For Immediate Release
September 16, 2003

Spotsylvania, VA. - The County of Spotsylvania in cooperation with the Virginia Film Office is pleased to announce the winning filmmakers of the 2003 Spotsylvania Film Festival's Virginia Independent Filmmaker's Competition. First place will be awarded to Travis Waugh for his entry "The Sentencing of the Cat Stealer", second place is awarded to Kevin Hershberger's entry "Mystic Motel" and the third place award is given to Andrew Quike's entry "Byline". Awards will be presented at 3:30p.m.; Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors' meeting. Mr. Waugh will receive "The Alex" trophy and a cash prize of $500. "The Alex" trophy named for the first governor of Spotsylvania County, Alexander Spotswood; was created by Spotsylvania artist, Patte Ormsby. The second place winner, Mr. Hershberger will be given a plaque and a cash award $350; and the third place winner, Mr. Quike will receive a plaque and a cash award of $150.

First place winner, Travis Waugh is a 16 year old resident of Midlothian, Virginia and a junior at Clover Hill High School. He shot his film with his family's JVC digital video camera. Our second place filmmaker, Kevin Hershberger in an independent filmmaker residing in Richmond, Virginia. He is the writer, producer and director of the entry and the founder and managing partner of LionHeart FilmWorks, LLC, a Virginia based film development and production company. Filmmaker, Andrew Quike, is a professor of cinema television at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia and is our third place winner.

The competition coincided with the First Annual Spotsylvania Film Festival on September 5 - 7, 2003. Submissions were accepted beginning August 18, 2003 and until August 31, 2003. A submitted film had to be 30 minutes or less, of professional quality including full credits, adequate sound dubbing, and can be shot on any medium as long as the final copy for the festival is on DVD or VHS. The film content had to be appropriate for all viewing ages. Films could not contain explicit sexual content, obscene language, graphic violence, or onscreen use of illegal drugs. The Spotsylvania Film Festival's Virginia Independent Filmmaker's Competition is designed to promote the work of the Virginia filmmaker; therefore all entries had to be produced by Virginia residents. The Spotsylvania Film Festival's rating criteria for entries were based on Cine judging guidelines and were used to determine these three finalists. All films entered were rated in the following 10 categories: presentation, writing, sound, editing, creativity, visuals, audience communication, acting, insights, and excellence. Each category is rated on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being outstanding. The highest possible score is 100 points. The three winner's score are 82.33 points for the first place winner Mr. Waugh, a score of 78 for Mr. Hershberger's film and a score of 71.33 for the third place winner, Mr. Quike.

The Judges for the 2003 Virginia Independent Filmmaker's Contest were well versed in Film and Filmmaking. They are: James Collier, a Professor of Communications and Film at Virginia State University, he is a former writer and producer of broadcast commercials, now focusing on short films and documentaries. He received his B.S. in Communications and his M.F.A. in Film from Virginia Commonwealth University where he was honored twice by the School of the Arts grant for filmmakers. Mr. Collier served as an instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University. His short films have been screened at universities and film festivals. His latest documentary, which was screened at the Virginia Air and Space Museum, has been nominated for a national award. Rob Hedelt currently works as a general interest columnist and the television and movie critic at The Free Lance-Star. He has been a resident of our community for 26 years, having covered most of the localities in the area as well as politics, and education issues. He has been a columnist for 11 years, a television critic for 14 years and a movie critic for four. He resides in the City of Fredericksburg; with his two children and his wife, Karen. Kerri Johnson works in New York City as a production freelancer in television, films and commercials. Most recently she worked on Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival, Martin Scorcese's upcoming Blues documentary and currently the ESPY awards for ESPN. She grew up in Spotsylvania County and graduated from the College of William and Mary. Kathryn Stephens was born in Tokyo and grew up overseas. She attended Randolph-Macon College and graduated with her major in English and a minor in Film Studies. After graduation she started working as a locations assistant for the Virginia Film Office in Richmond and has been there for over a year. During that time she has worked part time as a production assistant on various features and music videos. B101.5 morning host, Alan Baxter, is a veteran of personality radio with over 20 years of top rated morning show experience in cities from Denver to Boston. He has been a team leader of the B101.5 Breakfast Flakes show for the last year and loves the Fredericksburg area. Along the way, Baxter has met and interviewed countless stars from motion pictures and television. He has also written comedy for HBO and stared as the male lead in the 1980's independent film, "Baby Talk." Ian Clark is a graduate of Montclair State College with a Bachelor's degree in English with some concentration in film. He was a non-linear-digital editor with Oglivy, a public relations firm in Washington D.C., and has worked in various aspects of film and video production for ten years. Debbie Kindig is a Virginia Tech graduate. She received a BS in Marketing Management from their Business School as well as a BS in Clothing and Textiles. She has over 15 years experience in print advertising, both in sales and design. She currently owns the Val Pak Direct Mail Marketing Franchise for Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania. She enjoys watching films with her 3 children at their Spotsylvania home.

http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/departments/tourism/index.cfm?doc_id=294

The Spotsylvania Film Festival and the Virginia Independent Filmmaker's Contest are managed by SER & Associates, Inc.
Shellie E. Ridder, President
7312 Middleton Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22407-6670
Tel/Fax: 540-785-6472, Mobile: 540-273-7547, E mail: serassociatesinc@yahoo.com