AmericaFree.TV, LLC (www.americafree.tv), a leading Internet streaming television and movie broadcaster with 10 million global viewers, officially announces “Half Empty” as the grand prize winner for its AFTV Virtual Movie Festival.
After months of viewing, voting, and deliberation, the winners of AFTV’s national online independent film festival are chosen and will be recognized at a screening at the Lyons-Weir Gallery on Wednesday, February 24th in New York City. Joining “Half Empty” at the screening will be “Arabs, Jews, and the News” and “Aliens in Wonderland.”
The grand prize winner, “Half Empty,” is a dark character-driven comedy of coincidence filmed in North Carolina. It is produced by Michael Kuhn, and written and directed by Troy Carlton and Marcus Mizelle. “We are all friends who wanted to prove we could make a good movie without any funding or celebrities,” says Carlton.
On a self-funded budget of just $20,000 the film impressed the panel of judges, all experienced in the entertainment industry. Hollywood producer and screenwriter Bob Eisele calls the film, “hip, cool, and entertaining,” and is most impressed by the performance set forth by the actors in the film. “If I was working on another film down there, I would definitely recommend the producers bring in some of those actors for a look.”
AFTV is awarding the creators of “Half Empty” $2000 for their excellent and innovative work. “With this award we are becoming more mainstream and are really hoping for larger distribution,” says Carlton. AFTV has already launched the film, “Delivery Boy Chronicles,” by Goliath into European distribution.
The award for best documentary is a short film expressing a critique on media coverage of one of today’s most volatile situations, and is aptly named, Arabs, Jews, and the News. Created by Michigan State University faculty, Bob Albers and Dr. Geri Alumit Zeldes, and their students, the quality of the film was remarkable and deeply deserving of the $500 prize.
AFTV board member, Jeff Porro, thought the film was, “Brilliant. It does two things I’ve rarely, if ever, seen in a film. It’s fair to both sides of the Middle East debate, and uses Detroit suburban communities to enlighten the audience of the complexity and tragedy of a situation that is too often portrayed as good vs. evil.”
As voted on by the AFTV audience, Aliens in Wonderland captured viewers with its fun and innovative story and receives the People’s Choice Award. The animated film is produced by Jim McCullough and uses impressive artistry to document the story of extraterrestrials who find themselves in Wonderland, Kansas.
