July 21-24 — On the weekend of July 21-24, the Macon Film Festival screened 61 competition films, five spotlight films, four special screenings, three after-parties, and more over four days at five venues located within three walkable blocks in historic downtown Macon.

Known as the “Friendliest Film Festival” by filmmakers far and wide, the event opened with a max capacity crowd for the Short Film Master Class presented by the Sundance Institute, featuring Sundance Short Film Programmer Mike Plante and acclaimed film director James Ponsoldt. Later that night, the sold-out opening night special screening of the 80s Brat Pack classic Pretty in Pink featured a Q&A with special guest Andrew McCarthy, the film’s leading man, and festival emcee Terrell Sandefur. McCarthy is currently directing the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black and ABC’s The Black List.

Three other filmmaking workshops were offered throughout the weekend to educate festival attendees on the current state of filmmaking in Georgia, including the Macon Film Commission’s panel “Billion Dollar Baby:

Georgia Film Industry” featuring an esteemed line-up of Georgia film power players: Alison Fibben (GA Film Office), Clark Cofer (Georgia Production Partnership), Elliott Dunwody (Bright Blue Sky Productions & Macon Film Commissioner), Jeffrey Stepakoff (Georgia Film Academy), Jeremiah Bennett (Glass Door Studios & Milledgeville Film Festival), LaRonda Sutton (Film City, LLC), and Shelbia Jackson (Dekalb County).