North Carolinian takes top prize at regional film festival

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"Neutral" takes home the top prize at Indie Grits. . . .

GREENVILL SC - Joe Chang, 25, a Black Mountain native and along with former Asheville residents Aubrey Curtis, 22, and John Ferrer, 24 when their film, took top honors at the Indie Grits Film Festival in Columbia, SC. "Neutral" a series of vignettes about life's obstacles and idiosyncrasies written and directed by Chang and co-produced with Curtis and Ferrer, beat out more than 75 contenders.

"It's a huge vote of confidence," said Ferrer, "because it's the first festival we've played." The Top Grit award is comes with a cash prize of $1,000. "Neutral," which runs just over an hour and a half, was filmed entirely in Buncombe County and features more than 70 area actors.

Chang spent two years in the film program at North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking, where he became friends with Ferrer and Curtis. But in 2005, the three decided formed Papercookie Productions. Their first film, "Grownups", was a full-length feature written and directed by Ferrer and shot in upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, with a budget of $6,000.

"We tripled the budget for 'Neutral', explains Chang, who raised most of the $17,000 budget himself by living out of his truck and working at the Fine Arts Theatre in downtown Asheville. "With every project, we want to take a bigger risk and achieve a higher level of quality." The company's third film will be shot in Greenville, SC, this summer and, "depending on the kindness of philanthropic strangers," quips Curtis, could have a budget in excess of $40,000.

The trio has just returned to the Southeast after living in Los Angeles for eighteen months. "The vibe in L.A. is exciting," says Chang, "but the cost of living is lethal. The West Coast definitely has the advantage in contacts, but it's a whole lot more economical to shoot hereand it's great to be able to work with long-time friends and family."

For now, the young filmmakers have day jobs: Chang as a hotel desk clerk, Ferrer and Curtis as Website developers, and stashing away every nickel to fund forthcoming projects. Nights and weekends are devoted to developing plots, writing scripts, and watching movies.

If winning first place in their first festival is any indicator, it won't be long before the movies they're watching are their own.