SPOTLIGHT: 2023-BARE BONES FILM FESTIVAL AMBASSADORS-INDIE AUTEUR NOMINEES

CLICK TO VIEW ROBERT'S FILMMAKING TIPS	ROBERT RODRIGUEZ was our inspiration for this Category, to give recognition for those who dare to take on this challenge and to produce an exceptional Narrative Feature Film. Film-making is a collaborative endeavor with many moving parts. Giving credit is often a form of payment, yet there is one person who is involved in every aspect. As an Indie film, the roles are often blurred, with everyone lending a hand. The Indie Auteur: Writer, Director, Producer, Director-Photography/Cinematographer, Editor, Set Designer, Location Scout, Original Music Composer, Lead Actor, Support Actor, Marketer and more. Indie Auteur Motto: "By Any Means Necessary"! BAMN! "No Frills-No Waste"
	BITCOIN BABY MICHAEL G. KELLER Writer-Director-Producer-DP/Cinematographer-Editor Michael G. Keller's work has played in film festivals around the world; on cable television, Netflix and Amazon Prime. His previous projects include RED GOLD, a crime drama feature about organ trafficking, which he filmed in a remote village in India; and HARD TIME HARVEY, a dramedy pilot presentation set in a juvenile prison. .
	DUNGEON ANDY BOWLES Writer-Director-Producer-Director of Photography-Editor-Lead Actor Andy Bowles is an actor and an award-winning filmmaker. Having worked as an actor in such films as "Anywhere But Here", "The Starving Games", "The Wisdom To Know The Difference", Tyler Perry's "Too Close To Home". Currently Andy is acting in a mini-series project for CNN where he is playing one of the founding fathers of the United States, as well as a multimillion dollar budgeted independent faith-based film. Speaking of independent films Andy has been making them for years. In 2021 Andy won 2 best cinematography and 7 best pictures awards for a documentary he produced and was the director of photography on. Each film is a steppingstone to greatness along his acting and filmmaking journey. His current and most recent project being "Dungeon". FILMMAKER STATEMENT FOR YOU .
	EYES UPON WAKING JENNIFER SCOTT Writer-Director-Producer-Editor-Lead Actor . .
	FATHERS WEEKEND L.TANNER SMITH Writer-Director-Producer-DP/Cinematographer-Editor-Lead Actor L. Tanner Smith is a filmmaker with a BA degree, a chronic illness, and a dream to make many films until death. He started making films during his small-town childhood, continued his craft in Digital Filmmaking at the University of Central Arkansas, and is still making films even after being stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. Smith now lives in Overland Park, Kansas and is active in the Kansas City film scene. With support from his friends & colleagues, Smith is making the transformation from small-town dreamer to indie filmmaker complete. .
	OCEAN CITY MONSTER BUILDING CHRIS LANE Writer-Director-Producer-Editor Born in Beijing in the early 90s, growing up during the wake of the market reform and opening-up, I was one of the first generations of kids who got to experience foreign films in the cinema and on TV as a pastime. Being an elementary schooler who did not excel academically nor in sports, I still remember the moment I watched Se7en during the wee-hours of a weeknight on a movie channel, and how it completely changed my life. At age 10, way too young to be watching Se7en and not having the slimiest idea of what goes into the process of filmmaking, I promised to myself that This was going to be my life-long calling. (For full disclosure, after 20 years and a few film projects later, I still kind of have no idea, but I will keep trying.) And so when high school graduation rolls around I decided to fly across the Pacific and go study film in Los Angeles. .
	PARALLEL L. TANNER SMITH Writer-Director-Producer-Support Actor L. Tanner Smith is a filmmaker with a BA degree, a chronic illness, and a dream to make many films until death. He started making films during his small-town childhood, continued his craft in Digital Filmmaking at the University of Central Arkansas, and is still making films even after being stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. Smith now lives in Overland Park, Kansas and is active in the Kansas City film scene. With support from his friends & colleagues, Smith is making the transformation from small-town dreamer to indie filmmaker complete. .
	ROBERT RODRIGUEZ-BARE BONES INDIE AUTEUR OF THE YEAR! PART-TIME KILLER B.J. TURNER III Writer-Director-Producer-DP/Cinematographer-Editor-Lead Actor Born in the 80's in rural Arkansas into a white/hispanic mixed family, BJ spent his childhood in front of the TV nurturing a love for bombastic genre movies. But it wasn't until watching Antonio Banderas in Desperado, seeing the blend of Mexican culture and Hong Kong action, that he knew what he wanted to do: make the kind of films he wanted to see while filling them with the kind of representation he always wished was there. .
	PRINCESS BRANDON ROBERT KERSJES Writer-Director-Producer-Editor Brandon Robert Kersjes is from and currently living in Walker, Michigan. He has been writing and directing films since 2019, which is when he began attending Grand Valley State University, majoring in Film and Video Production. Since his graduation from GVSU in 2021, he has made his first feature length film, PRINCESS, and is currently working on multiple other projects. Before, PRINCESS, Brandon wrote and directed six short films of varying lengths and genres, whilst working on his collegues films as well. He plans to continue making feature length films from here on out. FILMMAKER STATEMENT FOR YOU .
	ROBERT RODRIGUEZ-BARE BONES INDIE AUTEUR OF THE YEAR! SHUDDERBUGS JOHANNA PUTNAM Writer-Director-Producer-Lead Actor After graduating from Dartmouth College with a degree in Theater and Film Studies, Johanna spent a decade in Los Angeles acting in various shorts and features. She returned to the east coast, determined to create her own work of independent vision and artistic storytelling. Shudderbugs is her first full creation as producer, writer and first-time director. .
	THE SOLSTICE PATRICK NAPLES Writer-Director-Producer-Actor Patrick Naples is an Italian-American filmmaker from Youngstown, Ohio. He moved to Chicago at the young age of 23 and continually strives everyday to live life with passion and meaning through his medium of visual arts. .
	TWO BAD JIM MENZA Writer-Director-Producer-DP/Cinematographer-Actor Jim Menza is a director, writer, producer, editor and actor who has spent most of his adult life in the entertainment industry. After spending two years on a successful sitcom, he set out on a forty-six State tour as the on-air host and writer of the ABC FAMILY CHANNEL'S TV show; THE SUMMER DRIVE-IN THEATRE. His films include DUSTING CLIFF SEVEN, which he also wrote, and NICE GUYS... which he wrote, produced and starred in. Jim wrote directed, produced and edited the feature films PATIENT official selection of the Angel Citi Film Festival, FOOLISH THE WISE official selection of The California Independent Films Festival, BLOOD, BAGGED distributed by Fenix Films, THE LIST Feature Film Winner of the Key West Independent Film Festival, SIGNED IN BLOOD official selection of the Dances With Films Film Festival, SLIGHT OF LIFE official selection of the DeReel Australian International Film Festival, EXECUTION winner of the Haunted Horror International Film Festival, RID, and BLOODY WINGS, winner Best Guerrilla Feature The Temecula Independent Film Festival, official selection MAC Brazilian Film Festival 2015. His NOVELS include CLIPPED, LOONIES and DAREDEVIL the man without fear. .
	WHO IS IT? JIM MENZA Writer-Director-Producer-DP/Cinematographer-Editor-Actor Jim Menza is a director, writer, producer, editor and actor who has spent most of his adult life in the entertainment industry. After spending two years on a successful sitcom, he set out on a forty-six State tour as the on-air host and writer of the ABC FAMILY CHANNEL'S TV show; THE SUMMER DRIVE-IN THEATRE. .