Join us March 13-14 for the 19th Media Film Festival!
Fri, March 13, 7pm
Delaware Co. Institute of Science
11 Veterans Sq
Media PA, 19063
Sat, March 14, 3pm & 7pm
The Media Theatre
104 East State St
Media PA, 19063
SAVE $15 with a FULL FEST PASS! (All 3 screenings)
3/13 7:00pm
The Outer Limits
A Quart of Salt (Philadelphia, PA)
Behind the Signal (Philadelphia, PA)
The Outlander (Langhorne, PA)
Thrift Store Ouija Board (Greensburg, PA)
The Slicks (New York City, NY)
The Dying Business (Johnstown, PA)
The Tooth Fairy (Philadelphia, PA)
Like Friend, Like Deer (Iran)
3/14 3pm
Matinee
Way Back Home (Philadelphia, PA)
Phantom Friend (Spring City, PA)
Dollars That Make Sense (Media, PA)
Stall (Media Arts Council Film Initiative)
Abandominium (Philadelphia, PA)
The Variety Club (Eagleville, PA)
Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob (Los Angeles, CA)
Flowers, Birds and Dad (Philadelphia, PA)
3/14 7pm
Main Feature & Awards
Big Bass (Brooklyn, NY)
Aisles (Los Angeles, CA)
Long Distance (Drama, Los Angeles, CA)
Orchards of A Futile Heaven (Dystopian Sci Fi, Philadelphia, PA)
Hide (Philadelphia, PA)
Terms of Service (Animation, Baltimore, MD)
White Meat Appetizer (Media, PA)
Knock, Knock Run (New York City, NY)
All Screenings Are Followed by Q & A w/ Filmmakers
Dan Bricker and Eytan Millstone 2025 First Prize winners for “Steps”
Tiffany M Abney (right) 2025 Second Prize winner for “Jules”
Max Kane (right) 2025 Third Prize winner for “Ah Ma Burns”
Bilal Motley (right) 2025 Golden Trolley winner for “Trash and Burn”
2025 Film Fest Trailer
Since 2007, the Media Arts Council (MAC) has been celebrating the best of local and regional moviemaking talent, plus national and international films.
We strive to showcase the quality of independent filmmaking. The festival is about connecting filmmakers with other filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences — while having fun doing it!
The Media Film Festival Is Made Possible By:
2026 Films In Detail
Friday, March 13th Lineup: Opening Night at the Institute of Science
A Quart of Salt (14 min)
Gwen is pulling out all the stops for a romantic dinner to save her crumbling marriage but her smart home assistant, NEXA, has other plans. When recipes go rogue and the AI starts offering unsolicited relationship analysis, Gwen begins to suspect the device her husband so lovingly integrated into their lives may have intentions of its own. As her meal prep unravels, she’s left to wonder: is it just dinner that’s ruined... or her entire life?
Director: BJ Barretta
Producers & Writers: BJ Barretta, Erica Moody, Kathryn Sanders
Key Cast: Erica Moody, Corwynne Peterson, David Piccinetti, Peyton Carson, Kathryn Sanders
Behind the Signal: The Making of Blood Signal 4G (7 min)
A behind the scenes look at the making of the fourth film in the groundbreaking Blood Signal franchise, in which the filmmakers attempt to once again break new ground in the horror genre.
Director: Jason Taylor
Writers: Dave Dadich, Tyler Eisenacher, Gabe Loredo, Josh Phillips, J.T. Scurti, Jason Taylor
Key Cast: Josh Phillips, Leda Lyons, Dave Dadich, Julie Stackhouse, Aubrie Williams, Gabe Loredo, Tyler Eisenacher
The Outlander (16 min)
Director: Mike Wenderlich
Producers: Mike Wenderlich, Milo Cox, Liam Driscoll
Writers: Mike Wenderlich, Brian Vearling
Key Cast: Matt Rydzewski, Alyssa Wagner, Joan Chak, Connor Nathan Hough
Thrift Store Ouija Board (7 min)
Three friends awaken something supernatural through a thrifted Ouija board—only to discover it’s far more interested in exposing their secrets than answering their questions. As paranoia and betrayal spiral, a deadly rift erupts between two best friends.
Director & Writer: Rebecca Gruss
Producer: Amy Harding, Andy Westfall
Key cast: Miranda Gruss, Molly Anderson, Patrick Eckland
Additional Credits: Robert Tinnell, Sean Wessman, Avery Ferrell, Liz Gulnac, Don Reed, Drew Holguin, Aaron J. Shelton.
