The Johnstown Film & Wine Festival is a project of the Greater Johnstown Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 2006, in cooperation with the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. The 2009 festival will be held July 8-11.

2009 Panel Discussion
In 2009, the Johnstown Film & Wine Festival is pleased to add "So You Wanna Make Pictures?", a panel discussion for new and aspiring filmmakers. The panel and showing of the panelists' films will take place during the day on Saturday, July 11; see below for a detailed schedule.
So You Wanna Make Pictures? Join four area filmmakers for a conversation on filmmaking for fun (and maybe profit). If you're interested in making films and would like some advice, or if you just love hearing filmmakers talk about making movies, you're invited to join four area filmmakers for a panel discussion on making films and documentaries. Join Andy McAllister, Bob Rutkowski, Kev Stock, and Will Zavala as they offer advice on how you can get your start as a filmmaker -- or take the next step in developing your skills. Come prepared to ask questions, and to listen as they offer up personal insight into their processes, motivation, and the technical tricks they've learned over the years- tricks that they wish they would have known on their first shoot!
Our panelists are filmmakers with different backgrounds and levels of experience. In alphabetical order, they are:
Andy McAllister -- Andy McAllister works as the Watershed Outreach Coordinator for the Greensburg-based Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, a non-profit organization serving 24 counties in the bituminous coal region of western Pennsylvania. With over 20 years of professional experience in the fields of aquatic/marine biology and water pollution, Andy has lived and worked throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and abroad. As a biologist involved in abandoned mine reclamation activities in the bituminous coal region and descendant of immigrant coal miners, he developed a keen interest in our industrial past. That interest, and the research that followed, resulted in his first documentary film, "Out of the Ground," which was first shown at the Heritage Discovery Center on April 30.
Bob Rutkowski -- Bob Rutkowski is a writer, producer and director. His Pittsburgh-based film and video production company, The Magic Lantern, specializes in producing audio/visual programs for museums as well as some business and industrial work. In fact, The Magic Lantern produced "The Mystery of Steel," part of the permanent exhibit in the Heritage Discovery Center's Iron & Steel Gallery. Rutkowski began his career as a director in the U.S. Army and has produced commercials and industrial films. He was the director of production services at George Romero's Latent Image, where he was responsible for pre- and post-production of feature films; today, he is also an adjunct assistant professor at Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
Kev Stock -- Kev Stock is pursuing a master's degree in filmmaking at the Ohio University School of Film, following an undergraduate degree in English literature at the University of Pittsburgh. Over the past six years, Kev has written and directed over 25 short films and videos, including narrative fiction, documentaries, and music videos, working primarily as part of the Kid Renaissance Productions collective, and of late with both Kid Renaissance Productions and his fellow students from OU. His films include "Paper Tiger: Dishonor the Dojo," and "The Donut Gun," which were winners of the Johnstown Film & Wine Festival's Viewer's Choice Award in 2008 and 2007, respectively. In addition, "Paper Tiger" won third place overall. "The Wishing Bone," Kev's first major project shot on 16mm film, has been accepted into six film festivals around the country.
Will Zavala -- Will Zavala is an assistant professor at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. He teaches courses in video, 16mm film, and documentary production. As a filmmaker, he specializes in non-fiction, and his work has been broadcast and appeared in festivals nationally, winning several awards. In 2006, he founded the Doc Salon, an organization of filmmakers and fans of documentaries in Pittsburgh. Will is originally from California, where he received an MA in Communications at Stanford University.
Micah Mood (moderator): -- Micah Mood is a professional software engineer by trade, having graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Computer Science and an unusually large amount of elective credits in creative writing. A musician and long-time film enthusiast, Micah has been a part of the Kid Renaissance Productions (KRP) collective the past four years, since playing music with Kev in their now-defunct band, The Vicars. Micah has has acted in, crewed, and co-produced various KRP projects, including their most recent projects, "The Wishing Bone," an official selection at eight film festivals around the country, and "Arrivederci, Signore Fuccini,"a 23 page short shot on color 16mm film that is currently in post-production.
Schedule The panelists' films will be presented before the panel, and the entire program will take place on Saturday, July 11 in the Education Center of the Heritage Discovery Center. There is no admission charge to the films or the panel; you may come to see any portion of the panel programming (however, tickets are required to attend the film festival's final evening, featuring the best of the film shorts competition). The schedule is as follows: 2:30 pm -- "Out of the Ground" (47 min) by Andy McAllister -- Southwestern Pennsylvania has been profoundly shaped by its industrial past. Coal was the fuel of the this region's rise to prominence through the steel industry, and the most important fuel of the Industrial Revolution. With particular focus on our largely immigrant ancestors who lived, worked, and died in the region's coal mining communities during the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries, Out of the Ground ties our present-day lives to theirs and sheds light on the region, its people, and their contribution towards the shaping of a nation.
3:30 pm -- "Pittsburgh Diary" (2 min., 50 sec.) by Bob Rutkowski. This film was made as part of the Pittsburgh 250 project at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, celebrating the city's 250th anniversary. The project involved restoration of a film made for Pittsburgh's 200th Anniversary. Using that film as inspiration, more than 20 local filmmakers made films that were 2 minutes 50 seconds in length Rutkowski's film is a documentary that includes footage from selected events in the life of the city in 2008 including First Night, The Carnegie International, St. Patrick's Day and Opening Day at PNC Park. Its purpose is to be a reference point for the future, showing the city and an some of the memorable events of its 250th anniversary year.
3:40 pm -- "Paper Tiger: Remember the Dojo" (12 min) by Luke Harteis, Josh Stock, and Kev Stock. This film won 3rd place and the Viewers' Choice Award at the Johnstown Film & Wine Festival in 2008. It tells the tale of a homeless paperboy and his lust for adventure. What will he find in a world full of mystery?
4:00 pm -- "Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat" (19 min., 33 sec.) by Will Zavala. This film will depict the extraordinary livelihood of a seemingly-ordinary profession, sheep ranching. It portrays one week on a family sheep ranch in Montana, following the many small dramas: the birthing of lambs and finding one's mother, the constant threat of predators, and surviving illness and injury. Throughout, the rancher must be protector, harvester, country doctor, and businessman-- roles that require little affection, but great care. 4:30-6:00 p.m. -- "So You Wanna Make Pictures" panel discussion
JAHA gratefully acknowledges Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Rich Engel, and especially Micah Mood for their invaluable assistance in getting this new program started. We also thank the panelists for being willing to share their time, talent and filmmaking with us.