Hell's Half Mile Festival Preview

Ian Nelson and Shaun O’Banion Reflect on their Hell’s Half Mile Experience

 

by Gina Myers

            At the 2008 Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival, Dakota Skye took top honors with the Fest Best Award.  The movie, directed by John Humber, focuses on Dakota Skye, a disaffected high school student with a secret superpower: the ability to tell when people are lying.  Dakota’s passive life becomes increasingly complex when she meets her nemesis, Jonah, the one person who she cannot distinguish the difference between lying and telling the truth from.  Things are further complicated since Jonah is Dakota’s seemingly-clueless boyfriend’s best friend.  This charming indie film is a story about love, coming of age, and learning to take risks and take control of your own life.

Producer Shaun O’Banion and actor Ian Nelson, who played the lovable-stoner Jonah, attended the Bay City-based festival and participated in a question and answer session following the screening of Dakota Skye.  The movie had previously screened at a number of festivals nationally and internationally, including the Phoenix Film Festival, FirstGlance Film Fest Hollywood, International Film Festival England, and Edmonton International Film Festival.  Since it had already received some awards, O’Banion thought the film might do well at Hell’s Half Mile.  However, the most exciting aspect for him was to interact with the audience.

“My favorite part of the festivals is getting to see how people react.  There are regional differences,” he explained, “Some jokes work some places and fall flat other places.”  At some festivals, O’Banion even filmed the audiences to capture their reactions.  “There is a personable nature to the film, so people really seem to relate to it.”

O’Banion also credits Hell’s Half Mile with an invaluable experience: “Movies are made for the audience.  Hell’s Half Mile was a great opportunity for Ian and myself to talk to people and get feedback on the film.”

Nelson agreed with this assessment.  “The most exciting thing for me was to see other people excited about the film—to see other people excited to tell someone else about the movie they just got done seeing.”

While both Nelson and O’Banion also traveled to a number of the festivals, they found Hell’s Half Mile to be a unique experience.  Nelson described it in one word: amazing.  “It felt like family the second we got there.  Everyone was down to earth.  They were fun and welcoming.  The whole time we were there, we were going out to eat with the other filmmakers, and we were hanging out at [organizer] Alan [LaFave]’s house discussing movies and music.  It felt like we already knew these guys and were just hanging out.”

O’Banion agreed, “At the larger festivals that have been around for a long time, there is a sense of spectacle.  As the festivals get bigger, they tend to become a machine steam-rolling through, but Hell’s Half Mile felt personal.  We got to meet everyone and there was a nice pace to things, so we were able to really relax and hang out.  As Hell’s Half Mile grows, I hope they are able to—and I think they will be able to—maintain that quality.”

After the success at the various festivals and a lot of work to find a distributor, Spy Films picked Dakota Skye up.  On Tuesday, July 14th, it was released on DVD and is now available to rent through BlockBuster.com and Netflix.  Nelson, who has been a long time subscriber to Netflix, ordered the film and said it was really exciting to see it arrive in the mail.  With it now being available on DVD, word about the film is spreading.

Currently, O’Banion is at work producing his second feature film, Girlfriend, which has just finished casting.  Nelson is busy with auditioning, but you can see him in True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet airing on Lifetime. 

This year’s Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival is taking place October 1 – 4.  To keep up to date on the films, performers, and schedule of events, visit hhmfest.com and watch future issues of The Review for more details!