Ball State University's first immersive learning project that produced a commercial film continues to rack up awards.
"My Name is Jerry" won Best Feature Film in the 2010 Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival in California. It was one of more than 700 submissions in the contest.
Rodger Smith, director of the Institute for Digital Entertainment and Education and the film's producer, said Doug Jones, a Ball State alumnus and the movie's star, and executive producer Bruce Economou presented the film and the event was a strong step forward.
"They said the people responded amazingly and enjoyed it," he said.
The festival's proximity to Los Angeles gave the movie a lot of exposure to Hollywood. As the project continues its momentum, Smith said getting accepted in any film festivals is excellent and winning one puts it in great position to progress toward the ultimate goal of widespread DVD release and generation of solid revenues. One would think the goal is a theatrical release, he said, but that is expensive and investors wait a long time before seeing returns.
The next step for the film is to pitch it to distributors worldwide. Spy Filmz is the producer representative taking care of the marketing. Smith said he hoped to have a distributor within the next four to eight weeks. Smith and the other people on the project have done well with meeting their deadlines so far, but this process isn't in their control and he doesn't want to push it, he said.
Another thing he is hoping to do is have an on-campus screening for students later in the semester to bring the project back into students' minds.
"While the movie was completed the summer before last ... to students it my seem like a long way away from their immediate conscious, but it's a great example of [an immersive learning project]. It's the kind of immersion experience that keeps on giving."
Additional awards and recognition:
- Best Soundtrack and Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Hicks) at the International Filmmaker Festival in Kent, England
- Best Feature Comedy at Route 66 Film Festival 2009
- Accepted in the 2009 Tacoma Film Festival
- Accepted in the 2009 Grand Rapids Film Festival
- Accepted in the 2010 Festivus Film Festival in Denver
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