Alumni Win Best Drama at Film Festival in Hollywood
Keene State College Film Alumni “Limbo” at International Student Film Festival in Hollywood
Entries from 15 Countries Accepted; Keene State Show Wins Best Drama
Keene State College announces that Limbo, an action television drama series created by Ben Johnson and Josh Demeule, 2014 graduates of Keene State, won Best Drama at the 12th annual International Student Film Festival (ISFF). The show was created under the guidance of Keene State Film professor, Thomas Cook. The Festival was held on November 8 & 9 in Hollywood. ISFF accepted 63 film entries from 15 countries.
“From start to finish, this production was done true to industry process and standards. Based on my own background in the industry in Los Angeles, I am very impressed with the final product. I am proud of Ben and Josh’s work together. They truly are the future of the industry,” said Professor Cook.
“I’m ecstatic that Limbo was chosen as Best Drama. Just to get our work in front of hundreds of people who also love film is a great feeling in itself. We made the most of the event by bringing a production booklet explaining the series, additional scripts, and an overview of a possible season one arc, along with the DVD and original script. These were offered to interested festivalgoers and producers or scouts looking for new material. Our hope is that these files land at a production company that will pursue the series,” said Ben Johnson.
Filming was set in various locations in Keene, New Hampshire. The show features local actors and actors from New York City. The first episode took a year to complete. A clip of the show can be found here.
“Producing Limbo certainly presented its challenges. We had scheduling conflicts with two of our actors, and we completely recast their roles. We even lost a few locations just days before shoots. But filmmaking is all about problem solving. You have to be creative and you have to be flexible and most importantly, you must be a team player. Limbo was only possible because of the effort and support of the nine other people on our crew,” said Josh Demeule.
According to the organization’s website, submitted films were from Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Netherlands, Spain, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and throughout the USA. Film students range from elementary school to graduate school. See the full list of selected winners at the Festival here.
