History of Filmulate
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Well not that far, but perhaps quite far for some people but quite close for others and maybe too far for most but just around the corner for you and me. Hold on a second, are we talking a matter of time or distance as a measurement or construct in this instance? I don't know really, but what I do know is that Filmulate has been wowing audiences in Salt Lake City Utah since 2010.
A lonely warrior arrived from a far off land on a quest to bring filmmaking education and inspiration to the masses. He thought he had arrived in LaLa land (translation chip engage...LaLa Land is a term sometimes used to describe the craziness and dreamlike atmosphere of Los Angeles, the city of angels and moviemaking) fortunately he had asked an old hag by the side of the road for directions, unfortunately her translation chip was malfunctioning or most likely because translation chips don't exist, her scraggly finger pointed our intrepid fellow to Salt Lake. Off he stroud towards those majestic mountains without a care in the world. Fortune shines on the unfortunate and fortunately for the fellow he found there to be a bit of an apocalyptic waste land there film wise. " I shall change the landscape of submission based genre film festivals and throw into the mix a few challenges that only the brave can overcome if so worthy "
Onto 2012. As luck would have it, the Mayan calendar was wrong and that meant more Demon Chaser! Moving back to the Tower was a good idea since retro fitting an old silent movie theatre for a one night show for the previous year was not the best idea financially but still had an abundant ROI of smiles. Onward and upward though. Doubling our screenings to allow for the continued popularity, 24 films came knocking on the gates. The quality was incredible this year including submissions from Brandon Young, Matt O'Connor and Bobby Cody. But what was the twist this year? A truly Hitchcockian inspired moment of a wallyesque cameo made an appearance in one lucky film to be spotted by the audience! Nurses from the Castle Sanitarium where also in attendance in the event that some poor fellow had a heart attack due to their nervous disposition and the fearful flickering of the screen. Just as well Filmulate provides an insurance policy of $1000 for death by fright. Moonchild came out on top this year. Another great year was put back in the catacombs.
Sometimes less is more and 2013 brought us to single screening :( but proved this point by having the greater quality content. The Castle Sanitarium Nurses were back and the invisible man did some stand up. Many of our alumni came back in full force and for the first year the judges actually came to fisticuffs over the winner. But the true heavyweight that is Brandon Young came in with an uppercut that is Monster and took home best film while leaving all the others on the mat out for the count.
2014 comes rolling around and people just aren't impressed by one little demon anymore. That's ok though as I was a little bored too. So I went into the lab and mixed up a batch of chemicals and scraps I found in the dumpster then poured the concoction into a test tube for added effect. Gulping it down... I waited for a few minutes but nothing happened. So I ate some cheese I found behind the fridge and suddenly inspiration struck! Let's create more fests incorporating more genres. Horror and Halloween is pretty cool but there are so many more fans out there and so many more stories to tell. Vortex Scifi was born and soon after Dark Christmas came out as a close twin. Initially partnering with Salt Lake Comic Con, Vortex premiered in September 2014 with eight entries with such notable moments from Alpaca Punch and Bob Bedore but ultimately the winner came through the Vortex in the form of Sara's Crossing.
