Old Mission Barn Burner

If you have any questions we forgot, or anything you’d like to check before submitting, just email us at oldmissionbarnburner@gmail.com anytime. We’ll be happy to help!

WHAT ARE YOUR SUBMISSION FEES?
Our submissions are totally FREE for every category.

WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS FILMS?
We are dedicated to a program with a significant and interwoven showcase of contemporary voices and stories from Native and Indigenous artists working anywhere in the world. Old Mission Peninsula is located in the heart of the traditional and sacred land for the Ottawa (Odawa) and Chippewa peoples who lived here for generations before European contact forced displacement from the area.

The tribal community that existed on this historic site was colonized and assimilated by the arrival of missionaries, most notably Reverend Peter Doughtery, who came to the region in 1839 specifically charged to manage the tribal community, and empowered by the Presbyterian Church and the recently adopted 1836 Washington Treaty. The arrival of the missionaries further fractured tribal control of the lands, and forced Native and Indigenous inhabitants to adopt Christianity and reject their own heritage. By 1852, the U.S. Government had split and sold much of Old Mission Peninsula, deeding many desired agricultural parcels to these early settlers, while pushing the remaining tribal settlement to relocate across the Grand Traverse Bay to Omena, Michigan.

Our event sincerely hopes that by returning Native and Indigenous stories to the peninsula for the first time in generations and involving our community in that effort, we can stimulate positive changes from understandings that only the arts and culture provide.

We are seeking to be led in these efforts by the guidance of tribal community members locally, the art and culture of Native and Indigenous storytellers from outside our region, and anyone who can help us find those who can best represent their own perspectives and interests.

WHAT GENRES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Welp, we’re trying to salute a few things that are important to our humble vision for how stories can stimulate real community and conversation in a very specific part of the world, right now (see above).

We’re also interested in combining themes like nature and the wild, journeys and travels, recreation and sports, conservation and public policy, and topics or people that are provoking us to think and feel something in these realms. We’re figuring it out because we’re new, but we’re taking a ton of early inspiration from the fantastic folks at the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, Michigan and the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado if that helps you figure us out. If you’re not sure if your project fits, just email us for a waiver to our fee and we’d love to see it. Maybe your story is actually the perfect fit.

What makes us different, we hope, is that these films are a part of a broader cultural co-op: blending like-minded screenings with talks and conversations, pop-up art galleries, live-music events, author-readings, food and drink experiences.

DO YOU PROGRAM INTERNATIONAL FILMS?
We love international films and we want to embody a spirit of bringing stories from everywhere to our unique little part of the world. Please share with us. If invited, we will ask for a version subtitled to English so the majority of our audience can experience it.

DO YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR LOCAL FILMS OR FILMS WITH LOCAL CONNECTIONS?
We do! We’re especially interested in any stories with ties to Michigan and the Great Lakes Region as the Barn Burner is also a celebration of our place here on Old Mission Peninsula, a spectacular agricultural region surrounded by outdoor trails and waters set against the 45th parallel.

DO YOU PROVIDE ANY FILMMAKER BENEFITS IF WE’RE INVITED?
We do! Every project invited to the festival will receive two (2) All-Access festival passes, along with two (2) extra tickets to each of the film’s screenings. We sadly do not provide any travel or lodging benefits yet.

OK, I’M IN. HOW DO I SUBMIT!?
If you are new to FilmFreeway, your first step will be to create an account and then to create a “project” for your submission. Head to the following page for more information on how to create a project and submit to festivals: https://filmfreeway.com/help

Please do not email us your films or links because we can’t consider projects that haven’t been officially submitted through FilmFreeway - it’s the system our all-volunteer teams use to manage watching and considering your work carefully. Trust us, you’ll love it. It works great.

We strongly suggest that you have a permanent member of the crew to submit (preferably the director or a producer). Please use an email address or phone number that is checked regularly in case we need to get in touch with you throughout the submission process. We use our email oldmissionbarnburner@gmail.com for almost all our communications, so make sure we’re not in your junk folder, ya hear?

I DON’T LIKE ONLINE SUBMISSIONS, CAN I DO IT ANY OTHER WAY?
Sorry, but no. We’re trying to create the lowest-possible carbon footprint with the Barn Burner so please don’t mail any packages, or promo materials or tchotchkes to us because we can only consider film submissions that come through FilmFreeway and our all-digital workflow.

