Brand new Boise Film Festival to debut in October

Wonder Street Entertainment’s Christine and Mark Holder have announced the creation of the Boise Film Festival, which will make its debut October 10-13. The film festival’s epicenter and all screenings will be held at Boise’s Egyptian Theater Screenings (700 West Main Street) and The Flix (646 West Fulton Street). The Call for Entries has begun with the Regular Deadline set for June 30.

BFF will be designed to highlight the bustling creative community supported by the City of Boise, Idaho, by bringing filmmakers and film and television industry veterans to the city to celebrate independent film via a four-day event which will feature screenings, panels, Q&As, and masterclasses. Due to its easy access from Los Angeles, it is anticipated to become a top destination film festival on the regional circuit for film professionals, creatives, deal makers, and aspiring filmmakers on all levels.

The Boise Film Festival will set forth on a mission to be a festival of discovery, looking to find, highlight, and celebrate new cinematic voices and faces, to promote the next generation of film makers and artists. BFF will also include a special focus on films created and shot in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a special filmmaker award for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film dedicated toward those films.

Confirmed jury members for the inaugural edition of BFF include; Academy Award-nominated producer David Permut, Academy Award-winning actor Octavia Spencer, Emmy Award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, Talent Agent David Boxerbaum, and Boise State Film Professor Ryan Cannon.

BFF Founders and Executive Directors, Christine, and Mark Holder, said, “Since moving to Boise in 2020, we have fallen more in love with the city and the area each day, and have been eager to be matchmakers of a sort between Boise’s film lovers and the type of films and filmmakers that we have championed in our careers as producers and filmmakers ourselves. The city will provide such a wonderful backdrop for the discovery of new talent and great conversations on film that we see the Boise Film Festival becoming one of those ‘can’t miss’ stops on the film festival tour whether you are a filmmaker or an industry veteran looking to meet that filmmaker.”

Mark and Christine Holder 2 — Mark and Christine Holder

Christine Holder is a producer, manager, and a founding partner of Wonder Street Entertainment. She currently produces both feature and television content as well as representing creative forces in both the talent and literary world. Following stints in the studio feature world with Fox, Universal, and Touchstone/Disney and the PR firm BWR, Christine launched into the management/ production side of the business in 2008. Since then, she has produced such projects as Netflix’s critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation which starred the award-winning Idris Elba and was directed by Cary Fukunaga, Walter featuring Milo Ventimiglia, William H. Macy and Virginia Madsen, and dark thriller I Will Follow You Into The Dark starring Ryan Eggold. In 2019, Christine, along with her husband Mark, ventured out to form their current shingle allowing their passion and laser focus to filter into a company built on cultural responsibility and integrity, transparency, and inclusion. Her projects include the Octavia Spencer-starring Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker (which recently earned the star her first best actress Emmy nomination) with producing partner LeBron James, the Tim Story-directed HBO movie on infamous Harlem gangster Stephanie Saint-Clair, Prisoner 760 based on the best-selling auto biographical novel Guantanamo Diary, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley and Tahar Rahim. Currently, she is an executive producer on the hit Netflix Spanish language series Bandidos which debuted on Netflix last month.

Mark Holder is a producer and a founding partner of Wonder Street Entertainment. In addition to producing impactful stories for television and film, Mark guides a diverse team of managers and producers at Wonder Street. Credits include: STX films The Mauritanian, based on the best-selling memoir Guantanamo Diary, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley and Tahar Rahim and directed by Academy Award Winner Kevin MacDonald. Netflix’s critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Idris Elba. The hit Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker starring Octavia Spencer with producing partner LeBron James and Springhill Entertainment. Holder also was an Executive Producer on the one hour hit drama East New York on CBS, as well as the Netflix adventure heist series Bandidos which premiered last month.

All filmmaker award winners (both jury and audience) will receive cash prizes along with their BFF Award during a ceremony held on closing night.

Announcements regarding jury, programming details, events, etc. will follow throughout the Spring and Summer.

To submit a film for consideration, please go to: https://filmfreeway.com/BoiseFilmFestival.

BOISE FILM FESTIVAL (BFF) Filmmaker Awards and Submission Deadlines

AWARD CATEGORIES AND PRIZES
Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Best Narrative Short Film
Bes Documentary Short Film
Best Animated Short Film

Best PNW (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California) Narrative Feature
Best PNW (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California) Short Film

Best Actor (not gender specific) in a Feature
Best Actor (not gender specific) in a Short Film
Best Director (Feature Film)
Best Director (Short Film)

Audience Award – Best Feature
Audience Award – Best Short Film

SUBMISSION DEADLINES
• Regular: June 30, 2024
• Late: August 1, 2024
• Extended: August 31, 2024

About the Boise Film Festival (BFF)
Set to make its debut in October 2024, the Boise Film Festival will feature and celebrate independent films and filmmakers during a four-day event which will feature screenings, panels, Q&As, and masterclasses. BFF seeks to be a festival of discovery, looking to find, highlight, and celebrate new cinematic voices and faces, and to promote the next generation of film makers and artists. BFF will also include a special focus on films created and shot in the Pacific Northwest.

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