A film created by Missouri Western State University theatre and cinema students won “Best Comedy” at the inaugural Foster’s Film Festival in St. Joseph Oct. 5, sponsored by Foster’s Martini Bar. A film by a Missouri Western alumnus won “Best Drama.”
The award-winning comedy was “Unfortunate,” a mockumentary about a fortune cookie writer who gets dumped and starts writing “misfortunes.” It was co-written by Sebastian Smith, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., and Christian Allison, a senior from Milan, Mo., and directed by Kelsey Houser, a senior from St. Joseph.
“It feels amazing to have our work honored like this,” Houser said. “We are just thrilled with the positive feedback we received.”
“Unfortunate” was created in March as part of Missouri Western’s 48 Hour Film Festival. Teams met on Friday afternoon to randomly draw a film genre and learn what prop, line of dialogue and character they must include in their films. They scouted locations, wrote the script, and shot and edited the film prior to a Sunday evening screening. “Unfortunate” won Best Film, Best Actor and Best Writing in that festival.
“That was a very crazy, very fun experience,” Houser said. “We learned how much smoother a film shoot can go when we are all working together towards the same goal, as opposed to class projects where it’s only one person fully committed because it’s their project.”
In addition to writing the script, Smith was the lead actor and Allison operated the boom. Daniel Banks, senior from Kansas City, Mo., was cinematographer. Chris Rayle, sophomore from St. Joseph, was composer and producer. Zack Papenberg, freshman from St. Joseph, was script supervisor. Riley Bayer, junior from Savannah, was a grip and helped secure locations. Katelyn Canon, junior from Harrisonville, Mo., acted in the film. Nat Larsen, senior graphic design major from Savannah, and Jeremy Todd, a 2013 graphic arts graduate from Lake Waukomis, Mo., created graphics and credits.
Houser has entered “Unfortunate” and another short film, “Knapper” in several film festivals, and hopes to hear this spring whether they’ve been accepted.
“I really just want to thank everyone for all of their support,” Houser said. “I also want to give a huge thanks to Dallas Henry (assistant professor of theatre and cinema) for helping me submit my films into festivals and for organizing the 48-Hour Film Festival that brought us together to make this film in the first place.”
The drama winner at the festival, “For Abigail, Love Benjamin,” was written by Levi Smock, a 2009 graduate of Missouri Western with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a video minor. While a student, Smock presented academic papers at several professional conferences and was one of 50 students from around the country accepted to the Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium in Colorado. He went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute, and has had other films accepted into film festivals in Hawaii, New York and Texas.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.