EDWARDSVILLE - The recent Eddies at The Wildey Theatre could be described by Wildey Theatre General Manager Al Canal with three words: “A home run.”
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Wildey Theatre General Manager Al Canal said he could not say enough good things about the kids and what The Eddies brought to his theatre. The Eddies showcased films that were done by students in the Edwardsville Filmmakers Club under the direction of teacher Dave Lipe.
“It went well,” Canal said. “The week before, the Edwardsville Choir was there and then these kids following. It was an amazing two weeks with the high school students. For the first one, I think the filmmakers hit a home run.
“You read the news and hear all the bad things about kids and you see this and the choir and you think to yourself that the future is in good hands. They have a lot of talent and their attitudes are wonderful and uplifting. I was so impressed with the films. We are going to show some of them before our $2 movies during summer, I thought so much of them.”
Lipe, the sponsor of the EHS Filmmakers Club, said he, too, could not say enough positive things about the students and what they did during the preparation for the event and the night itself. He said there were about 40 films and 18 were sent to judges, who narrowed the field down to 13. Lipe also commended Al Canal and the Wildey for their work and hosting the project. He said he believes Wildey Theatre is simply a first-class operation under Canal.
COMMENTS FROM SOME WHO PRODUCED FILMS:
CONNOR HINTERSER: “Basically, it's getting together with your friends and coming up with an idea; we were joking about 'wouldn't it be funny', but then it started becoming something and one thing led to another and we made a movie."
ABOUT THE INSPIRATION ABOUT GIVING FILMMAKING A TRY:
CHRIS LAUGHTON: “It was an idea about expressing ideas; filmmaking is a good way of expressing an idea.”
FAVORITE GENRE OF FILMS OR DIRECTOR
IAN WHISNANT: "Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director – I especially liked “The Shining” (based on the Stephen King novel, starring Jack Nicholson).
MJ LOYET: "I especially like action comedies like “Kill Bill” and that kind of thing. It's really interesting how people can look at the world through any particular lens in filmmaking and I think that particularly “Baby Driver” and Quentin Tarantino does that very well and he more interestingly puts the props he puts into a film are so well-thought out and I really do love that.”
Lipe again praises the filmmakers
Lipe said what he found the beauty of the entire project was that for the kids, almost all of them were first-time filmmakers by and large. He said again he couldn’t say enough for their efforts and what the youth-produced for the night at the Wildey.
The Winners of the Eddies for 2018
Best Promotional Film
"Civic" by Tyler Berry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMjjz5wxF9U.
Best Documentary
"Just Live" by Tyler Berry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZDhLONjHs
Best Comedy
"The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" by Connor Hinterser, Tyler Berry, Kyle Meehan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8lnOE98AV4
Best Drama
"Apathy" by Christopher Lott and Tristan Blair
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hH1i_hsiZfFzm38dS6PKioQEtK9Ctz9h/view
Film of the Year
"Apathy" by Christopher Lott and Tristan Blair
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hH1i_hsiZfFzm38dS6PKioQEtK9Ctz9h/view
The Eddies Finalists:
Drama Finalists
"Property of No One" by Justin Hinds and Peyton Klauber, "Apathy" by Chris Lott, "Monrovia" by MJ Loyet and "Follow the Road" by Danny Duncan.
Documentary Finalists:
“Jake and Anna's Day Off" by Jake Hinds and Anna Beard, "Just Live" by Tyler Berry and "Do It Yourself" by Rebecca Keasey.
Promotional Category:
"EHS Baseball" by Josh Ohl and Joe Copeland, "The Greatest Moments in Animation History" by Mauve Heumann and "Civic" by Tyler Berry.
Comedy Finalists:
"Cake" by Drew Smith, "Wanna Hear a Joke?" by Ian Whisnant and "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" by Tyler Berry, Connor Hinterser and Kyle Meehan.
The Film of the Year Choices
"The Gang Tries Desperately to Win and Award," "Cake," "Apathy," "Property of No One," "Do It Yourself," and "Wanna Hear A Joke?"Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.
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