The Slicks (10 min)
Two short story writers, desperate for an idea, conjure inspiration by meddling with their neighbor's private affairs.
Director & Writer: Tucker Papa
Producers: Alexei Clarke, Amrut Ayyala
Key Cast: Daniel Carione, Jeremy Cohen, Tess Riley, Amrut Ayyala
The Dying Business (21 min)
A quirky Italian-American family attempts to innovate their third-generation funeral home in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Director & Writer: Joe Duca
Producers: Savanna Duca, Joe Duca, Lana Link
Key Cast: Frank Duca Jr., Bradley Duca, Frank Duca III, Alexis Peifer
The Tooth Fairy (14 min)
Chuck lives by her own code, rarely killing, but leaving her attackers toothless and helpless as she barters teeth for supplies, scraping to survive one day at a time against an onslaught of hopelessness and the burden of her own humanity.
Director: Trey Lyford
Producers: Hanna Gaffney, Desmond Confoy, Darren Peterson, Steve Webb
Writer: Hanna Gaffney
Key Cast: Hanna Gaffney, Marcia Saunders, Fran Prisco, Darren Peterson
Like Friend, Like Deer (13 min)
Like Friend, Like Deer tells the story of a wildlife ranger in a critical situation who kills an illegal hunter during a confrontation. This short film explores the deep connection and hidden similarities between humans, animals, and the environment they share.
Director, Producer, Writer: Malek Eghbali
Sound Design: Ramin Abousedgh
Music: Payam Azadi
Saturday, March 14th Lineup: 3pm Matinee at the Media Theatre
Way Back Home (20 min)
Jared and Van inherit their grandmother’s dilapidated brownstone. The siblings have opposing views on what to do with the house until a surprise offer forces one to make arrangements behind the other’s back.
Director & Writer: Chad Hamilton
Producer: Gorby Shih, Mehaka Chahat Luintel, Sharon Mayo
Key Cast: Nayib Felix, Marion Grey, Dan Jessup
Director of Photography: Jamal Soloman
Editor: Patrick K. Nichols
Phantom Friend (15 min)
Three grieving friends are visited by their dead mentor, who busts their balls once more, and takes them on a journey through life lessons and healing.
Writer & Director: Thomas Proffitt
Producers: Emma Kate Wilson, Evans Tanaka Baker, Thomas Proffitt
Key Cast: JC Manuel, Thomas Proffitt, Shelby Hightower, Damon Iannetta, Mike Effen McGowan
Dollars That Make Sense (3 min)
A fun, stop-motion animated film about how foundations need to align their endowments with their missions.
Director, Writer, Sound Designer: Richard Power Hoffmann
Producer & Writer: Elizabeth Killough
Key Cast: Monica Moran, Richard Power Hoffmann
Music: Peter Tramo
Tom Hamilton: Animation, Editing
3:20 (9 min)
A housepainter is hired to cover the walls of an abandoned property. While he's there he encounters something unexpected.
Director, Writer & Editor: Dom Lopez
Key Cast: Robert X. Golphin, Lauren Michelle Morgan, Sergio Galeano, Finn McNamara, Jack Baranoski
Additional Credits: Sammy Wiener, Nick Taweel, Tessa Martinko, Mae Merkle
The Variety Club (14 min)
Desperate to grow up and leave a camp for kids with disabilities, a young woman with Down syndrome plots her escape with a potential suitor.
Director, Writer, Producer & Editor: Alex Nicoletti
Key cast: Justin Tabor, Kassie Mundhenk, Raheem Roher, Joy Lynn Pringle, Renata Rebinovich, J. Emmett O'Hare, Eli Nelson, Kyle Thompson, Kevin DiSanto
Additional credits: Brandan Giehl, Matthew Torchiana Hoban, Autrea Shahrabi, Darlene Juhasz, Manu Gajanan, Mark Sarro
Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob (20 min)
While traveling for work, Ms. Rossi gets picked up by the wrong driver at the airport.
Director & Writer: Pat Battistini
Producers: Pat Battistini, Graziano Molteni, Jason Goulet, Perry Anzilotti
Key cast: Sonia Barbadoro, Marco Caldoro, Perry Anzilotti, Fulvio D'Amico, Simone Fraticelli, Alessandro Fabrizio, Nicola Liberato, Chiara Laratta
Flowers, Birds & Dad (13 min)
On Super Bowl Sunday, a grieving filmmaker connects with Philadelphians at a local florist over a shared love for their favorite football team. It's a story about the intense, affectionate energy of the community and argues sports fandom is a form of familial identity that, if even for just a moment, has the power to raise the dead.