I WORKED ON OR ACTED IN A FILM, BUT DIDN’T PRODUCE OR DIRECT I - CAN I SUBMIT?
If it’s not your film, it’s advisable to submit only after you’ve received permission from the filmmakers. We always think it’s best that all the key people are in agreement about the festivals they are submitting to and who should be the primary contact.

I SUBMITTED LAST YEAR AND WASN’T ACCEPTED. CAN I RESUBMIT?
YES! We didn’t exist last year, so you get to be brand new again and submit for 2022. You look younger, are those new shoes? You go.

WHEN ARE YOUR DEADLINES?
We open our hearts and minds to your submissions November 21, 2021 and we close our applications at midnight EST on April 30, 2022 to start exploring all your work and projects. There are no other deadlines. We hope that’s easy.

We let all everyone who submitted know the status of your application on June 30, 2022 and our first-ever festival launches October 7, 8 and 9, 2022 (we hope you’ll come join us in Northern Michigan for some inspiration and recreation, even if we didn’t invite your film to be a part of it this year).

HEY, HOW DO I KNOW YOU RECEIVED MY SUBMISSION?
In your FilmFreeway account, under the “Submissions” tab, you can locate your submission to our festival. As long as the Submission Status is listed as “In Consideration”, your film has satisfied all of our requirements and is ready to be reviewed by our curators.

Films that are listed “Incomplete” at the time you submit are most likely missing a screener. Please check your submission again to ensure that your screener was uploaded properly.

If we discover an issue with your submission during the submissions process (i.e. screener was deleted, password was changed, is missing audio or subtitles etc.) we will try to reach out to the submitter to correct the problem as soon as we find it. At this point, we will also update the status of the film to “Incomplete”. If at any point your film is listed Incomplete and you did not receive an email, reach out to us at oldmissionbarnburner@gmail.com and we’ll get on it.

DO YOU ACCEPT ONLINE SCREENERS? CAN I SEND AN OUTSIDE LINK?
YES! We like password-protected Vimeo links or films uploaded directly to FilmFreeway. Submissions must be available to stream; we do not accept any films that must be downloaded because, hackers.

The person submitting is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active through June 30, 2022 for us to watch. In the event of a password or screener URL change after submitting, email us to update it or we might miss your great story!

DO YOU ACCEPT ROUGH CUTS AND WORKS-IN-PROGRESS?
Sure, just mark the submission as a rough cut and note which elements are incomplete (ex: color correction, score, missing shots) in your submission. Just keep in mind that if you are invited to the Barn Burner, you’ll need to be prepared to deliver the final files to us by September 1, 2022.

HOW MANY FILMS CAN I SUBMIT?
You can submit as many projects as you would like as long as they are different and each one completes an individual submission application so we can keep track. Who are you, Alex Gibney!?

HOW LONG CAN FILMS BE?
The Barn Burner showcases mainly shorts (25-30 total) and a few select features (4-6) so we’ll be looking for projects that can fit into one of our six planned programs:

The Now: Native and Indigenous Storytellers
The Fire: Stories of Adventures, Recreation and Travels
The Water: Stories of Nature, Wildlife and Conservation
The Earth: Stories of Land, Food and Agriculture
The Air: Stories of Spirituality, Inspiration and Advocacy
The Rocks: Stories of History and the Great Lakes

Feature films that touch on these themes are of special interest to us, and we expect to program two documentaries and two features in our first year.

DO YOU HAVE ANY RATINGS LIMITATIONS?
We’re hoping to program stories with a variety of content, for multiple age groups, but some of our venues are tied to civic and township zoning, so we will not showcase content that is sexually explicit, sensationally violent, or doesn’t adhere to our Code of Conduct.

DO YOU HAVE COMPETITION SECTIONS?
KIND-OF! We’re planning to have our attendees vote for an Audience Award for Best Short Film and an Audience Award for Best Feature Film. We are still working on prize packages for each winner, but they will NOT include cash or prize-monies but maybe some local Moomers ice cream.

WHO ARE YOUR CURATORS?
We’re launching now and still working on our final team, but everyone lives and works in the Northern Michigan region and has deep experiences in arts and culture. We all volunteer our time, and try to represent and involve the widest and most inclusive points of view possible. We’re a posse of film-lovers and we included short bios of our founding Board of Directors at the end of this guide if you want to get to know us.

