Maddie Williams: On the road to Cannes

August 13, 2018

ClemsonGC graduate, Maddie Williams, screens her film “136” at Cannes Film Festival in 2018.

Written by Maddie Williams, class of 2018

A serendipitous encounter with a unique Clemson fan named Bryson Carter led to the once in a lifetime opportunity of screening my short film at the Cannes Film Festival this May. Bryson’s courage and determination after losing his eyesight and still attending 136 consecutive football games struck a chord with me, and I knew his story had to be told.

During my time as a student at Clemson, Dr. Erica Walker, along with many other GC professors, made a point to partner with industry professionals to bring their expertise into the classroom. In the Digital Media Design course, Jeff Kallin, Assoc. Director of Creative Media for Clemson Athletics, brought his creativity and passion into the classroom. His efforts to engage and inspire students paired with Dr. Walker’s initiative to diversify GC offerings made this class a turning point for me and I knew I wanted to explore the creative side of film production as my career.

“136” tells the story of Clemson fan, Bryson Carter. Written, directed, and produced by Maddie Williams. Click to watch the video on the Campus MovieFest Youtube channel.

Campus Movie Fest, the largest student film festival in the world, made it’s debut at Clemson during my semester with Mr. Kalin. One of our ongoing assignments was to promote the event on campus and encourage students to participate. Students had one week to produce a film about anything they chose, with a running time no longer than five minutes. Bryson’s story immediately came to mind and CMF provided the perfect opportunity to share it. The story hit home with Clemson’s panel of judges and the film advanced to the national competition. Nearly six months later I received an email from CMF informing me that my film ‘136’ had been selected to screen at the most prestigious film festival in the world. The decision to miss my college graduation in order to attend the Cannes Film Festival required no hesitation. It felt like the culmination of my college experience. It was the next step in making everything I learned in school and campus internships translate to a post-college career.

Campus MovieFest stickers designed by Jeff Kallin’s Digital Media Design class to promote CMF

Upon arriving in the French Riviera, I met twenty five other student filmmakers who were excited to experience Cannes for the first time. It didn’t take long to realize that Cannes is much more than glamour, movie stars and the silver screen. It’s about marketing, buying and selling films, and the opportunity for international filmmakers to showcase their films. In essence, it’s about the business of filmmaking. It’s not as simple as having a quality cast, a compelling story, and a superior production. For a film to become successful in the marketplace it must be funded and properly positioned in order to reach its intended audience. The Cannes Film Festival exposed me to a broader understanding of what it takes to move a story from an initial concept to a complete production.

I’ll be forever grateful for how my Graphic Communications major under the umbrella of the Business School at Clemson has prepared me for my next adventure in filmmaking.