Alumni-created film festival to debut in NYC

By: Andrew Kase

Posted: 5/1/07

SU alumni Luke Szczygielski and Thomas O'Malley were frustrated with the current American film festival atmosphere, so they decided to create their very own event.

"One thing is that a lot of bigger festivals and people care about how many A-list stars you have in your movie," Szczygielski said. "They have lost sight what they're truly meant to do is to highlight independent art films."

The 2006 College of Visual and Performing Arts graduates channeled their collective interest in movies to create the American Cinematic Experience (ACE) Film Festival, a three-day event scheduled for Aug. 24-26 in New York City as part of the River to River Festival.

"We both went to VPA, and he (Tom) himself always liked film, even though I was doing animation," Szczygielski said. "We took some electives together, and that's how we met up, and we had some sort of passion."

Szczygielski and O'Malley were irritated with some of the school programs SU offered because they were not shown enough American films, which they love.

"There are certain aspects of the classes we took that frustrated us, and we kind of bonded because of that," Szczygielski said.

The ACE Film Festival is different from other well-known circuits, like Sundance or Tribeca, created by A-list celebrities Robert Redford and Robert DeNiro, respectively. ACE features a lot of up-and-coming filmmakers, who've directed a slew of different movies. Among them are shorts, feature-length films and animated films.

Hundreds of submissions were received for the festival, and the two alumni received a lot of help from corporate sponsors and nonprofit organizations.

"We're just completely different than other festivals," Szczygielski said. "We're the only film festival in America that plays purely American work."

A lot of genres are represented in the festival, as dramatic and comedic films were reviewed along with music videos.

Szczygielski, the ACE event director, has worked as a freelance Web designer, while O'Malley is a Web designer at the New York City center. He is also a co-owner of the small production company 108 Films and director of programming for ACE.

"There was such an obvious reason to do this," O'Malley said. "We got a really positive response from people around the country, and it's quite interesting to say about the feedback we received."

Szczygielski cited a few sources of support for ACE, such as Daniel Koffler, a manager from the Broad Street Ballroom, the venue that is hosting the festival, and Rustie Brooke, the director of Operation of Wall Street Rising.

Wall Street Rising is a nonprofit organization supporting the ACE Film Festival as well as the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and many others.

"Everybody is jumping aboard, whether it's some corporate office or just someone from small companies. Everybody just gets excited about this," Szczygielski said. "We're donating some of our profits to the art of films."

A portion of the ticket proceeds is going to be donated to the NYFA.

The event planning officially started last November, and the two aspiring filmmakers never stopped working on the ACE Film Festival coming to fruition.

"American cinema is amazing," O'Malley said. "There are underground, independent filmmakers all around and it's underappreciated, especially in academia."

Szczygielski and O'Malley thought film festivals today have strayed from their real purpose. They think they have become too flashy, while neglecting the real reason they exist.

"We started talking about this through college, and we started verbalizing how frustrated we were with other American film festivals," Szczygielski said. "After we graduated, we started getting together and talking more seriously about it."

The two wanted to focus on independent work and highlight the art house aspect of film festivals, and they accepted submissions from all over the county.

There was only one requirement for submitting a film into the festival, just that it's American work.

Today, more and more actors are producing their own indie films, such as Julie Stiles with her film "Raving," which was submitted to the Tribeca Film Festival. Szczygielski was particularly delighted that any one in the industry goes in that direction, for creative or financial reasons.

"A lot of actors are going that route, like Stiles and Josh Hartnett," Szczygielski said. "They're a couple of other ones. It's a continuing trend among Hollywood stars, and they're going back to their roots, so to speak. And they want to help young filmmakers. And as technology increases, the line between is going to blur and it's going to be one big industry."

Not only have many sponsors come out in support of the event, but volunteers are also coming in to support the endeavor. Szczygielski and O'Malley received e-mails from people all around the country who just wanted to help them in some capacity.

"We're going to have a lot of volunteers," said Szczygielski. "We have a volunteer page, and we've been getting a lot of e-mails about that. That's probably the best route for us. We've gotten e-mails from around the country from people who just want to help us out."

Tickets for the event go on sale June 4. Three-day passes cost $100, while daily passes are $40.

While O'Malley and Szczygielski desire to make movies themselves, they want to help young filmmakers find their footing and continue the festival for years to come.

"We wanted to have something, and this is about celebrating American cinema," said Szczygielski. "We just came up with it and it worked out great. And we're very happy about it."