Back in the fall of 2013 the idea of putting together a film festival in the heart of Tryon came to us like a surprising turn in a suspense novel. Lavin Cuddihee, Beau Menetre and I were sitting around a table at the original location of Openroad Coffee & Tea. The discussion we were having centered on how in the world our non-profit, Polk County Film Initiative (PCFI), was going to be able to attract big-time filmmakers to Western North Carolina.

The three of us had been working for months in conjunction with AdvantageWest, a regional economic development entity, which at the time had a subordinate agency named The Western North Carolina Film Commission. We were feverishly running down locations to meet the requests of major motion picture studios and hoping just one might stick. The likelihood of us hitting pay dirt with a Hollywood movie studio was a long shot, but if we were successful, the return would be massive and might even yield us the keys to the city!

After months of tracking down locations and feeding them to the Reel-Scout™ database, a powerful online tool used for finding and promoting film locations, the bottom dropped out of the NC film incentive program and the entire Western North Carolina Film Commission came crashing down. Overnight, a major in-state connection point to the movie industry had suddenly dropped completely off the map all because the incentive grants were cut.

Filmmakers from all over the world were no longer going to even consider making movies in North Carolina when there were no incentive deals to be had. And why would they, when they could simply drop down to South Carolina or Georgia and reap incentive deals available there?

From that moment, our focus switched from major motion picture studios to the independent film production market — a more attainable industry that would shoot in North Carolina with budgets less than $10 million.

As the three of us were strategizing with how Polk County could even become a blip on the film industry’s radar, Lavin Cuddihee seemed to be in his own world, quietly doodling on a napkin.

“Well, if we can’t afford to travel around the country and visit trade-shows, conventions or whatever, then why not have a film festival here in our own back yard?” Cuddihee asked, as he twirled around an image of what was to be the first image of the Tryon International Film Festival.

Instantly visions of the film festival began running at full tilt through our minds. We could easily imagine large crowds of people, walking the streets of Tryon on their way to movie screening, industry break-out sessions, gala events, music, food and dancing.

Everyone would benefit from the two-day festival, including hotels, B&B’s, art galleries, restaurants, and perhaps even the equestrian-out-of-towners taking a break from competition at Tryon International Equestrian Center.

It would be first of many film festivals to come, where the people would come dressed for the occasion, sporting tuxedos and glamorous evening gowns or whatever they chose to wear to a red-carpet premier.

A pipe dream early on, perhaps, but as the days and months passed our vision grew stronger.

In January 2015, Kevin Powers entered the picture and began leading us down the proper pathway of film festival operations. Powers, a seasoned indie-filmmaker and program director for the Gwinnett Center International Film Festival, was eager to help his long-time industry colleague, Beau Menetre, to fulfil his lofty dream. Powers helped with the mechanics of the festival, including the online assistance of FilmFreeway. He shared with us his lessons learned with regard to how high to shoot for an inaugural festival and what to look out for.

“You can gain power through numbers,” Powers instructed, and with that volunteers came on board to help with festival operations. Sherry Eades, Becky Merrill-Collins, Nadine Naujoks, Robyn Rosenberg and others helped with the BBQ fundraiser sponsored by Foothills Equestrian Nature Center. Many volunteers stayed on for the long haul with others coming on board on a daily basis. Everyone — from Tryon’s town manager, Joey Davis, to Tryon’s mayor, Jim Wright — stepped forward to support the first ever Tryon International Film Festival (TFF).

Within very short order, the international film communities were aware of our festival and movies came rolling in from all over the world. Prime screening venues were locked down for the event, including the Tryon Theatre, the Depot Room and our host venue, Tryon Fine Arts Center.

Before the film submission deadline passed, films were being approved and stuffed into competitive categories with the directors in tow to present their film creations.

“DAR HE: The Lynching of Emmett Till,” a fantastic film with a unique editing style was scheduled early on. Director Rob Underhill, who had gained huge acclaim around the world was quickly reviewed and accepted.

“GreasePaint,” a documentary film by Georgia-based filmmaker, Daniel Espeut, was scheduled to screen along with Geoffrey Gunn’s short film, “Last Night at the Ellington.”

Greenville filmmaker, Chris White, is planning a rare glimpse into the filmmaking process when he screens a collection of five short films he’s finishing for a 2016 mini-feature called “UNBECOMING.”

Two full-length feature films which fall outside of competition will be screened at a specially ticketed TFAC event, both Friday and Saturday night, which will include appetizer, wine, beer and guest speakers.

Friday night’s gala event, which includes cocktails and appetizers, leads up to “Harry & Snowman,” a documentary by Writer/Director Ron Davis. It also includes a Q&A session with the film’s executive producer, Karin Reid Offield.

Saturday night’s, full-length feature will be a drama by Chris and Emily Reach White entitled “Get Better,” which embraces the town of Tryon by actually being filmed here.

It was decided to set TFF 2015 further apart from the standard film festival by making the Audience Choice Awards more prominent and visible to local community. A panel discussion with the judges will be presented during the award ceremonies to inform the audience about the process they follow in judging film competition.

All too often film awards are handed down from judgment chambers apart from view of the general audience with little discussion on how category winners are chosen. We wanted to make this decision-making process a bit more transparent to everyone in attendance.

With industry buzz building to impressive levels with even more time to spare, TFF 2015 is expected gain international notoriety.

The Tryon International Film Festival will be a one-of-a-kind festival that will be open to the curious who embrace story development, cinematic magic, with an added creative leap of entrepreneurial faith. Make plans to attend both Oct. 9 and 10.

TFAC will be the sole ticketing venue for TFF 2015 with online links extending to the Polk County Film Initiative’s Facebook page and tryoninternationalfilmfestival2015.com. For additional TFAC box office information, contact Robyn Rosenberg at 828-859-8322, ext. 219 or email at robyn@tryonarts.org.