Director: Brandt Hale
Archival Footage Cameraperson: Eugene Lutz
Re-Recording Mixer: Eric Harding
Colorist: Anthony Campagna
Color Producer: Luke Butler
Saturday, March 14th Lineup: 7:30pm at the Media Theatre
Big Bass (14 min)
What does it mean to feel seen by others before you’re ready to see yourself? A filmmaker travels back to 1997 to revisit a dream-like memory from second grade that centers around her queer identity, her legendary PE teacher and a mysterious large plastic fish.
Director: Drew Dickler
Producer: Nikki F Heyman
AISLES (10 min)
Two lonely hearts can't stop meeting in a grocery store. Will Naomi and Sam make the choice to let fate draw them together? Through a series of encounters, the couple’s relationship unfolds while they shop. This time bending, romantic comedy reveals the ways life becomes a beautiful tapestry of charged interactions and missed connections.
Director: Tessa Hope Slovis
Producers: Ryan Connors, Amy DePaola, Colin Silver
Writer: Emma Jacoby Axelrod
Key Cast: Nona Parker Johnson, Colin McCalla, Bianca Crudo, RJ O'Young
Additional Credits: Kallie Jung, Liam Miller, Samantha Kelly, Chris Chavez, Jake Devarian, Jose Figueroa-Baez, Justin May, Lilith Carlon, Mike Patterson, Ming Fen Congdon, Robert Casal, Matilda Schulman, Rose Knight, Hannah Greenberg, Leron Lempel, Quinn O'Connor, Isabel Meyer, Jamie Gallo, Gaby Spampinato, Michael Niacastro
Long Distance (7 min)
A young man struggles with his relationship, separated not by distance, but by time itself.
Directors, Producers, & Writers: Max Kane, Mike Overton, Joey Krulock
Key Cast: Joey Krulock
Orchards of a Futile Heaven (30 min)
"A scavenger living on the fringes of a war-ravaged world risks everything to reunite with her lost son in a forbidden zone rumored to possess supernatural powers. “Orchards” was written by Matthew Derby, whose credits include the feature film Gone in the Night starring Winona Ryder, and the audio dramas Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind, featuring Christina Ricci and Billy Magnussen, and Sandra, featuring Ethan Hawke and Kristen Wiig. The short was shot on location at the site of an abandoned Cold War-era military base in Northeastern Montana. The cast camped in the ambulance bay of the base's hospital for the duration of the shoot. The film was partially funded with a grant from the Montana Film Office.
Director: Edan Cohen
Producers: Robert Singh, Zane L'Erario, Sarovar Banka, Alex Zhort
Writer: Matthew Derby
Key cast: Caroline Guivarch, Michael DeFilippis, Piper Verbrick, Derek Poole
Hide (16 min)
From the Academy Award winning team behind "Curfew." Still reeling from an incredible loss, a father (Shakey Graves) and daughter cling to a bedtime routine keeping them safe in a town where an unfathomable horror visits its inhabitants night after night.
Directors: Brenden Hubbard
Producers: Mylissa Fitzsimmons, Parth Marathe, Damon Russell, Brenden Hubbard, Bennett Krishock, Bryan Matthews, Shawn Christensen
Writer: Brian Barnes
Key Cast: Ionie Nieves, Alejandro Rose-Garcia
Terms of Service (9 min)
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore causes one of her citizens to experience odd side effects.
Director: Jim Doran
Voice Actors: Ashley Sterner, Molly Moores
White Meat: Appetizer (12 min)
True story, beneath Washington Square, an urban park in Philadelphia, lie buried the bodies of hundreds of enslaved people. What if, one night, they all came back as zombies, but they only ate white people?
Director & Writer: David Dylan Thomas
Producers: Stephanie Malson, Maurice Gaston
Key Cast: Davon Cochran, Walt DeShields
Knock Knock Run (14 min)
When two best friends decide to prank the wrong house, their friendship and lives are put in jeopardy.
Director: Steve Perrong
Producers: Matt Joffe, Mike Manfre
Writer: Andrew Joffe
Key Cast: Asher Friedland, Cairo Zion, Safiyah Siddiqi Hernandez, James Weiss
Additional Credits: Michael Falle, Natassia Kuronen, Jamil Cox, Kevin Matley, Jason Loftus, Diane Heery, Lauren McGarry, Sarah Scarborough
