Urban Film Festival 2017 in Miami served up celebrities, workshops and film screenings to filmmakers around the country
2018 promises more thanks to commitment from Hometown Mega Producer, Randall Emmett
By Staphanie van Vark
MIAMI, FLORIDA —The 2017 Urban Film Festival was a huge success and has everyone anticipating 2018. It opened with Master P and Romeo Miller announcing a 3-picture deal between Romeoland and Florida Film House for movies that will be filmed in Miami. Master P quotes, “I have always seen Miami as a second home and I am looking forward to filming Hollywood quality films in Miami. Miami has a lot of untapped talent and Marco Mall’s production team, Florida Film House, is just as good or better than any team out of Hollywood.” The first film of the deal is scheduled to start production early 2018 and will be premiered in the 2018 Urban Film Festival next Labor Day weekend.
The highly anticipated 3rd Annual Urban Film Festival will be held August 30-September 3, 2018 in Miami’s historic neighborhood of Overtown. Plans are underway to expand the event to 5 days. Mega executive producer of hit show Power and Miami native Randall Emmett has already agreed to return. During this year’s festival, he wowed Urban Film Festival attendees with his “Tell It Like It Is” Workshop and offered attendees direct access to pitch their projects. Next year, Mr. Emmett will sponsor the festival and bring with him a host of high profile film stars and executives to participate in the festival. Marco Mall and the Florida Film House team are currently working with Mr. Emmett to bring a Emmett/Furla/Oasis film to Miami.
The Urban Film Festival has become a leading channel to access, education and distribution deals in two short years. A Miami Love Story encored at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, a movie that received distribution through TriCoast Worldwide thanks to its release during Urban Film Festival 2016. Comedic feature film and festival finale Love & Reality will also receive distribution through World Wide Distribution. Feature film Candy, directed by Mr. Boomtown, is also in talks with World Wide Distribution. 100% of the proceeds from the film has been donated to Hurricane Harvey Relief in honor of the movies’ Houston creators.
Commissioner Keon Hardemon expressed his pleasure with the overwhelming success and growth of the festival. “This is beautiful, “ he reflects on the activities of the festival. “I feel the energy and love in this room, and in the messages of the films. This is the stuff communities are made of.
“We’re so excited about 2018, we’ve already opened the website to receive early film submissions,” says Executive Producer Marco Mall. “We received over 100 submissions in 2017. We expect 500 in 2018. We want filmmakers to know they can feature their work here and it will be well received. We want to help filmmakers take their projects further than they ever dreamed.”
Urban Film Festival 2017 was possible thanks to support from Southeast Overtown Parkwest Community Redevelopment Agency, City of Miami, Commissioner Keon Hardemon, Simkins Family Foundation, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc.
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