Moves Forward Under New Name
April 21, 2014 – Marking its tenth Festival, Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) proudly announces its intention to move into the future as Seattle Transmedia Independent Film Festival in 2015. In addition to its customary selection of diverse and distinguished short and feature-length independent films from around the world, STIFF 2015 will exhibit web series, video game concepts, storytelling apps for mobile phone and tablet, and social media narratives.
“Up to now, transmedia and interactive gatherings have been conferences, seminars,” says STIFF Director of Programming Will Chase. “The time has come to put these works on display in their many forms.” Acknowledging the logistical challenges of this goal, Chase nevertheless hopes STIFF will become a destination both for creators and consumers of interactive and transmedia narrative.
“Transmedia is part of the future of independent filmmaking,” Chase continues, “allowing filmmakers to build an audience, telling their stories across one medium and then another as the audience grows and changes.” STIFF programming will serve as curators of this wide-ranging category, bringing the best of transmedia each year to seasoned fans and neophytes alike.
Inspired by the role of Slamdance in Park City in the 1990s and 2000s, STIFF emerged in 2005 as a counterpoint to the Seattle International Film Festival to draw attention to the lack of true independent and local programming – including shorts, where most filmmakers get their start. Offering lower fees for submissions and attendance, as well as an egalitarian, all-access approach to parties and events, over time STIFF rallied a voice for change in Seattle’s film festival community, eventually provoking some large changes at SIFF itself.
STIFF has come to be known as an outstanding film festival in its own right, winning the Seattle Weekly Readers Poll for Best Film Festival (besides SIFF) in 2013. Also in 2013, STIFF added programming categories for web series and experimental film and saw a positive response from audiences.
“We have accomplished many of our goals over the past ten years,” says Festival Director Timothy Vernor, who continues at the helm of re-vamped STIFF going forward. “Today’s film festival scene demands a new challenge to the status quo, and we are proud to present our take on the film festival of the future.”