Troy University’s fourth annual YellowHammer Film Festival was held on Wednesday, October 30, and featured presentations from professional and student filmmakers, along with animators from around the country. The event ended with a keynote speech, film showcase and an awards ceremony where nine TROY students took home multiple awards.
Christ Stagl, Associate Professor of Design, began the festival in 2021 as a way to allow students from around the country to showcase their work. Since then, the festival has taken on a life of its own and has featured presentations from professionals from CBS, The CW, Netflix, UCF, NBA and more.
“Every year the festival seems to be getting bigger and better, and this year we received 548 entries from over 150 high schools and colleges around the country,” Stagl said. “It’s hard to ignore the continued success that Troy students are making in filmmaking.”
TROY senior students Malory Burcham, Anna Kautz, Icie Wallace, and Charlize Williams won the First Time Filmmakers award.
Design Alumni Nathan Hobbs, Laura Phelps, and Howard Purvee were all recognized for their senior thesis films. Hobbs’ film, “Cain,” won awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Acting with Kiley Nevius and the Blackmagic Best Editing Award. Purvee’s film, “I’m Living in Your Attic,” took home awards for Best Cinematography, Best Concept Development and Best Poster. Phelp’s won an Honorable Mention for writing.
Other notable wins came from TROY design alumni Reanna Thompson and Jared Hester’s music video, “Tonight You Are Mine,” won for Best Music Video and the YellowHammer Award.
The YellowHammer Film Festival was made possible by a grant funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and a generous donation from The Alabama Film Office. Other sponsors include Rokinon, Freewell, DigitalFoto, Blackmagic, Kondor Blue, Iron Glass, Ti]en, AngelBird, ABL, Studio207 + PTRSN Creative, and Actuality Aboard who combined for over twenty-five thousand dollars’ worth of festival donations.
To view a comprehensive list of all the winners, visit YellowHammerFilmFest.com.
