Film screening to spotlight talent of local filmmakers

Imagine an asteroid bigger than Manhattan crashing into the Atlantic Ocean and sending shock waves around the globe, decimating everything in their path.

With only minutes to live and unable to make it home, a mother heartrendingly sings to her children on speakerphone.

A teenage boy, alone in his home, spends his last moments texting his best friend.

Using the “time machine” his father built, a boy creates a mission for his dog to go back in time and deliver a warning.

Those are some of the drama-filled scenarios local filmmakers have translated to the screen for “The Impact,” an international film competition sponsored by Create50.

The project invited screenwriters from around the world to submit scripts centering on the end-of-days asteroid theme.

Submissions were whittled down to 50 scripts, each about two minutes in length, depicting the moments before, during and after the asteroid strikes.

Now, filmmakers from around the world are laboring to make the best film from each script.

When Scott Young, a member of the local digital artists group Wired Wednesday, learned about the competition, he knew Northern Nevada filmmakers have the talent to compete.

“I said, let’s make sure the United States is represented in this project. Now a year later, approaching deadline, we have 10 films from Northern Nevada and six different filmmakers, and we spent an entire year working on The Impact,” Young said. “Across 10 films, there are 87 unique names of local actors, crews, directors, producers, cinematographers, composers, all the way across the board.”

The directors include 16-year-old Xander Borg of Dayton, the youngest filmmaker to enter a film in any Create50 project.

“He’s our boy genius here locally. He’s competed citywide, he’s competed in Carson Creepy ... he wants to be a filmmaker,” Young said.

Other directors are Sean LeBard, Natalia Filson and Young, all Carson City based, in addition to Andrew Watson of Reno and Arturo Alejandro Salcido of Phoenix, Ariz.

The filmmakers will be on hand at a one-time screening of the 10 short films — including a question and answer session with the directors — at 3 p.m. June 2 in the Brewery Arts Center’s Performance Hall, 511 W. King St.

Once the films are submitted by May 31 to Create50 in England, a panel of judges will select the best film from each of the 50 scripts.

The final 50 short films will be woven together to form one cohesive full-length feature anthology, which will premier in London.

“Five films from Nevada have competition versions; five don’t,” Young said. “In theory, those five films should automatically be in the finished feature film.”

Young said the full-length film already has theatrical distribution in European theaters with a DVD/Blu-ray — and possible streaming/theatrical — distribution plan in the works for worldwide audiences.

“It’s important for people to see the talent we have here in Northern Nevada to see that the filmmaking community is thriving and we aren’t just amateurs and we can produce quality films,” Young said. “We are not amateur filmmakers — we are professionals.”

Admission to the film screening is $5 per person at the door with all proceeds benefitting the BAC.

For information, find “Wired Wednesday Digital Artists” on Facebook.