Now in its eighth year, Prize Fest has a problem.
A
good problem. Because of its tremendous growth in a relatively short
amount of time, there is a focused effort on keeping the popular Film,
Food, Music and (new this year) Fashion festival from becoming stale.
“I’m a constant worrier. I worry about everything,” said Prize Fest
founder Gregory Kallenberg. “We stay up at night thinking how to make
this bigger, bolder, bawdier, louder and more fun. It is a constant
process with us to keep tinkering and tweaking to make this even more
than it is now – to keep adding more layers to it that will make it more
incredibly interesting.”
The
foundation of Prize Fest remains the same. Oct. 2-6 at various locations
in downtown Shreveport, finalists in the four categories will compete
for top honors – with prizegoers having a voting say in the winners.
Just how much has Prize Fest grown from when it was Film only?
“Year
One, we had about 40 films,” Kallenberg remembered. “Eighty percent of
them were locally submitted, and we had about 400 people attend the
festival. Last year, we had over 100 films submitted, with about 70%
from out of the area – California, Toronto, Miami, Austin – and we had
about 4,000 people at the festival.”
While
Film Prize is about identifying and recognizing local and regional
talent, Kallenberg says it’s also about building our city’s culture.
“My
wife and I moved here from Austin, Texas, and we got to see that town
evolve from a sleepy college town into the city it is now. Watching
what, essentially, creative entrepreneurialism was able to do to make
Austin incredible is kind of what we’re seeing here. What we have done
through the Prize Foundation is we have really energized and attracted
the creative entrepreneur, not only in the city but attracted more to
the city – to be a part of building something that we believe is part of
the future of Shreveport.”
Here's a look at some highlights of this year’s categories:
Film
“This
year’s Film Prize’s Top 20 filmmakers have some of the most diverse
and interesting films we have ever had,” Kallenberg said. “We pretty
much have all genres covered. There’s a horror film. There’s an art
film, there’s a musical, lots of comedies and dramas. It is one of the
most exciting crops of films across the board. One of the most super
incredible things that’s happened this year is that in the Top 20, 50%
of the filmmakers are female. It wasn’t designed that way, but we are
incredibly proud that Shreveport- Bossier and the Film Prize has become a
hot spot for female filmmaking.”
Food
Five
local chefs, narrowed from a field of 20, will compete for the $5,000
top prize – along with the coveted “Golden Fork” award (Friday, Oct. 4,
7–8 p.m., on Texas Street near Artspace). However, Food Prize is one
event which also features national chefs taking part in a variety of
events.
“We are bringing in chefs from
all over the country,” Kallenberg said. “Chefs like Chris Scott, who
was on 'Top Chef,' and C. Barclay Dodge, who is a James Beard nominee.
These are chefs that are playing on the main stage at places like the
Aspen Wine and Food Festival.”
Taking
place at various venues, those chefs will contribute to things like
“Mixed," where local mixologists are paired with a national chef to
make a cocktail/small plate combo. There’s also “Come and Get It,"
where seven chefs from throughout the United States create a tasting.
“What’s
amazing about the tasting is not just about eating the food,”
Kallenberg explained. “It’s also about getting to know the chefs. The
chefs love it, and the audience loves it.”
Music
A
finalist lineup of five bands will play in the Music Prize Showcase
Showdown (Thursday, Oct. 3, 7–11 p.m.) for the $2,500 first-place cash
prize, in addition to being paid for their performance.
“What
we’ve seen the last two years is that the Music Prize has become a
catalyst for helping us grow our local music scene,” Kallenberg said.
“As a result, we are continuing to try to make that a focal point of
what we are trying to put together. The local and regional bands that
are participating in Music Prize are really here to help build that
foundation for the music scene that is essential to a thriving city.”
This year, Music Prize moves to a new venue – the Music Prize Garage at 211 Market St.
Fashion
New
to Prize Fest, Fashion Prize is a partnership with Katy Larsen, owner
of the Agora Borealis in Shreveport. The finals (Friday, Oct. 4,
8:30–10 p.m., Music Prize Garage) will showcase three local designers,
with the winner receiving an all-expense-paid trip to New York to show
their talents to a design council and, perhaps, win a contract.
“It
will be a little bit of a rock-androll fashion show,” Kallenberg said.
“We are bringing in judges from all over the country who are true
influencers in the fashion world. The idea is not only for these local
designers to compete, but to put them in front of these people that can
really make a career for these people if they see them and like what
they do.”
Next year, Prize Fest may
have a fifth category – comedy. This year (Saturday, Oct. 5, at 9 p.m.,
Rhino Coffee, 624 Texas St.), “Comedy at the Prize Fest” will feature
comedians from throughout the Ark-La-Tex.
“We’re
just testing the waters a little bit to see if the Prize is ready for
comedy,” Kallenberg said. “Everything we do at Prize Fest is all about
celebrating creative entrepreneurship, and comedy is perfect for us.”
While
some Prize Fest events are free, there is a cost to attend others. To
learn more about Prize Fest, please visit www. prizefest.org, or search
Facebook for “Prize Fest 2019."
OCTOBER 2 Come and Get It! A Food, Wine and Spirits Experience, 6-10 p.m. at the Remington Suites Hotel
OCTOBER 3 Chef
Demonstration: Lunch with Celebrity Chefs, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the
Remington Suites Hotel Film Prize Screenings Begin; 3 p.m. at Robinson
Film Center, Underground Theater, Central ArtStation Mixed at the Prize,
5-7 p.m. at the Remington Suites Hotel Music Prize Discovery Showcase,
7-11 p.m. at the Music Prize Garage
OCTOBER 4 Film
Prize Screenings All Day Battle for the Golden Fork, 7-8:30 p.m. at
Festival Central Fashion Prize Showcase, 8:30 p.m. at Music Prize Garage
OCTOBER 5 Film
Prize Screenings All Day Gospel Brunch, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Music Prize
Garage Second Line Parade and Seratones Album Release Concert, 6-10
p.m. at Festival Plaza
