mind, there was a western with a fantasy element he wanted to make. He wanted it to feature a \u201cMacGuffin\u201d: an object, event or character that serves to set and keep the plot in motion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI thought, \u2018How can I incur something like that into a western?\u2019\u201d Mr. Dumaw said. \u201cThe gun is basically kind of like a western version of the ring from \u2018Lord of the Rings.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When he wrote its script, the plan was to shoot on location. A few spots were explored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they realized we were a low-budget film and they wanted to charge us an obscene amount of money,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He then realized he had free access to a green screen and a sound stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI thought, \u2018It\u2019s going to take some extra time, but why don\u2019t we do it this way?\u2019 And we did,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The synopsis of \u201cJack Wyatt and the Gun From Hell\u201d (1:26): \u201cAfter rescuing a mysterious drifter from certain death, a gold miner named Jack Wyatt is gifted a cursed pistol with unspeakable power. Little does he know that a gang of outlaws, led by the evil Thane Maddox, is searching for the notorious Gun from Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The movie features some actors from the Watertown area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI came to them,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said. \u201cThere was a green screen at Steve Weed Studios. I flew out there and brought my camera and rented their green screen. We had already shot the (other) characters out in Colorado Springs. We were able to bring up those scenes and position all of our actors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n All of the technology Mr. Dumaw is now involved with seems like a world away from when he studied visual communications at the Charles H. Bohlen Technical Center in 2007, the year the iPhone 1 came out. \u201cThat was crazy \u2014 like \u2018Star Trek\u2019 stuff,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He also recalls his class receiving its first hard drive with 1 terabyte of memory, something some cell phones now have.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEverybody looked at that thing like it fell from space,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Dumaw\u2019s next film is in pre-production.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be science fiction, heavily inspired by \u2018The Twilight Zone,\u2019 in a sense that it\u2019s going to be very stripped down, character driven, with very few special effects.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Plans call for it to be shot this summer in the Colorado Springs area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be green screen or anything,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to shoot on sets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At 6 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Dumaw and some cast members will be featured in a live-streamed Q&A as part of the Snowtown Film Festival\u2019s virtual subscription.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy brother, who is in the movie, is going to be there and I\u2019m going to try to get a few other cast members,\u201d Mr. Dumaw said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Festival officials are working on lining up other panels\/Q&A sessions. As of Wednesday, the schedule:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n –<\/em> 7:30 p.m. Saturday: Conversation with representatives of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, the Lake Ontario Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and Thunder Bay International Film Festival hosted by Thunder Bay\u2019s National Marine Sanctuary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n –<\/em> 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20: Conversation with Joe Blank, director, \u201cRoman Candle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n –<\/em> 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20: Conversation with Dan Fowlks, director, \u201cShred of Decency.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n![\"Virtual](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/espacestudio.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Local-moviemakers-to-shine-again-at-Snowtown-Film-Festival.jpg?resize=1161%2C1742&ssl=1\")
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