On April 22 and 23, history was made in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The First Annual Billtown Film Festival was held for two consecutive evenings at the Community Arts Center. Although I am considered the founder, I reluctantly accept the title. I am just the guy that came up with the idea and who persevered in its implementation. The women who came to my rescue did the real work. Once they signed on to the idea, they took the reins and provided the leadership necessary to get the job done. I was smart enough to get out of the way. The first individuals to embrace the idea were Lycoming College’s Professors Leah Peterson and Lynn Estomin. These women had the expertise and resources I was looking for. Without them, BFF would not have happened. It was through their contacts that a program of short films/videos was created. Tulu Bayar, who teaches photography and multimedia at Bucknell University, and Catherine Rios, a writer and filmmaker who teaches at Penn State University, allowed us to show their work. The event was truly a collaborative effort. (Peterson had produced a Lycoming College student film screening a year earlier at the CAC. She had intended it to be a yearly event for her video students. My contribution was to suggest an expansion of scope to include other filmmakers.)

Okay, now we had content but what about an audience? Enter Judy Olinsky. With 10 years of organizing the cultural “First Friday” events under her belt, she knew how to draw a crowd. Olinsky swung into action by contacting organizations to set up tradeshow tables in the CAC lobby. It was also suggested that we provide refreshments for the Friday night screening. Billed as a “come out and meet the women filmmakers” party, the event became a bigger than life celebration. Women from various disciplines and backgrounds participated. Organizations included the National Organization for Women (Sally Butter field), the YWCA, and Penn Legal Services (Dana Rich-Collins). Also represented were women in business, art and history—Lorena Beniquez, Denyse Miele and Mary Siemenski. Extensive advertising was used to get the word out. Posters and flyers were made, as well as electronic billboards and newspaper ads. I also had an opportunity to get on Ken Sawyer’s WRAK radio show! Through these efforts, attendance was deemed a modest success. When I seemed to be a little boy lost, CAC’s Lara Breon was there to answer unasked questions. There were a couple of guys that helped too, like Lonnie Wilcox of Wilcox Graphic Innovation, Bernard Oravec, Publisher of the Sun Gazette, and Rob Steele, Executive Director of the Community Arts Center. And lest I forget, thanks to another lovely lady, Anna Alford, editor of the Williamsport Guardian, who helped keep the idea alive in the pages of The Guardian.

So where do we go from here? The Billtown Film Festival initiative has its own momentum and it is hard to predict its future. There will be a lot of unexpected turns on the road to being a self-sufficient nonprofit organization. With “BFF number one” under our belts, we plan to make “BFF number two” bigger with more variety. Plans are in the works to have a 3-day affair with an independent full-feature film shown on the third day. We want to review works from other filmmakers in Pennsylvania. On closing night, we want to have a “wrap-up” party. We’re going to need volunteers to help. If you’re interested in becoming a part of Williamsport’s latest festival, email me, Richard James, at billtown_film@rcjamesdesign.net. Please visit the temporary website at www.rcjamesdesign.net/BilltownFilmFest.