Missoula Makes Movies is the Roxy Theater’s inaugural 72 hour film festival! Work as a team to make a short film from start to finish over the course of three days and celebrate with a premiere screening and party. Sign-ups are closed! Please email us at learn@theroxytheater.org if you have any questions.
Learn more about the festival and pre-fest crash courses below!
ABOUT THE FEST
- The official filmmaking period is from Friday, October 9th at 12:00pm to Monday, October 12th at 12:00pm.
- During this time, you will work as a team write, shoot, and edit your short film from scratch, working with a few prompts that will be drawn at random during the kickoff meeting.
- You must have a minimum of 3 people on your team and a maximum of 8.
- Non-members pay $20, Roxy members and students pay $15 to sign up.
- Creative preparations before the start of the filmmaking period are not permitted. This includes but is not limited to:
- Writing your story or a screenplay
- Creating shot lists or storyboards
- Making props or costumes
- Set decoration
- Rehearsing with actors
- Shooting
- Editing
- Sound Design
- Some preparations may be made before the filmmaking period. This includes:
- Organizing Cast & Crew and Coordinating Schedules
- Securing and testing Equipment
- Scouting/Securing Locations
- You must have at least one representative from each team be present at the kickoff meeting that takes place on Friday, October 10th at 11:00am at The Roxy Theater. The whole team is welcome to come if they can make it!
- Your films will be judged by a panel of film professionals and screened at the Awards Ceremony Premiere. It will take place at The Roxy Theater on Thursday, October 15th at 7:00pm. It will be preceded by a filmmaker mixer and celebration in the Roxy Lounge at 5:00 pm.
- Finalization of teams will be sent out on Friday, October 2nd. In the event of individual sign-ups that aren’t enough to form another team, someone may be added to your team. Before the festival starts, you may want to meet up with your team or take a crash course together!
- Crash courses on the basics of filmmaking will be provided at the Roxy the week before the competition.
- Certain leeway may be given to accommodate issues that arise on a case-to-case basis, given you are in communication with us.
- Equipment will not be provided, but we can offer resources about where to borrow equipment and facilities that are available to you. The usage of phones and tablets is allowed.
filmmaking crash courses
Leading up to the first Missoula Makes Movies, take part in learning and practicing your filmmaking skills with this series of crash courses on the major steps of film production taught through The Roxy Film Academy. The courses will allow for individual questions and discussion to keep the learning oriented to the Missoula Makes Movies teams specific aesthetic and production interests.
Each course will be two hours in the evening and focus on a different aspect of film production. Attendance for each course is $10.
DIRECTING & PRODUCING
Monday, October 5th, 2026, 6-8pm in The Roxy Lounge
Learn the fundamentals of working with actors and your crew as well as mise-en-scene and how to bring your vision to life. We will cover the essentials of set communication, running a film set, blocking a scene, and time management.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tuesday, October 6th, 2026, 6-8pm in The Roxy Lounge
We will go over camera equipment and management, composition, and focus on natural, motivated, and practical lighting. Bring the camera your group will be shooting on if you can, so you can practice with the correct equipment, or learn the camera basics.
SOUND RECORDING
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026, 4:30-6:30pm in The Lounge
Learn how to record sound on entry level professional sound equipment and how to get the best possible sound for your film, even when using a phone! We will teach you the tips and tricks of mic placement, recording levels, and adapting to record different spaces.
EDITING
Thursday, October 8th, 2026, 6-8pm in The Lounge
Learn the basics of editing a short film on professional editing software. We will cover the technical side of using the program such as setting up your file, using the tools, and exporting your film, as well as diving into the creative decisions you might make in the editing process like knowing when and where to cut.
