COLUMBUS, OH.- The Ohio film and videomakers who will participate in the Wexner Center’s annual Ohio Short Film & Video Showcase—which takes place at the Wexner Center May 9—have been announced. The showcase, now in its 14th year, is an open statewide, juried event, and features both a youth and adult division. The youth division screenings will be held at 4:30 pm, followed by a reception at 5:30 pm, and the adult division of the showcase takes place at 7 pm.

ADULT DIVISION
In the adult division, 12 films (all 20 minutes or less) have been chosen from over 60 entries. Included this year are documentary, drama, performance art, comedy, experimental, and more.

The filmmakers in this year’s adult division are Corey Aumiller, Rebecca Loar, Colin James McDonald, Matt Meindl, Beth Murphy, Charlie Roberts, Kevin Van Scoder, Adam Smith (all from Columbus), Phil Garrett, Dan Gerdeman, John Whitney (all from Grove City), Meredith Carr (Athens), Bruce Checefsky (Cleveland), Ben Garchar (Fairborn), and Cole Pisano (Westerville). More details on the participating filmmakers and highlights of the Showcase can be found here.
The jurors for the adult division were Mike Olenick, video editor in the Wexner Center’s Art & Tech studios; Chris Stults, Wexner Center film curator; and Tim Lanza, director of the Rohauer Collection film archives.

YOUTH DIVISION
In the youth division (18 years old or younger), 21 films—all under 10 minutes, and as short as 31 seconds—have been chosen out of over 50 entries from all corners of Ohio. Among the films, three top prizes will be awarded (including Wexner Center Store gift certificates, and passes for upcoming Film/Video screenings), with an Audience Choice award (including a Flip MinoHC video camera provided by an anonymous donor), chosen the day of the screening and based on votes from the audience on paper ballot.

The films this year include traditional filmmaking narratives, clay-animation, stop-motion, flash animation, music videos, and other styles. The themes of each film are as varied as the genres, from love to fantasy to loneliness.

The filmmakers in this year’s youth division are (in alphabetical order): Rachel Bodien, age 17 (Upper Arlington); Josh Brown, 17 (Hilliard); Andrew Deas, 17 (Hilliard); Gus Dieker, 16 (Columbus 3rd-place prizewinner); Veronica Easly, 16 (Dayton); Mark Emch, 17 (Gahanna—1st place prizewinner); Matthew Giacalone, 17 (Dublin); Adam Glassman, 17 (Dublin); Sarah Hale, 17 (Hilliard); Prentiss Haney, 16 (Dayton—2nd-place prizewinner); Truman Hatch, 17 (Columbus); Zach Hurliman, 16 (Perry—honorable mention), Kati Keenan, 17 (Dublin); Ashley Nicol Knotts, 18 (St. Paris); Colin McDonald, 18 (Dublin); Emily Messick, 15 (Upper Arlington); Alexander Reynolds, 16 (Dayton); Olivia Smith, 8 (Westerville); Sarah Sutphin, 17 (Dayton); and the DRAW 3 Animation Class, Hilliard Davidson High School.

The jurors for the youth division were Jennifer Lange, Wexner Center associate curator of media arts and manager of the Art & Tech video and sound editing facility; Kendall Loftus, teen artist, designer, and Dublin Coffman High School student; and Amy Delahanty, media artist, and arts educator. Both of these jurors are Wexner Center volunteers.

In addition to the top prizes, Cardinal Health—in a new partnership with the Wex—has chosen five finalists from the youth division applicants to produce a PSA on prescription drug abuse. These finalists will receive a $1,000 stipend from Cardinal Health (and ongoing technical support from the Wexner Center) to participate in a preliminary strategy session and create a 15-second spot. (Once those spots are completed, one of the artists will be selected for an additional $2,500 prize and may have their piece broadcast nationally.)