03/17/2025
We had a wonderful time at the ZIFF, Zions Indie Film Fest held in Utah February 24 - March 1, 2025, where we screened “The Finding Papa Movie” to the festival’s audience. It was well-received and we met many wonderful people after our Q&A and throughout the week. Though we weren’t amongst the final award winners, we saw many great films and watched their filmmakers receive their well-deserved accolades at the awards ceremony. There was something for everyone, all with so many messages and tales to tell.
A highlight was meeting up with Gerard Averill, a fellow Location Manager from Julianne’s L.A. days on tv and movies. He and others working in locations were on a panel explaining their roles and giving advice to filmmakers in the audience. Hearing from them plus other producers, directors, and writers on panels provided us with a wealth of information. Alan Blomquist was in attendance and imparted his wisdom of over 30 years producing movies like “Chocolat,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and the Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk The Line.” We enjoyed making connections with other filmmakers, cast, crew, promoters, and distributors that we plan to stay in touch with to see where time will take us!
Thanks so much to Marshall and Michelle Moore who run the festival with tireless commitment. We were honored to get to know them and their hearts are huge. In fact, despite how exhausted Marshall must have been, he kindly spent the day after the festival touring Gerard, Alan, Jill, and Julianne around his studio, The Utah Film Studios. We were able to see the enormous sound stages that housed the standing sets of the Kevin Costner show “Yosemite,” movies like “Hereditary,” and J-Lo’s recent Sundance VIP dance show plus Post Malone’s many commercials. Marshall and Michelle never stop going in their creative endeavors!
Probably the biggest takeaway was how open-minded, kind, and forthcoming people were sharing their stories and letting us know how our movie resonated with them. There is something wonderful about authenticity and vulnerability, and we hope that by showing some of that on the big screen, it allowed people to reflect it back to us, bringing us all closer. Thank you to everyone!
