deadCENTER Film Festival
5 p.m. Thursday (Through Sunday)
Downtown Oklahoma City
The deadCENTER Film Festival has been an Oklahoma staple for the past 15 years. Far from its humble origins, the annual event has grown exponentially, even being cited by MovieMaker as one of the 20 coolest film festivals in late 2010. Currently, deadCENTER is spearheaded by the tandem of executive director Lance McDaniel and director of programming and education Kim Haywood. In a brief conversation, the former spoke with Oxford Karma on the development of deadCENTER and how it became one of the state’s most coveted attractions.
“deadCENTER is Oklahoma’s largest film festival,” McDaniel said. “We are the best place for Oklahoma filmmakers to network and share their ideas.”
The festival is a beacon of culture within the state, exemplifying the generally less-known cinematic scene stirring from within. Providing a place for creative minds to congregate is a mission of utmost importance to McDaniel, along with a goal of garnering both national and international attention.
“We have a great, thriving film community in Oklahoma and deadCENTER is the highest trafficked place filmmakers can show their work,” McDaniel said.
deadCENTER not only brings together great minds, but it also illuminates a city not always considered in national conversations.
“It’s important for Oklahoma to have successful art events like ours,” McDaniel said. “It shows the rest of the world the diversity in Oklahoma. We live in a city where people likewise want to live in an attractive place. Not everyone perceives us as beautiful, so deadCENTER gives people a bit of insight.”
The event emerged from rather humble beginnings. Seeking to fill an apparent void, Justan and Jayson Floyd began the fest in 2001 in hopes of corralling Oklahoma’s active cinephiles. Fortunately, the brothers’ idea ignited without hesitation.
“When the Floyds started the film festival, they knew people were making movies, but no one was really communicating,” McDaniel said.
Responses snowballed into an avalanche of positive reception, and quickly the inaugural happening — which featured 50 fans and a slew of hot dogs — was dwarfed by the annual follow-up.
“It was a success from the very first day,” McDaniel said. “Slowly, people wanted to be involved the next year and the next year. They moved downtown with the third iteration, and then they started getting more support.”
deadCENTER is by no means just a showcase of local talent. Many films, short and feature-length, come from outside the state and beyond. Auteurs emerge from all corners, including Korea, Denmark, and the U.K., to list a few. With submissions taken as early as September, the festival requires an abundance of coordination and feet on the ground.
“We plan everything,” McDaniel said. “We have a 24-member board of directors for corporate relations spread out across the community. Many other people help run the concessions and box office. We have another 300 helping outdoors alone.”
Likewise, deadCENTER harbors a screening committee of 50 people, working diligently to sift through a mountain of entries. This year was no exception, bolstering powerful selections like Sterlin Harjo’s Mekko, Ryan “Staples” Scott’s Skid, and Beau Jennings’ The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers.
Even as this year’s festival is set to begin, McDaniel is still looking to the future, including a potential increased focus on education.
“I think the next step for deadCENTER is to become more of a film institute,” McDaniel said. “For example, Sundance has a lot of creative labs. I think those are how you develop great filmmakers. That’s where we’re going.”
deadCENTER begins today at 5:00 p.m. and concludes with a public after-party Sunday at 11:00 p.m. on Flint’s Patio. Passes for the film festival can be purchased at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in downtown.
