The fourth annual Sun Valley Film Festival begins Wednesday. The five-day event will show off some Hollywood names, including giving a special honor to actor Clint Eastwood. Other big screen elites will make appearances, including actor Bruce Dern and two Academy Award winning screenwriters.
But closer to home, the festival is trying to make Idaho a filmmaker's playground. The non-profit is offering a new award to emerging screenwriters to help increase the Gem State's film industry. The One Potato competition will give $2,500 for the best short screenplay with one stipulation: the resulting project must be shot in Idaho.
Film festival executive director Teddy Grennan says the state is ripe for movie making.
"There's really nothing like Idaho. I've lived out West for 12 years and shot around different locations," Grennan says. "Idaho has so much to offer; it's not just the physical beauty. It's the people. There's a hell of a work ethic in this state."
Grennan says they've received almost 200 screenplays, many of them from Boise and will announce the winner on Thursday. Beyond the screenplay competition, a number of Idaho films will be shown highlighting talent already on display in the state.
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