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Volunteer organizer previews 'I Love Independence' film contest and screening Feb. 22
Summary
Brent Schottenmeier, volunteer organizer of the I Love Independence Film Festival, told the City Council the contest drew about 1,044 entries totaling roughly 239 hours of footage and that winning films will be screened Feb. 22 at Inglewood Arts Center; the Missouri Humanities Council provided a $10,000 grant and winners received cash awards.
Brent Schottenmeier, volunteer organizer of the I Love Independence Film Festival, told the Independence City Council on Jan. 10 that the contest produced more than 1,000 submissions and will present winning entries at a public screening Feb. 22.
Schottenmeier said the open contest solicited short videos about people, places and events tied to Independence and that the Missouri Humanities Council provided a $10,000 grant. “Winners have received a cash award and top winners will receive an ‘Indie,’ an award created by the glass blowers at Inglewood Arts,” he said.
The nut graf: Schottenmeier described the festival as an effort to gather and share local stories in video form, especially to reach younger audiences who consume video rather than written local histories.
Schottenmeier told the council the contest used the FilmFreeway submission platform and did not charge an entry fee. He said the contest drew about 1,044 entries totaling roughly 239 hours of footage, including international submissions he judged ineligible because the contest is limited to stories about Independence, Missouri. He said categories included student, college, adult and an international category that produced a high volume of off-topic entries.
He described one student entry focused on an artifact at the Harry S. Truman Library and said the festival paid cash awards of $2,000 to winners. Schottenmeier said winners will be considered for inclusion on HumanitiesTV, a free streaming channel run by the Missouri Humanities Council, which he said helps get community stories before wider regional audiences.
Schottenmeier said the festival’s rules assign content rights to the festival so the city or others can republish material without separate negotiations. He encouraged pairing people who have stories but not video skills with younger filmmakers who can produce video content.
He invited the council and the public to a mini‑festival at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Inglewood Arts Center and said the festival website (www.iloveindependence.org) posts winning entries. Technical problems prevented the council from showing a “sizzle reel” during the meeting; Schottenmeier and staff said they will post the video to the city’s social channels and the festival’s website.
Ending: Schottenmeier closed by urging the community to continue producing video stories about Independence and said the contest revealed unexpected subjects — from local history to a three‑hour “zombie movie” — that showed how much content local and international creators produce when entry is free.
