Bentonville Film Festival to expand in 2016, connect more to the region

The 2015 Bentonville Film Festival not only directed the film industry’s attention on Northwest Arkansas, the inaugural event also generated a regional economic impact of more than $1.3 million. Organizers say the 2016 festival will be bigger, with Samuel L. Jackson possibly part of the five-day event.

Trevor Drinkwater and his team at the Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) on Friday (Oct. 23) shared their plans for a bigger, better year two of the event which is slated for May 3-8. Drinkwater said his team pulled off the 2015 festival with just four months of preparation. He and the marketing team were the featured speakers at the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce Business Matters breakfast held in Bentonville on Friday.

Gina Allgaier, marketing director for the festival, said they are working with sponsors Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and with the partnership with the Geena Davis Foundation whose shared vision is to champion women and diversity in film. With a full-year to plan the second event, Drinkwater said they have traveled to film festivals in Los Angeles, New York and New Orleans. He said the Bentonville Film Festival is the only one in the world that guarantees a film could be packaged and commercialized.

“It’s great for filmakers to go to Tribeca and pick up a prize, but if they come to Bentonville they have a great shot at getting the movie commercialized. Following the May 2015 event, we have seen 84% of the 70 films screened here go into distribution or they are in distribution talks,” Drinkwater said.

Trevor Drinkwater, founder of the  Bentonville Film Festival, discusses what to expect for the 2016 event to a group of business leaders at the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Friday (Oct. 23).

New for 2016, the BFF will feature a screenwriters competition as well as a children’s film fest in association with the Amazeum. The panel discussions may include celebrities like Davis, Robert Deniro and Samuel L. Jackson. There will be a concert held at the Walmart AMP on May 5 with two large acts taking the stage and the encore “League of Their Own” softball game will take place at Arvest Ball Park in Springdale on May 8.

Also new for 2016, Drinkwater said there will be encore presentations of the films at the AMC movie theater in Fayetteville throughout the week to give residents and guests the opportunity to screen the original works. There will be a short film category, which also is new to the event in 2016.

“We want the region to share in the fun, but this year we are also planning to keep many of the activities centralized in Bentonville around the square. We have secured four mobile viewing trailers that seat 91 guests. These mobile theaters will be scattered around the square so folks can easily see multiple films within walking distance,” Drinkwater said.

Nickelodeon, Disney, Dreamworks and other media vendors in Bentonville will open up their offices for additional screenings of their works. Drinkwater said this will be known as a “Sponsor Village” open to event patrons.

Area restaurants and other businesses are being asked to join in the celebration for 2016. BFF staff will hold two meetings in February with more details on how businesses may take part. Bentonville schools are also participating in the event next year with and education component of the festival, and using some school facilities for meetings and screening venues.

Allgaier said the core reason for the festival is to raise awareness and support diversity in film and filmmaking. While women comprise 51% of the population, only 7% of movie directors are female. Just 13% of writers are women, and only 23% are producers. Davis said in a video shown at Friday’s event that the Bentonville Film Festival is about creating an industry that better reflects the diverse world around it. She said actors, directors, studios and media content companies have all embraced the festival and its core purpose.

“Did I mention that we are the only festival in the world offering distribution in movie theaters, on TV, digitally or packaged on DVD or BlueRay for retail. It’s so cool to see our partners, AMC Independent, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Lifetime collaborate on the release of these great films,” Davis said.

Drinkwater, who worked as a supplier representative for Nestle Waters and Warner Brothers for 20 years before he launched the Bentonville Film Festival, said the Wal-mart’s unique relationships in entertainment was a huge advantage in helping pull off a successful 2015 event and now in planning for an expanded festival in 2016.

Allgaier said another aspect of the BFF is to develop relationships and look for opportunities to have more films made in Arkansas. Drinkwater hinted that discussions are in the works for just that with more details coming in the near term.

“We are excited about the economic opportunities that also exist with the event to help foster more support around this film industry and the arts,” Allgaier said.

The BFF also announced they are moving into new offices on the Bentonville Square in December.