Reel East Texas Film Festival kicks off with speakers from Texas Film Commission

KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - It’s time to get reel, if you’re so inclined. Kilgore’s Reel East Texas Film Festival is this weekend, featuring about 100 films, some made here in East Texas.

They kicked it off Wednesday, a day early this year, with a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Texas Film Commission.

They discussed the topic “Make Your Film in our Backyard”. They weren’t showing any films yet, but a Q and A with Texas Film Production and Community Relations Specialist Kim LeBlanc, and others, provided prospective filmmakers with some valuable information.

“Within our office I serve our production community and provide location services and guidance and help people make their projects happen here in Texas,” LeBlanc said.

And those could be some good resources to Longview Film Club’s Tonya Jones. The club has made two films in its three years and has been learning within the group.

“This is an environment where you can learn about films and all aspects of filming. And this is our goal is to help people be more familiar with the field in all aspects,” Jones said.

And apparently they’ve been doing it right because they have a film in the festival.

“This is the first time we’ve submitted to a festival. This is the first one that everyone collectively as a group was comfortable with submitting,” Jones said.

And LeBlanc is also excited to be a part of Reel East Texas.

“This is a wonderful festival. Kilgore is such a fantastic community. They’re one of our Film Friendly Certified Communities, and it’s a real testament to the hard work that Chip Hale as Festival Director has done over the years working hand in hand with the City of Kilgore and Visit Kilgore to really make this festival shine and grow over the years,” Jones added.

And this year there were enough films submitted from the backyard of Texas that they got their own category” Locally grown in the 903”. That’s at 7 pm Friday at, of course, the Texan.

The Reel East Texas Film Festival did get some guidance from the Texas Film Commission before it began three years ago. The Festival runs Nov. 14 - 17. Most films are screened at the Texan Theater in downtown Kilgore.

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