ADRENALINE
FILM PROJECT
Thank you for another successful Adrenaline Film Project! Stay tuned for updates in 2024 for our 20th AFP!
WHAT MAKES AFP UNIQUE?
ESCAPE YOUR COMFORT ZONE
In the beginning, Mentors assign teams a genre, line of dialogue, and prop that they must incorporate into 3-5 minute original narrative film!
WIN AWARDS + CASH PRIZES
Teams have the opportunity to win four cash prizes for Adrenaline: Jury Selection, Mentor Selection, Audience Award, and Actors Award.
LEARN FROM FILM INDUSTRY MENTORS
Mentors assist teams, all the way from the storyboard to the editing chair!
MORE DETAILS
Teams consist of 3 people.
For High School students to Adults
High School student teams require the addition of an Adult
Considering this is with Light House Studio, we have a professional actor database for you to have on hand. Additionally, you can use your friends and peers as well. There is no max to the amount of actors you have in your film, as long no one from your Adrenaline Team is an actor.
The creation process from start to finish and screening will take place at Light House Studio located at the Vinegar Hill Theatre 220 W. Market Street, Charlottesville, VA.
View the official rules here
PAST WORK
Check out what other teams have done in past AFP competitions!
MEET YOUR AFP MENTORS
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Steve Robillard
Director/Writer/Emmy Award Winning Producer
Having lived on a crab boat, run the Iditarod dogsled race, and directed a film about the first person to ski down K2 — producer, writer, and director Steve Robillard has made a career serving as a bridge between fiction and non-fiction. His critically acclaimed collaborations include IDA Award nominated THE CONFESSION TAPES (Netflix), MUNCHIES (Vice Media), STORAGE WARS (A&E), and PGA nominated DEADLIEST CATCH (Discovery) for which he won an EMMY and PGA award in 2012. A Philadelphia native and University of Virginia alumnus, Robillard has developed and overseen a variety of projects for Discovery, History, A&E, Animal Planet, Facebook, Netflix, MTV, Syfy, BBC, Channel 4, and NBC. After serving as development executive at Fremantle UK’s Boundless and SVP of programming and development at Original Productions, Robillard ventured into feature films — producing IFC FIlms’s OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES (Tribeca 2020, Hotdocs 2020) and co-directing the feature film THE IMPOSSIBLE DESCENT (Banff 2020) for Red Bull Media House. Robillard is currently writing on a forthcoming LGBTQ+ murder-mystery for Netflix.
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Han West
Founder & Principal Producer of Meridian Content
Han West is the founder and principal producer of Meridian Content, a production company based in Los Angeles and New York, and the Executive Vice President of Production at Washington Square Films. His feature film producing credits include Lemon, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures. The film was written and directed by Janicza Bravo (Zola) and stars Brett Gelman, Michael Cera, Judy Greer, and Nia Long. The same year he also produced Oh Lucy!, which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week section and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. The film was written and directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi and stars Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett. Most recently, Han produced the Universal Pictures production of Good on Paper, written by and starring Iliza Shlesinger, directed by Kimmy Gatewood (GLOW, Girls 5Eva) and released by Netflix in June 2021. In the commercials sector, his client list includes Mercedes Benz, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Nestle, and L’Oreal to name a few. Han is a member of the Producers Guild of America, has an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and a BA in Media Studies from U.Va. ('07). He is also an adjunct professor at Tisch for independent film producing. He and his wife, Dr. Sarah Myers West (U.Va Media Studies '08), were married in Charlottesville at Keswick Vineyards in 2014.
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Rachel Lane
Program Director at Light House Studio
As Program Director at Light House Studio, Rachel Lane supports emerging filmmakers in the Charlottesville community. Her background in studio art, film production and teaching has provided her opportunities to connect and grow with others through storytelling. Lane earned her BA in studio art from the University of Virginia, where she concentrated her art practice in cinematography and new media. She received her MFA in film, video, animation and new genres from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lane had the opportunity to teach film production courses at UW-Milwaukee and the University of Virginia before joining the Light House Studio team.
