VALDOSTA — The South Georgia Film Festival will open its third annual event with a community-wide bash.

The festival opens 6-10 p.m. Friday, March 1, at Georgia Beer Company in Downtown Valdosta, college officials said.

“Like filmmaking, Georgia Beer Company is both art and industry,” said Jason Brown, festival director and associate professor of mass media at Valdosta State University. “We want to partner with the best of what’s happening, and to us, that means great people like Chris Jones and Jack Martin at Georgia Beer Company, Valdosta State alumni who have made something and brought it back to our community.”

“This will be the first large event at the brewery upon opening,” Jones said. “Thanks to Valdosta State University, Jason Brown and the South Georgia Film Festival for putting together this awesome event.”

The brewery is scheduled to open in coming weeks.

Miss Kate’s Deep South Tours and Valdosta Main Street have joined the effort and are working to make the most of the 2019 South Georgia Film Festival kickoff event by inviting restaurants and other organizations to showcase the food and fun available locally, university officials said. 

“They plan to fill the space behind Georgia Beer Company’s 100-year-old revitalized brick building at 109 S. Briggs St. with these vendors and introduce visiting filmmakers to all that makes Valdosta an exciting place to live, work and create,” university officials said.

Admission to the kickoff event is $10 and includes a collectors glass and a free beer or soft drink. Admission is free for people holding an all-access VIP pass or a festival pass, both of which are available for purchase at SouthGeorgiaFilm.com. 

All-access VIP pass holders will have access to a special VIP section inside the brewery “to see how the magic happens,” Jones said.

Collectors glasses will be available for purchase at the event.

Having recently started its first large batch, Georgia Beer Company is a start-up brewery producing craft beer in Valdosta. The brewery expects to be open to the public in the first quarter of 2019 and plans to distribute kegs and cans through grocery stores, package stores, bars, restaurants and other licensed retailers, university officials said. 

Patrons will be able to purchase pints on-site in the tap room, they said.

Entering its third year, the South Georgia Film Festival continues to connect with partners in the Valdosta community, including Valdosta State University, Georgia Power, Wild Adventures Theme Park, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta Main Street, The Valdosta Daily Times, Miss Kate’s Deep South Tours, Talk 92.1 and Fusion Marketing. 

With a focus on entrepreneurship through filmmaking, “the festival continues to promote the regional film industry with panelists discussing both the craft and industrial impact of film for local businesses,” officials said. 

The 2019 festival has already secured panelists Brandi Nicole Payne of Seed & Spark to discuss Crowdfunding, producer Tara Ansley and actor Ian Anderson, along with many others not yet announced.

The South Georgia Film Festival received more than 450 submissions worldwide in 2018. The 2019 festival will include feature and short films during a three-day period at two locations on the Valdosta State University campus. 

Along with screenings from national and international filmmakers, the festival will host a scholarship competition, sponsored by VSU’s Office of Admissions, for high school and college filmmakers interested in attending Valdosta State, university officials said.

Passes to the festival are available. The all-access VIP pass, which includes a T-shirt and access to the upcoming Georgia Production Partnership meeting Feb. 28 is $100. The festival pass, which offers access to all screenings, panels and daily events, is $40. A day pass is available for $15.

Visit http://southgeorgiafilm.com/ or contact Jason Brown, (229) 219-1298 or jasonebrown@valdosta.edu, to learn more about the South Georgia Film Festival.