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Virginia Emerging
Filmmakers Festival
Virginia
Emerging
Filmmakers
Festival
presented by The Film Studio at Shenandoah University
in association with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
Join us in the historic Shenandoah Valley for the 6th Annual Virginia Emerging Filmmakers Festival.
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On Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15, 2025, we will present short films from current high school and college students across the United States.

Films must be 15 minutes in length or less. 

We will accept films in the categories of animation, comedy, drama, horror, documentary or music video. 

Films will be considered by a team of judges from the Shenandoah University faculty and alumni base, the programming team at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and a group of industry professionals.  

Selected films will screen for a live audience at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Best Film Winner ($100), Finalist ($50), and Semi-Finalist ($25)

JUDGES

Paul DiFranco

Director

The Film Studio at Shenandoah

Paul DiFranco heads The Film Studio at Shenandoah, which is the film program at Shenandoah University.  The Film Studio at Shenandoah provides real-world experience to students.  The program helped produce films with national distribution including Santa Girl (Netflix), Cupid for Christmas (Hulu), and GetAWAY (Amazon).  Paul is also a full-service music supervisor, having worked extensively with Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, Fox Family Channel, Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures, and many others.

Ariel Baska

Filmmaker / Podcaster / Author

Director, Ride the Omnibus

Ariel Baska is an multiply disabled filmmaker, journalist, and academic author. Her award-winning films have played at film festivals from Berlin to Mumbai and on Alaska Airlines. She has presented at SXSW (South by Southwest) on various topics in disability and accessibility in the film and television industry, and is the creator of Access:Horror, a film festival and industry summit celebrating the history, future and impact of disability and horror. Her creative multiverse is most visible on Ride the Omnibus, her podcast and non-profit parked at the intersection of pop culture and social justice.

Steve Nerangis

Co-Owner

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Winchester VA

Varla Dogwood Films

Steve is an owner with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, VA, where he has focused primarily on marketing and programming.  His career has revolved around entertainment and advertising with professional positions in radio, band management, and record distribution.  Steve is also a co-founder of Varla Dogwood Films and has been involved with several award-winning films as a director, editor and producer.

Joseph Neff

Film Manager

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Winchester VA

In his role at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, VA, Joseph oversees film booking, scheduling, and promotion.  He has also worked for over a decade in projection.  Additionally, Joseph is a music critic and frequent contributor to The Vinyl District website.   

Faye Cloven

Managing Director, Web Strategies

Director, Psycho Cinema

Faye is the leader of Psycho Cinema, a group that meets weekly at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester to watch horror, sci-fi, exploitation and classic genre films.  When the sun is up, Faye oversees daily operations at Web Strategies, a company with over twenty years of experience in a variety of areas including web development, social media marketing, search engine optimization, custom application development, and graphic design.  Faye lives in a tiny black house and collects taxidermy.  

Mike Powell

Writer / Director / Editor, Mirandum Pictures

Mike is a writer/director and editor based in the greater Washington, DC area. He earned a master’s degree in literature from Catholic University and worked for several years in education, both as a teacher and textbook author, but chiefly employs his writing skills as Mirandum Pictures’ copywriter, developing concepts for branding videos. Mike also frequently serves as director on Mirandum’s video shoots, drawing on his fifteen years experience as a theatrical director.

Claire Turner

Producer / Camera / Projectionist

A recent graduate of Shenandoah University, Claire has worked in multiple roles on film sets including camera on the feature film Miss Valentine and producer on several short films.  Claire also currently works in projection at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

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