Sammamish teens create film festival to help young filmmakers
When three local teens saw a lack of access to the filmmaking world, they set out to create their own film production company. Now, they are bringing access and exposure to all of Washington’s filmmakers with the first-ever Issaquah Film Festival.
On Saturday, July 15, local film production company Tarot 77 Entertainment, together with The City of Issaquah, will host the Issaquah Film Festival at the Fleming Arts Center.
Recent Skyline High School and Gibson Ek High School graduates and best friends Logan Sarzalejo, 19, Henry Shriber, 18, and Beckett Hobbs, 17, created Tarot 77 Entertainment in January 2023 as a way to elevate their friendship and filmmaking talents. They then partnered with the City of Issaquah Arts Commission to create a low-cost film festival.
The name of their organization comes from the idea that tarot cards are a “shuffle of stories,” Sarzalejo said. Traditionally a deck has 78 tarot cards, but they removed one “chosen card” to represent the movie selected to premiere.
Tarot 77 Entertainment created the festival as a way to give young filmmakers from all around the state a chance to showcase their work, network with experienced filmmakers, and gain exposure to the film world.
Having struggled previously to fund “astronomical film submission fees” – especially when acceptance into a festival is not guaranteed – the team worked hard to ensure the Issaquah Film Festival would be accessible to everyone, Hobbs said.
“The film festival at its core should connect artists and celebrate talent, regardless of the cost of submission fees or level of prestige,” Sarzalejo said.
The Issaquah Film Festival will feature three blocks of films, categorized by the age of the target audience. The event begins with a youth block from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., followed by a young adult block from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and an adult block from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Audience members can walk in and pay $5 for one block, or $10 for all three. Tarot 77 Entertainment will donate any proceeds that exceed the festival’s production cost to charity.
To provide the opportunity for feedback and networking, the festival will conclude with a mixer for participating filmmakers.
In addition to hosting the festival, Tarot 77 Entertainment is also a participant. The team selected Hobb’s first short film, I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore, to premiere at the festival.
“[Tarot 77 Entertainment] provides us the opportunity to tell a wide range of diverse stories to reflect that we are very different filmmakers, we have very different ideas, but we still, together, formed something – a creative partnership,” Hobbs said.
“I hope this single-day event can inspire a new wave of independent filmmaking and reinvigorate the passion of artists alike,” Sarzalejo said.
For details on the Issaquah Film Festival, including the film schedule and pricing, go to the event page.
