The Roxy Theatre’s second Roxy Adventure Film Festival starts next Friday, and owner–operator Greg Rose said that although the festival isn’t running as long as last year, attendees are in for an incredible experience.
The Roxy Adventure Film Festival (RAFF) returns next week from Nov. 4–7. The Roxy will host four films throughout the festival, with local edits and productions playing, too. RAFF looks different from last year because Rose said seven days of the festival last year was too much.
“The last year was a big challenge because I didn’t know anything about anything,” said Rose with a laugh.
To help with this year’s festival Rose installed a new computer to convert the video files from the submissions into the right cinematic files. Making the conversion took an extraordinary amount of processing power, forcing the conversion to take a longer time, which made the event more stressful on Rose. Now, with the new computer, Rose plans to have an easier time running the festival.
Rose started the festival last year when he realized how much of a demand for local productions to get big screen time. However, because of the way the theatre system works, Rose was unable to accommodate on short notice.
“People are always being like, ‘hey, we got a thing I want to show it on Friday.’ And like, the answer is always no,” said Rose of the demand before the festival was established.
With the scheduling of movies that come into the Roxy, Rose couldn’t take a night off from showing the weekly feature. Instead, he opted to lean into local.
“I’m just going to not bring in a movie for a week. And instead use that week to show whatever I want,” said Rose.
What Rose decided to show at the theatre for that week, was what locals wanted to show — resulting in the RAFF.
While Rose runs the theatre side of the festival, RAFF isn’t a one man show. Rose credited Skookum Bike and Ski, Pulse Boot Lab, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, and Rize Boardshop for their help in putting the festival together, including selling tickets for the event. Still, RAFF takes a toll on Rose to pull off.
“It’s a lot of work doing this. But I like doing it. And it’s fun. And it’s great to see the reaction. And you know, what else is going on at this time of year,” said Rose.
RAFF joins Thanksgiving Back as an event in the shoulder season that helps to soften the blow of the slow tourism season.
Despite Rose’s excitement for the event, he doesn’t expect to see much of it.
“I don’t usually watch the films with everyone, right, ‘cause it’s work for me. All I think about is the lighting the sounds and the this and that. I’m hoping to be a less frantic host this year for each night. And I do hope to sit in and enjoy the films. That is the goal for sure,” said Rose.
Tickets for the event are already on sale and are limited. They are available for purchase at Skookum Bike and Ski, Pulse Boot Lab, and Valhalla Pure Outfitters.
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@ZacharyDelaney
zach.delaney@revelstokereview.com
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