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15 Years and Running: The Gangrene Comedy Film Festival Bucks the Trend of Saturated, Sparsely Attended Film Fests with Vaudevillian Approach to Programming

KAYSVILLE, Utah, Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — With today's entertainment industry flooded by media, filmmakers have found it difficult to find audiences for their work. The Gangrene Film Festival, held every fall in the scenic benches of the Northern Utah Mountains, has offered large audiences for aspiring filmmakers to showcase their work for over 14 years.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140203/PH56971-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140203/PH56971-b)

In the past decade, hundreds of fly-by-night film festivals have come and gone. Apart from submitting films to the super-competitive upper echelon of festivals–namely The Sundance Film Festival, Cannes, Telluride, and other big players–filmmakers have struggled to know where they can find an audience for their work.

Organizers of The Gangrene Comedy Film Festival claim they offer just that: an audience. In the midst of the noise and delusion of the film festival market, The Gangrene Film Festival, held every fall, regularly plays for a full theater of eager fans. But Gangrene offers more than just a parade of funny short films; festival organizers have regularly filled the program schedule with obscure, funny acts, eccentric comedy bits, and highly characterized themes. Gangrene celebrates comedy in general.

"The film fest market is saturated," said Ben Fuller, festival organizer. "The overwhelming majority of film festivals has one thing in common: empty seats. I have found that most film festivals are only attended by featured directors and a few of their friends. Let's face it – attending directors are only interested in seeing their own films on the screen. That makes for a poor audience. Gangrene offers something more, a full house of devout fans who welcome visiting directors with open arms."

"We do everything we can to make visiting directors feel like rock stars," said Craig Nybo, festival organizer. "We pay for their accommodations. We shuttle them everywhere they need to go. We even take them on outings, such as rock climbing in the Wasatch Mountains. We have hosted directors from all over the world and they keep saying the same thing: Gangrene is one of their favorite film festivals."

But The Gangrene Film Festival is not for the highbrowed and high-minded. They accept only comedy shorts, which has made it a destination for comic directors and viewers who are ready to laugh.

"We celebrate comedy on a larger scale than just in films," said Larry Nybo, festival organizer. "We throw everything funny that we can think of on the stage. We've had luchadore wrestlers, a Bigfoot rock and roll band, pirates, motorcycle stunts, tap-dancing grandmas, a little person Kiss cover band, all live and in-the-flesh. You just have to see it to believe it."

With hundreds of film festivals in the world to choose from, for comedy film directors, The Gangrene Film Festival just might be the perfect destination to showcase their work. The Gangrene Film Festival is now open for entries for their 2014 season. Directors may enter through withoutabox or at www.gangreneproductions.com.

Publicity Contact:
Craig Nybo
mediaRif Corp
7 North Main Street, Suite #220
Kaysville, UT 84037
(801) 309-3353
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