The Smiling Man Wins Best Post Production Award at Connect Festival USA 2015

The Smiling Man just took home the award for Best Post Production against very strong competition across all genres at the Connect Festival USA. We are very proud to bring this award home with us and congratulate the nominees: A Peaceful Man, Detectives of Noir Town, Frog, Little Red Riding Hood (starring Christina Ricci), Swiped, Krisha (SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award winner and our personal favorite film of the fest), and Day One (a Project Greenlight finalist).

Our visual effects team consists of veterans in the industry spanning decades of experience,  and we are grateful to them for all their efforts in helping make The Smiling Man a creepy-ass experience for audiences all over the world!

The screening was very special for me, as I am always excited to screen in a non-genre festival with an audience has no idea what they are about to experience. The Downtown Independent is also one of my favorite single-screen theatres: great seats, excellent BARCO DP4K-32B projector, 7.1 DATASAT surround, a huge 34 foot screen, and the projectionist with the propensity to keep the volume nice and loud. 

It was a blast to sit in a full house and watch them squirm, scream, and laugh nervously through the tension and anxiety. I also got to enjoy some very engaging conversations with audience members and other filmmakers. We got so much love from the audience at this screening, it was such an honor. Seriously, no award beats the feeling of experiencing that.

Thanks so much to festival founder Lindsey Loon and her team for an unforgettable event! Also, thanks to Connect Festival for all but one of the photos! Man, I'm terrible at taking photos.

About Connect Festival

Share great films. Connect with great filmmakers. Make better films together.

Why Connect?

Connect Film Festival combines a short film festival and creative hub.

Founded in Australia, Connect Film Festival expands to Los Angeles in 2015.

Connect is an IMDB-listed festival granting 8 recognised awards for short film achievement. 2014 Connect films screened at Cannes and won awards in festivals in Toronto, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Houston, and Berlin.

More than anything, Connect is a filmmaker’s hub and a creative movement. An idea born in a pub and raised in an art space, Connect celebrates superb short films and encourages a vibrant filmmaker community.

Find out more on their website at http://connectfilmfestival.com/

7 Chances to see The Smiling Man this Weekend - Week of 10/25

That's right, you have SEVEN chances to see The Smiling Man this weekend, from California all the way out to Puerto Rico! Look below for details, screening times and ticketing information!

Saturday, 10/24 @ 1:00pm - Northern Frights Festival / Ontario, Canada

The Smiling Man treks up north for our Canadian Premiere at the Northern Frights Film Festival!  We screen at 1pm at the Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre, in Ontario! An all day pass is only $15 and there will be some great vendors as well as a haunted house to round up the festivities! Grab your tickets online below!

Saturday, 10/24 @ 5:40pm - Knoxville Horror Film Fest / Knoxville, TN

Tennessee! The Smiling Man screens at the Knoxville Horror Film Fest at 5:40pm in Shorts Block 6 with some great short films! We screen at the Regal Downtown West Cinema 8! Stick around for the Grindhouse Grind-out and the awesome features! A full day pass is only 30 bucks!

Saturday, 10/24 @ 7:00pm - East Bay Express Horror Film Festival / Oakland, CA

You're in for a raunchy good time at the East Bay Express Horror Film Festival, where they have an evening celebrating the darker side of independent cinema! The event is strictly for those 21 and over, with live horror-inspired burlesque and music performances. It's going to be a crazy good time at Club XOXO!

Saturday, 10/24 @ 10:30pm - The San Jose International Short Film Festival / San Jose, CA

The best short films of all genres the world over come together at the San Jose International Short Film Festival! The Smiling Man screens in the BEYOND MIDNIGHT block alongside a world-class selection of shocking, amazing and dark shorts! The festival is held at CineArts Santana Row in San Jose! Tickets are available online!

Sunday, 10/25 @ 11:00am - Halloween Horror Picture Show / Tampa, FL

Tampa! You can see The Smiling Man for FREE this Sunday! Hell, not just that, the entire Halloween Horror Picture Show is free all day! You can't beat that! There will be celebrities in attendance as well as some great vendors! Doors open at 10am, shorts program begins at 11!  It's all going to happen at the Tampa Pitcher Show! Click the button below for a map!

Sunday, 10/25 @ 2:10pm - Puerto Rico Horror Film Festival / Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

The Smiling Man screens at the Caribbean Cinemas in beautiful Guaynabo, Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Horror Film Festival! We will be screening at 2pm in a shorts block called YOU + ME = DEATH, alongside a theme-matched curated selection of horror shorts!

Full day and festival passes are available online, while individual screening tickets are available at the door for only $6!

Sunday, 10/25 @ 8:00pm - Connect Film Festival / Los Angeles, CA

This Sunday, we will be screening in Downtown Los Angeles in one of my favorite independent single screen theaters, the Downtown Independent, for the Connect Film Festival! This is going to be great for us, as it's a very filmmaker-centric fest and we're looking forward to meeting like-minded creatives and checking out their work. Come on down, tickets are available at the door and online!

Official Selection - Connect Film Festival 2015

The Smiling Man heads back to Los Angeles on Sunday October 25, screening at the Downtown Independent for the Connect Film Festival!

We will be screening our glorious 2k Scope and 5.1 Dolby Surround DCP! Members of the cast and crew will be in attendance! This is a great filmmaker's festival, so there will be a lot of filmmakers in attendance and we're hoping for a lot of great conversations and interactions!

About Connect Film Festival

Founded in Australia, Connect Film Festival expands to Los Angeles in 2015.

Connect is an IMDB-listed festival granting 8 recognised awards for short film achievement. 2014 Connect films screened at Cannes and won awards in festivals in Toronto, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Houston, and Berlin.

More than anything, Connect is a filmmaker’s hub and a creative movement. An idea born in a pub and raised in an art space, Connect celebrates superb short films and encourages a vibrant filmmaker community.

Revitalising what can be an exhausting “festival circuit,” Connect strives to inspire filmmakers to “connect with other creatives, and find future collaborators.”

Find out more on their website at http://connectfilmfestival.com/