Christine And Mark Holder To Launch Boise Film Festival In Fall

The Deadline Team
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Wonder Street Entertainment’s Christine and Mark Holder have announced the creation of the Boise Film Festival, which will make its debut October 10-13. The film festival’s epicenter and all screenings will be held at Boise’s Egyptian Theater Screenings (700 West Main Street) and The Flicks (646 West Fulton Street). The Call for Entries has begun with the Regular Deadline set for June 30.

BFF will be designed to highlight the creative community supported by the City of Boise, Idaho, by bringing filmmakers and film and television industry veterans to the city to celebrate independent film via a four-day event which will feature screenings, panels, Q&As, and masterclasses.

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The Boise Film Festival will set forth on a mission to be a festival of discovery, looking to find, highlight, and celebrate new cinematic voices and faces, to promote the next generation of film makers and artists. BFF will also include a special focus on films created and shot in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a special filmmaker award for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film dedicated toward those films.

Confirmed jury members for the inaugural edition of BFF include; Academy Award-nominated producer David Permut, Academy Award-winning actor Octavia Spencer, Emmy Award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, Talent Agent David Boxerbaum, and Boise State Film Professor Ryan Cannon.

BFF Founders and Executive Directors, Christine, and Mark Holder, said, “Since moving to Boise in 2020, we have fallen more in love with the city and the area each day, and have been eager to be matchmakers of a sort between Boise’s film lovers and the type of films and filmmakers that we have championed in our careers as producers and filmmakers ourselves. The city will provide such a wonderful backdrop for the discovery of new talent and great conversations on film that we see the Boise Film Festival becoming one of those ‘can’t miss’ stops on the film festival tour whether you are a filmmaker or an industry veteran looking to meet that filmmaker.”

Christine and Mark Holder are producers and founding partners of Wonder Street Entertainment. They are executive producers on the Netflix Spanish-language series Bandidos which debuted last month. Before that, they executive produced the CBS/Warner Bros. TV drama series East New York, which they exited following an investigation.

Their other series producing credits include the Octavia Spencer-starring Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker and the praised Netflix film Beasts of No Nation which starred Idris Elba and was directed by Cary Fukunaga.

Following stints in the studio feature world with Fox, Universal, and Touchstone/Disney and the PR firm BWR, Christine launched into the management/ production side of the business in 2008. Since then, she has also produced Walter featuring Milo Ventimiglia and dark thriller I Will Follow You Into The Dark starring Ryan Eggold.

In addition to producing, Mark guides a team of managers and producers at Wonder Street. Credits also include STX films The Mauritanian.

All filmmaker award winners (both jury and audience) will receive cash prizes along with their BFF Award during a ceremony held on closing night. Announcements regarding jury, programming details, events, etc. will follow throughout the Spring and Summer.

To submit a film for consideration, please go to: https://filmfreeway.com/BoiseFilmFestival.

AWARD CATEGORIES AND PRIZES

Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Best Narrative Short Film
Best Documentary Short Film
Best Animated Short Film

Best PNW (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California) Narrative Feature
Best PNW (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California) Short Film

Best Actor (not gender specific) in a Feature
Best Actor (not gender specific) in a Short Film
Best Director (Feature Film)
Best Director (Short Film)

Audience Award – Best Feature
Audience Award – Best Short Film

SUBMISSION DEADLINES
Regular: June 30, 2024
Late: August 1, 2024
Extended: August 31, 2024

Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report.

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