This year’s FilmFest is the 10th FilmFest to be held at ACU and is marked by the largest number of participating teams the event has ever had.

When asked what his favorite memory of FilmFest was, Lucius Patenaude senior multimedia major from Benbrook said, “Well, they’re all fond memories.”

This year, Patenaude will be adding many more fond memories. Patenaude and Katheryn Cansino, senior accounting major from George West, are co-chairs of this year’s FilmFest. FilmFest began fall of 2013 when filmmakers met at the Networking Hours to get to know each other and to form teams. The theme for this year’s FilmFest was also announced – “Shift.”

Ten teams signed up to participate in FilmFest this year, the largest number of teams to sign up with the possibility of more. At the beginning of January, teams began preproduction work. Props were collected and scripts were written. At the close of Sing Song, the different teams will be filming until March 17, the deadline for submitting a 10-minute video to the judges.

On March 21, the FilmFest Gala will take place. The Monday before Spring Break, students may submit published or unpublished scripts to the Script Writing Competition, a first for FilmFest.

Teams can still sign up for this year’s FilmFest, the deadline being March 17.

“All anyone has to do is contact one of the production team members and we will help you get plugged in,” Cansino said.

More information can be found on the Facebook page ACU FilmFest.

The FilmFest Gala is at the end of FilmFest where students can come and watch the screenings of the films that were submitted. Also occurring at the FilmFest Gala is an awards ceremony done in the spirit of the Oscars. Students are expected to be in formal attire.

“This is the Oscars of ACU and we want it to feel like it,” Cansino said. “So we are asking attendees to put on their Hollywood glam and come to the Paramount Theatre for an amazing night.”

Awards will be handed out based on the type of films submitted and what the judges comment on. Potential judges include Randy Brewer, Chris Young and Will Bakke.

“We are looking to include some of the music and dance Student Groups on campus as part of the event,” Cansino said.

Katheryn Cansino joined FilmFest after hearing about the event. First, she helped run The FilmFest Gala, and later she found out about the FilmFest production team. She applied and was selected to be executive producer.

Lucius Patenaude enrolled at ACU intending to do films. He heard about FilmFest and realized it was something he had to do. Patenaude said that his first film was awful but he walked away with a great experience and he learned a lot. During his sophomore year, he participated in FilmFest again.

“This isn’t perfect but I am proud of it,” Patenaude said about his sophomore film.

When asked what he would tell students who were considering entering the FilmFest, Patenaude said,”Just do it.”