BAKERSFIELD, CA- The inaugural 'Outside the Box' Bakersfield Film Festival came to a close at the Fox Theater Sunday night with an awards ceremony.
The prize for excellence from the film festival is named in honor of Jett Travolta, John Travolta's son who died in 2009.
This year, the award stayed local after Bakersfield's David Mensch and his son Zach won the Jett Travolta Vision award.
Their movie "David's and Zach's Quest to Sacramento" tells the story about their 300 mile bike ride to Sacramento to raise awareness about possible budget cuts that could hurt the disabled.
"I got the chills down my spine seeing my Dad and how he has reached the top. He is a star," said Zach Mensch.
In the veterans category "Honor Flight Kern County" won for best short film.
"I actually grew up in the area and I live in Los Angeles now. It is really cool to come back to my home base and participate in a program that is so amazing," said Ross Raventos the Director.
This inaugural event drew a big crowd, especially Saturday when 'Criminal Minds actor Joe Mantegna stopped by.
Mantegna said he wanted to take part because the festival gives a platform to filmmakers of all abilities to showcase their art.
His daughter Mia is autistic, but produces her own webisodes on make-up tutorials.
"When you have a child with special needs you learn quick enough that you have to change your expectations as to what they may be able to achieve in the course of their life. When you are able to see them actually reach certain goals an surpass certain goals you anticipated there is no way to gauge how important that is," said Mantegna
Organizers are happy with how the festival turned out and hope to build on the momentum for next year.
"We are going to start planning for next year in about ten minutes but we are going to stop and breathe for just a second," said Rick Davis the producer of the festival.
They are exploring the possibility of spreading the film festival out next year over three theaters in town.
For a complete list of the winners, go to our click on the hotlink button on our homepage.
The prize for excellence from the film festival is named in honor of Jett Travolta, John Travolta's son who died in 2009.
This year, the award stayed local after Bakersfield's David Mensch and his son Zach won the Jett Travolta Vision award.
Their movie "David's and Zach's Quest to Sacramento" tells the story about their 300 mile bike ride to Sacramento to raise awareness about possible budget cuts that could hurt the disabled.
"I got the chills down my spine seeing my Dad and how he has reached the top. He is a star," said Zach Mensch.
In the veterans category "Honor Flight Kern County" won for best short film.
"I actually grew up in the area and I live in Los Angeles now. It is really cool to come back to my home base and participate in a program that is so amazing," said Ross Raventos the Director.
This inaugural event drew a big crowd, especially Saturday when 'Criminal Minds actor Joe Mantegna stopped by.
Mantegna said he wanted to take part because the festival gives a platform to filmmakers of all abilities to showcase their art.
His daughter Mia is autistic, but produces her own webisodes on make-up tutorials.
"When you have a child with special needs you learn quick enough that you have to change your expectations as to what they may be able to achieve in the course of their life. When you are able to see them actually reach certain goals an surpass certain goals you anticipated there is no way to gauge how important that is," said Mantegna
Organizers are happy with how the festival turned out and hope to build on the momentum for next year.
"We are going to start planning for next year in about ten minutes but we are going to stop and breathe for just a second," said Rick Davis the producer of the festival.
They are exploring the possibility of spreading the film festival out next year over three theaters in town.
For a complete list of the winners, go to our click on the hotlink button on our homepage.