Mukilteo filmmaker takes center stage at Edmonds film festival

What do a midnight encounter with a serial killer, a film crew fueled by pizza and a generous coffee shop customer have in common?

They're all part of the story behind the Creative Collective Film Festival, a new showcase of independent filmmaking coming to the Edmonds Theater on Dec. 5.

The free event is the brainchild of 26-year-old filmmaker Jorge Huarez and Terry Preshaw, a supporter of the arts who saw an opportunity to give emerging filmmakers something they often lack: a chance to show their work on the big screen.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the festival will feature at least eight short films, ranging from horror and comedy to animation and live action. Most of the filmmakers are from the Puget Sound area, although some will be coming from Los Angeles.

And it all began with a horror movie made on a shoestring budget by a young man who works at the Red Cup Cafe in Mukilteo.

Huarez's first film, "Nightburn," follows a man who steps outside for a midnight smoke and encounters something considerably more frightening than he bargained for.

"There's a serial killer on the loose," Huarez said.

Making the movie proved nearly as adventurous as its plot.

Huarez recruited about 15 friends and acquaintances, many connected to the Red Cup, to serve as actors, makeup artists and crew members.

Even the serial killer was recruited from among the cafe's regular customers.

"This was very ragtag," Huarez said.

Filming took place during the summer, often at Everett's Forest Park, where the crew assembled after dark. Unfortunately, summer wasn't the ideal season for a movie requiring nighttime scenes.

"We were, you know, 'Oh yeah, let's shoot at night during the summer when the sun sets at 10 p.m.,'" Huarez said. "We should have filmed it in the winter when it sets at 6."

Some nights stretched until 5 a.m., leaving Huarez and his girlfriend, Holly, barely enough time to get home before returning to work at the cafe.

On the first day, the inexperienced crew spent five hours filming a single scene.

"We realized that was not a pace we could keep up with for the rest of the shoot," Huarez said.

At one point, with much of the script unfinished and an exhausted cast, Huarez feared the project would collapse.

But the crew persevered.

The final budget came to about $4,500, much of it spent on food for the volunteers.

"A lot of it went to pizzas and feeding the crew," Huarez said. "You'd be surprised."

Preshaw contributed a camera lens that allowed the crew to shoot in low-light conditions without expensive lighting equipment.

"They were very generous with their time and their talents," Huarez said of his crew. "They believed in it, and I'm surprised they put up with me for so long."

The finished film has already been screened twice for smaller audiences, including about 50 at a gathering in Los Angeles.

"There's nothing more addicting than to hear people gasping when you want them to, or to awe at an effect that you and your crew worked tirelessly on," Huarez said.

From one movie to a festival

The festival idea emerged when Preshaw, a Red Cup regular who had gotten to know Huarez, learned that the Edmonds Theater was available for private events.

She had previously rented the theater for a special screening of "Star Wars" for her granddaughters and invited guests.

When Huarez mentioned wanting to show his movie, Preshaw suggested renting the theater again.

"I just thought, well, why can't we just rent that theater and have a film festival?" she said. "And so I called them up, and yes, that's what's happening."

Huarez quickly realized that a three-hour theater rental offered an opportunity to do more than screen his own film.

He reached out to other independent filmmakers, including friends working in Los Angeles and a group of Seattle-area filmmakers he had met at another festival.

Among the planned selections is "Lake City Way," a comedy short by his friend Alex.

Huarez said discovering the region's independent filmmaking community has been an inspiration.

"I feel like it's not talked about enough," he said. "We've got some very talented filmmakers who really give it their all."

The Dec. 5 program is expected to include about two hours of films, with additional time for filmmakers to discuss their work with the audience.

The evening also will feature an unusual opening performance: four to six alphorns, the long wooden instruments traditionally associated with the Swiss Alps, positioned along the theater aisles to perform a Rossini fanfare.

A showcase for emerging talent

For Preshaw, the festival represents something larger than a night at the movies.

She remembers when local communities offered more opportunities for amateur performers and emerging artists to present their work.

"I think it's so important to be able to showcase emerging young talent," she said. "We don't seem to have those venues in our communities anymore."

But the Edmonds Theater provides an ideal setting.

"Here we have a beautiful theater in the heart of Edmonds that is perfectly suited to reveal visions of the younger generation to all of us," she said.

Preshaw also sees the festival as an opportunity for audiences to discover talented filmmakers at the beginning of their careers.

"They had to start somewhere," she said of established directors. "It's wonderful that we all get into the beginning of whoever the next great filmmaker might be, right in our backyard."

Huarez already has his next project in mind: a documentary about a friend who lives with rheumatoid arthritis.

Ultimately, he hopes filmmaking will become his profession.

As for the festival, Huarez and Preshaw hope the December screening will be successful enough to become an annual event.

For Huarez, the prospect of sitting in a packed theater and watching strangers react to his work is reward enough.

Asked what that moment would mean to him, he didn't hesitate.

"The world," he said.