By Frankie Stein
The arts are often seen as a solo endeavor, an activity in which a single person is left to strive to bring their singular vision to life. While it’s true for some, the best art can oftentimes come from collaboration, and nowhere is the spirit of teamwork more evident than the Lonely Wolf International Film Festival London.
Lonely Wolf is a festival that prides itself on its “wolfpack” community spirit, which it has built up through online buzz and regularly engaging with indie filmmakers from around the world. Adrian Perez, the CEO and founder of Lonely Wolf, has forged the brand on not only giving filmmakers a platform to tell the stories that are near and dear to their heart, but teaching them how to hone their craft and master the arenas in which they want to enter.
Perez, a filmmaker himself, has noted that other festivals can be hard on contestants who fail to make enormous waves or whose film slips through the cracks. He sought to create a festival that gave each person a positive experience, regardless of their status in competition. Lonely Wolf has also proven to be a trailblazer in the growing industry of virtual film festivals, especially after the impact of the 2020 pandemic.
The festival is proud to welcome a record-high number of submissions for any one single trimmestral virtual event so far, with 737 total audiovisual projects in competition. The submissions have been critically deconstructed and reviewed in just four months by a global jury team, digitally led by Adrian Perez, former manager of regional marketing communications and asset management for the Disney Channels EMEA/UK and The Walt Disney Company.
“[Lonely Wolf] has preoccupied itself with organizing THE virtual experience of ALL film festival experiences”, Perez stated on the website. “The best one, an unforgettable one, one to want to come back to, one that inspires you, that motivates you, that literally makes you feel as though your film’s in the running for an Academy Award or a BAFTA!”
Best Screenplays (Written/Unproduced)
SERIAL (USA) · Robert Benjamin
THE COMBINE S1.E1 ‘Metamorphosis’ (USA) · Cole Dilts
BLACK OCEAN (USA) · Francesca Florentyna O’Hop
MAKE A WISH (UK) · Robyn Pete
AMY AND ANGEL (USA) · Julia Verdin, Deedee Benkovich
RESET BUTTON (USA) · Paul Root