MACON, Ga. — Local, state and nationwide filmmakers are getting to show off their work as the Macon Film Festival kicks off its 18th year this weekend.
"Macon is going to be flooded with out-of-town people all weekend long," says Justin Andrews, president of the board of directors for the film festival.
Andrews says this year; the festival will feature more than 96 films from around the world. Some new things are coming this year as well, like the film festival's Georgia Impact Award.
Dallas Austin, the film and music producer, will be in Macon to accept the award. Along with the new award, they're also letting local high school bands join in on the festivities.
"Now we've been starting to think how we can tie in our feature presentations on Saturdays to make them more community-wide events," says Andrews.
They're having a battle of the bands in relation to Austin's film "Drumline" which will air during the festival. They're also bringing more filmmakers to Macon, and Andrews hopes that will bring more filming.
"We have the opportunity now to take filmmakers on location and show them different places movies have been filmed," explained Andrews.
Of course, they didn't forget about the up-and-coming filmmakers and actors looking to build their skills through their workshops. They will have workshops ranging from cinematography to helping people get their work on streaming services.
The festival runs from August 17th through the 20th. They have passes ranging from $10 to $150 on their website.