HOW ARE FILMS EVALUATED?
Each film is watched by more than one person, and we share notes and responses with each other openly, working to find the very best fits for the festival. Because we’re brand-new, and so small in this pilot year, we have a really limited number of invitations we can extend. But we’re excited to dive in and work to find extraordinary stories that will fit our evolving vision.

ARE FILMS SELECTED SOLELY ON CURATOR FEEDBACK?
We don’t use any scoring or rating system but simply watch and share our reactions until we’ve had the pleasure of watching all the submissions, then we will put together our best version of the program. We have a great group of people collaborating to make it come together with a ton of respect for your work, and thanks for giving us a chance to watch it.

HOW WILL WE BE NOTIFIED?
We’ll send emails from oldmissionbarnburner@gmail.com and your status will also be updated in FilmFreeway under “Submissions” no later than the end of day on June 30, 2022.

(Big cred! We love the Atlanta Film Festival and their submission guide which also uses FilmFreeway, so we’ve adapted much of it here for our needs but want to thank them for their guidance and great instructions, which we’ve based this on.)

FOUNDING BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Barn Burner is presented by the Old Mission Culture Company, a new nonprofit organization founded in 2021 and located in Traverse City, Michigan.

JOSEPH BEYER (he/his) relocated to his home state of Michigan from Los Angeles in 2018, after being a staffer to the nonprofit Sundance Institute for more than 14 years, lastly as Director of Digital Initiatives where he led strategy, creative development and operation of digital content, social media and special Institute projects. Later he joined The Redford Center as Director of Marketing and Distribution.

Since returning, he has been the Executive Director to the Traverse City Film Festival, Michigan Legacy Art Park, and Parallel 45 Theatre. Joe volunteers locally on the Traverse City Arts Commission Art Selection Panel, the Collection Committee of the Dennos Museum Center, and is a regular contributor to The Boardman Review.

BETH MILLIGAN (she/hers) is a journalist and head writer for the Traverse City Ticker, an online daily news outlet in Traverse City. She recently served as marketing chair on the board of directors for LGBTQ+ advocacy group Up North Pride and has worked in marketing and PR roles for numerous community organizations including the Traverse City Film Festival, Traverse Connect, Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival, Traverse City National Writers Series, and Porterhouse Productions. Beth currently co-hosts a podcast called Breaking the Surface that is part of the Boardman Review Podcast Collective and is dedicated to thoughtful deep-dive discussions on politics, pop culture, philosophy, and current events.

BEN WHITING (he/his) is an award-winning magician, actor and playwright turned international keynote speaker and corporate consultant. As an entertainer, he has performed in over 30 countries, had multiple television appearances, and his clients included the likes of Crystal Cruises and Oprah's HARPO studios. Recognizing his passion for helping others, Ben began focusing on leadership development and in 2016, he delivered his first TEDx talk which led to being hired by a leadership development firm.

Ben now runs his own consulting and creative agency employing magic and entertainment as tools to teach and inspire corporations, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions around the globe. He is a current Board Member of the National Writers Series, Crooked Tree Arts Center, and is chair of the Traverse City Rotary Good Works Committee.

CHRISTAL FROST ANDERSON (she/hers) is a Northern Michigan native with a background in nonprofit management, beginning her career locally at Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Traverse. She started in radio in 2007, finding her broadcasting home in 2012 with WTCM, Traverse City’s first station. She is the former host of “Frost & McCarty” on NewsTalk 580 WTCM, as well as the station's current Director of Community Engagement.

She also hosts “The Foodie Scene,” an online show focusing on regional culinary offerings, and “Road Trippin’,” a travel program presented by Michigan Country Lines magazine.

Christal is actively involved with many community groups, including serving on the Board of Directors for the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center, and is the co-founder of the CherryT Ball Drop New Year’s Eve event. She is a former member of the Board of Governors for the National Cherry Festival, and served on the Boards to Michael’s Place and Parallel 45 Theatre.

FOUNDING ADVISORS AND ALLIES COMMITTEE

REBECCA GREEN (she/hers) produced two of the top-grossing and critically acclaimed independent films of 2015, “It Follows” and “I’ll See You In My Dream,” which generated a combined domestic box office total of $22 million. Named one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch” and nominated for the Piaget Producer’s Award at the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Green was also a 2017 Women at Sundance Fellow, Creative Advisor for the 2017 and 2018 Film Independent Producing Lab, and the Fall 2016 Allesee Endowed Chair in Media Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. Green holds a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Among other honors, she was recently elected the president of the Producers Union in 2021, which organized independent producers into a formal organization for the very first time. She helped found and lead that effort while she continues to curate her website, newsletters and data reports around producorial issues at “Dear Producer,” an online portal for makers and creators.