Meet AFP Founder
Jeff Wadlow
DGA award nominee Jeff Wadlow is currently developing a feature film adaptation of the book Van Halen Rising, chronicling the formation of the seminal rock band, while also finishing up as director/executive producer on Netflix’s forthcoming The Curse of Bridge Hollow, starring Marlon Wayans (White Chicks) which will debut globally on October 21st. Before that he had two feature films in theaters at the same time: Bloodshot, the big screen adaptation of the critically acclaimed comic book that he developed and wrote for Sony/Columbia Pictures staring Vin Diesel; and Fantasy Island, the re-imagining of the classic TV show that Jeff directed, wrote, and produced for Jason Blum (Get Out). That film followed his first collaboration with Blum, the original theatrical feature, Truth or Dare (Universal Studios), which grossed approximately 100 million in theaters from a budget of just 3.5. Before that Jeff wrote and directed True Memoirs of an International Assassin, staring Kevin James and Andy Garcia, a film that was at the forefront of Netflix’s expansion into original features, while his preceding writing/directing effort, Kick Ass 2, was named one of the ten best films of the year by Quentin Tarantino, who stated it demonstrated a “real auteur approach.”
A graduate of Dartmouth College, Jeff received his Masters degree from the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC where he conceived and directed his thesis film, tHE tOWeR oF BabBLe, winning more than a dozen awards before taking the top prize in the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival. Jeff used the million-dollar grant to make his first feature, Cry_Wolf, which was shot in Virginia and released by Universal Studios. His next feature, the action/drama Never Back Down, starring two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou, beat out big-budget competition to win “Best Fight” at the MTV Movie Awards, kicking-off an MMA franchise with three sequels and counting. Jeff also developed and executive produced the worldwide hit, Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, as well as selling multiple pitches to CBS, NBC, and ABC for original TV shows, with two of them going to pilot. Jeff collaborated with Cartlon Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (The Morning Show) to help launch the Emmy-nominated series, Bates Motel, and then re-teamed with Cuse as a writer and Co-EP on the final season of The Strain, co-created by Guillermo Del Toro. In addition to directing/executive producing the star-studded second season of the action-comedy, Ryan Hansen Solves Crime on Television, (Jane Lynch, Stephen Merchant, Rob Cordry, and more), Jeff has also directed such beloved actors as Vanessa Williams, Danny DeVito, and Meryl Streep in award-winning short subjects. Last year he served as the director/executive producer of the re-boot of the classic 90’s TV show, Are You Afraid of the Dark? For Paramount/Nickelodeon, receiving a DGA award nomination for the finale.
Since 2004, Jeff has returned to his hometown to lead The Adrenaline Film Project, a program he founded to help filmmakers of all ages, write, shoot, and screen a short film in the Virginia Film Festival in just 72 hours. Through the Adrenaline Film Project, Jeff has helped produce more than two hundred short films, personally mentoring over six hundred aspiring filmmakers.
SPONSORSHIP
HOW CAN I SUPPORT FILMMAKERS?
With your support, we’re able to grow not only as a competition, but as an experience for new skills to flourish! In 2023, we’re ecstatic to take on more talented filmmakers and mentors with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, and bring forward awards and cash prizes to help jump start filmmaking careers.
We have six levels of Sponsorship, with each one being unique to how you can support local artists!
BIG THANK YOU
TO OUR 2023 CORPORATE SPONSORS
BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company that was founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. Blumhouse is known mainly for producing horror films, such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Split, Get Out, Happy Death Day, Halloween, Us and The Invisible Man.
Blumhouse is unique with how they produce. Movies part of a series titled “Welcome to the Blumhouse,” will share a common theme, that tap into our deepest fears and explore the darkness within.
VIRGINIA FILM OFFICE
The Virginia Film Office (VFO) is dedicated to the art and business of filmmaking. They connect clients with amazing locations, resources and creative solutions for projects of all types and sizes. From the infancy of an idea, to the emotional goodbye at the wrap party—they are your production partner throughout the entire process. The VFO is proud to be recognized as one of the most knowledgeable, effective and helpful film commissions, worldwide.
VIrginia Film Office’s filmography is vast and incredible. The background photo is a behind-the-scenes take from the film Captain Phillips, which was created in Virginia.