This year’s community film project at the 15th annual Oxford Film Festival will be “Fifteen” premiering at the Powerhouse from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
Melanie Addington, the executive director of the festival and the director of “Fifteen,” said she hasn’t done a film in a couple of years, but because it is the 15th anniversary of the event, she thought it was a good time to make a film.
“I decided to jump in, and it was really exciting,” Addington said. “I always get to work every year on a community film as a producer, but getting to help tell the story and shape the vision was really fun because everyone is really talented in Oxford.”
The script for Addington’s film “Fifteen” was written in one day. The inspiration came from googling the word “fifteen” to help get her brain started.
Addington found an Andy Warhol quote that has to do with everyone having his or her 15 minutes of fame.
The artist Banksy updated that quote to 15 minutes of anonymity. Addington said she really liked that idea because everyone becomes super famous in his or her own way by taking selfies and social media.
This film is about a 15-year-old deciding if she wants to be a part of that culture or not.
In May, the script was looked at and revised by the help of Rory Ledbetter, a theatre professor at Ole Miss.
After that, Addington received feedback during a table read at Oxford Maker’s Market over the summer.
In the fall, the script was finalized and ready to be shot. The film was reordered over two weekends, and the editing process took about two or three weeks.
Margaret Bushway, a junior broadcast journalism major, was able to be a part of Addington’s filmmaking process as the script supervisor. She was taking Addington’s film festival programing class and asked to be a part of the project.
“That was my first time being a script supervisor, but it was something that I really wanted to get into,” Bushway said. “I’ve done it several more times since then.”
Bushway is also one of the many filmmakers who submitted films to the festival. Her film “Pay the Piper” will be shown Friday night at the festival.
“It’s been one of my goals as a filmmaker to get in this festival. It’s a very professional one,” Bushway said.
Addington said she became a part of film festival by going to the very first one back in 2003 and falling in love with it.
“I really enjoyed it and wanted to get involved,” Addington said. “I signed as a volunteer and kind of built up from there over time.”
Addington’s work paid off, and she was hired by the board of directors in 2015 to the position she has now.
The community film project was started seven years ago, and Addington said filmmakers have always been encouraged to be a part of this event.