CARLYLE STEWART (he/his) was born in Arlington, Virginia and is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax. He is an independent film producer, writer, director and amateur critic living and working in Traverse City, Michigan. His last project, a modern interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic comedy of errors “As You Like It,” starred Academy-Award Nominee Graham Green, and played festivals throughout his region of Northern Michigan. Carlyle has been the House Manager to the historic State and Bijou Theatres after serving as a volunteer, and later employee, of the Traverse City Film Festival for over a decade.

TAYLOR CRAMER (he/his) is a former Social Worker, is the owner and lead producer for Cold Shower Media. From a young age, Taylor displayed the ability to connect with others at a deep level, and had a desire to listen to those he felt had been unheard. Those characteristics were in part, what prompted him into starting his own podcast in 2018, titled, The Cold Shower Podcast. In his show, he explores deep and sometimes difficult conversations with his guests, in hopes of making the unheard, heard, while also facilitating personal growth for his listeners. Having “been there and done that” with his own show, Taylor knows the uncertainty that can accompany new projects. However, he’s also experienced firsthand how podcasting can encourage action from a listening base, which is why he is so passionate about helping others reach the goals of their own project. He is gifted in assisting them in finding the deeper story and making sure the client’s podcast is an accurate reflection of them or their company’s values. When he’s not producing content, you can most likely find him outside with his dog, Indie, and his lovely wife, Abbey.

CHRIS LOUD (he/his) is an experienced writer and producer for TV and digital series. He recently produced and wrote for the travel TV shows Coolest Places on Earth, State to State, and Great Escapes. In addition to being a frequent contributor to Traverse Magazine, he’s been published in outlets like SEEN Magazine, TANK Magazine, The Dyrt Magazine, Animal Fair Magazine, The Glen Arbor Sun, and book anthologies like Wonderbox Publishing’s Normal Deviation, and Found Magazine’s Requiem for a Paper Bag, where he curated short stories from actor Andy Samberg and Iraq war journalist Michael Yon.

In 2017, Chris and his brother Nick started The Boardman Review, a print & digital magazine featuring stories about the northern Michigan region’s creatives, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and outdoor enthusiasts. Chris writes and helps produce many of the short films created for The Boardman Review, and serves as the executive editor for the print publication.
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Chris has twice been selected to the Traverse City Business News’ “40 under 40” list, and helped produce additional local publications, The Creative Coast Guide, and the Michigan Legacy Art Park Field Guide. He currently lives in Traverse City, Michigan with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs.

JANE KITTENDORF (she/hers) is a Michigan native and an arts accessibility advocate and nonprofit executive based in Traverse City, Michigan. She moved to Chicago in 2017 after graduating from Michigan State University (B.S) to participate in Steppenwolf’s Apprentice program during the 2017-18 season. Jane is a classically trained vocalist and pianist who teaches throughout Chicagoland with Chicago Children’s Theatre, Auditorium Theatre and Mudlark Theatre in Evanston. She most recently served as Executive Director to Arts for All, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Providing arts and cultural experiences to connect people of all abilities and advising organizations on how to extend accessibility in their programs, services and missions.

NICK LOUD (he/his) is a filmmaker and photographer who has spent several years in Los Angeles producing, shooting, and editing multiple short and feature documentaries. During his time there, Nick worked on two documentaries for ESPN films, including one that premiered on ESPN’s ‘30 for 30’ digital platform about the obscure sport of Jai Alai. He helped produce and edit the feature documentary Finding Oscar, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, about the search for justice in the case of the 1982 Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala. The documentary premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and is now available on Amazon Prime. More recently, he captured the trial footage of disgraced USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar for the HBO feature documentary At The Heart Of Gold.

Nick shoots and edits many of the short films created for The Boardman Review, and serves as the creative director for the print publication.

Nick has twice been selected to the Traverse City Business News’ “40 under 40” list and helped produce additional local publications, The Creative Coast Guide, and the Northern Migration Field Guide. He is on the Board of Directors for the Leelanau Conservancy and serves on Traverse Connect’s Creative Coast committee. Nick lives in Traverse City, Michigan.