Feb. 7, 2017
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Film and animation experts from around the country and locally will be judging Concordia’s second-annual Comedy Festival.
Entries are currently being accepted for the festival which will take place at 7 p.m. April 28 in Neff 101 at IPFW. All Fort Wayne-area middle school and high school students may enter. Categories include comedy, action/suspense/thriller, documentary (long-form journalism), and animation. All entries are free. Visit www.ConcordiaComedyFestival.com for all of the details. Entries are due Feb. 24.
Judging this year’s competition will be:
Joe Harkenrider is a 2002 CLHS graduate who went on to study film and television at Columbia College (Chicago). He began his career as an assistant at Comedy Central before moving to Dickhouse Productions and later running the writer's room on Adult Swim's Loiter Squad. Two years ago, he returned to Comedy Central as a producer for its digital division.
Kenneth Loechner is a 2000 CLHS graduate who moved to Los Angeles shortly after earning his degree from Ball State. There, he interned under directors The WB’s “Everwood” and Fox’s “The O.C.” He soon after won an Emmy for the creation of an anti-smoking PSA.
Aaron Dohring is a 2001 CLHS alum who is currently working as a digital production specialist through Parkview Sports Medicine in Fort Wayne.
Lance Clark is a professor of digital media arts at Huntington University in Huntington, Ind., where he teaches film and broadcasting. He also owns his own media production company LC Media, Inc.
Bryan Ballinger is a professor of digital media arts at Huntington University. Before joining the faculty there, he was the lead 3D designer for VeggieTales and also worked as a freelance illustrator with clients such as Microsoft, Nintendo, Disney and Harley Davidson.
Steve Leeper is an associate professor of digital media arts at Huntington University. He previously worked for Big Idea Productions and served as layout supervisor for numerous productions including the feature film “Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie.” He is currently working on the short film, “The Temptation of Br. Thomas.”
Matt Webb is an instructor of film production at Huntington University. He has worked on two feature film projects and was the writer and director of his own documentary, “One Year Road Trip: Generation of Generosity.”
Entries for the Comedy Festival are due Feb. 24, and finalists will be announced April 10. All of the finalists’ films will be shown on the big screen in Neff 101 at IPFW and then a reception will be held in the lobby where the finalists can meet and talk to the judges.
The winners, which will be announced at the event on April 28, will receive a GoPro camera, and top winners in each category will be awarded a Fandango gift card. (Groups will only be awarded one prize.)
Entries can be uploaded at www.ConcordiaComedyFestival.com. Submissions may not be longer than three minutes, including credits, which are not required. Entries should be free of profanity and appropriate to show in front of a large audience of students and adults. No more than four entries per person.
The Concordia Comedy Festival is open to any student in grade 6-12 currently attending a school or being home-schooled in the following counties: Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Wells and Whitley.
To learn more, visit www.ConcordiaComedyFestival.com.
Concordia Lutheran High School, located at 1601 St. Joe River Drive in Fort Wayne, Ind., was founded in 1935 as a private, co-educational Lutheran high school open to students of all faiths and backgrounds. With Christ at the center, Concordia continues to pursue educational excellence that equips individuals for lifelong learning and service as disciples of Jesus Christ. Utilizing the most current technologies and state-of-the-art equipment, Concordia’s Media Arts students participate in a wide variety of projects that will help them develop an understanding of digital media. Students study narrative and documentary filmmaking, commercials, music videos and various forms of digital production. Learn more at www.clhscadets.com.