Cat Fly Film Festival Brings Indie Filmmakers Together
By Meg Hale Brunton
Before Brittany Jackson founded the Cat Fly Film Festival she was working in the office of a local screen printing shop, as well as doing some freelance work, filming short films and music videos. “I got into film because I love music, but I’m not very good at playing music. So, while my friends were picking up guitars, I was like, ‘How can I play too?’ So I picked up a camera,” she recalls. “The rest is history.”
After earning her degree in Mass Communication from UNC-Asheville, Jackson worked on an independent film project out of Atlanta for a movie called, “Good Hair.” When the film’s directors decided to take the film on the road across the southeast, Jackson offered to host them in Asheville (since several cast and crew members were based there) and helped plan a screening of the film at Habitat Brewing in Asheville. The experience left her thinking that she should put together a local festival showcasing all the filmmaking talent in the area. In April 2017, at only 25 years old, Jackson orchestrated the first Cat Fly Film Festival, funding it with her tax return money. “It blossomed into a three-day festival,” she recalls. “We were fully prepared to be the band at the empty venue with nobody listening, but the community really turned up.” All three nights of the event sold out, and Jackson was able to pay herself back with enough extra funds to roll into another event. Named for Jackson’s love of cats, Cat Fly evolved into an annual festival.
The following October, Cat Fly got its second yearly event after they hosted a Halloween Fest at UpCountry Brewing. “Indie filmmakers love scary movies,” Jackson says of how the idea for the event came to her. Besides their two main annual events, Cat Fly also created a Summer Series to showcase other local filmmaking skills, including a projection installation and live scoring. For the third installment of the series, Cat Fly partnered with Charlotte filmmaking group Films on Tap to screen local indie films, with a paired local beer flight that matched each film’s tone.
After setting a daunting pace of festivals and events, the Covid-19 pandemic forced Jackson to slow down a bit. Cat Fly still managed to host a virtual festival in March 2020, which garnered excellent audience response. “We got so much engagement. Everybody was behind the keyboard, talking about the movies,” she remembers. Since the pandemic, Cat Fly has hosted their fifth annual festival, and two Halloween events, with proceeds from the most recent one going to Binx’s Home for Black Cats.
Jackson feels that one of the main things that make Cat Fly’s festivals unique is its noncompetitive, community-built nature. When choosing the films to screen, a panel of judges grades the submissions based on their individual qualities, including direction, writing, cinematography, sound mixing, production quality, originality, and regional relevance. Jackson tries to use the festival to bring filmmakers together who seem to have similar interests. “I like to play professional matchmaker. We want to introduce collaborators who will become best friends and work together forevermore,” Jackson says. “I feel like if we can all uplift each other, we’re all gonna do better. We should work as a team, come together, help each other, and not see each other as competition.”
For every festival, Cat Fly receives anywhere from 50-150 submissions of feature films, shorts, and music videos. As the frontwoman and programming director for the festival, Jackson sometimes finds aspects of her role challenging, but loves the artists she gets to interact with. “Public speaking is hard, but I love a captive audience,” she says, laughing. “I’m very extroverted, so I love making new friends. A new friend is a chance for not only a lifelong collaborator, but also authentic connections. Those connections just make for a richer life.”
For the future, Jackson wants a lot for Cat Fly. This year, she hopes to achieve 501 c3 status for the organization. Besides the festival itself, she hopes to expand the organization and make it become more of a resource hub for area filmmakers. Jackson would also like to host a wellness-centered filmmaker’s retreat, as well as a film tour across the Southeast. One day, Jackson would even like to be able to give grants to local filmmakers and fund Indie films. “We’re hoping to be more than just the fest,” she explains, adding that this is the reason they recently changed their Instagram handle from Cat Fly Film Fest to Cat Fly Indie Film. She also states that films being made in Asheville creates more local jobs. “I want to spread the love too. I want to help my fellow collaborators and community members. I want to help uplift Asheville’s film community, and showcase Asheville.”
Now at 32, Jackson is trying to pace herself and adopt a motto of: Go slow, but don’t stop. Though neither sustainable, nor relaxing at this point, Jackson says she loves that she is doing what she is passionate about and feels that Cat Fly has a bright future. “I’ve done many, many things because I know time is of the essence. I just want to live a really full life. This is what makes me soar,” she says of working with artists. “Running the organization is like being in a relationship. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes me and Cat Fly fight, sometimes we have to compromise. At the end of the day, it’s worth it.”
For more information on the Cat Fly Film Festival, or to book your tickets for their next event, visit their website: https://www.catflyfilmfest.com/.
