HUNTINGTON -- We're in the heart of the summer movie season, and there is lots of filming and news happening on the regional filmmaking scene as well.

The Herald-Dispatch reported a couple weeks ago that Huntington native indie filmmaker, Kim Spurlock, who attends the film school at New York University, was in the running for Best Narrative Film for her film, "Down in Number 5," at the 2010 Student Academy Awards.

Spurlock, whose film was shown at this year's Appalachian Film Festival, was one of 13 students from 10 U.S. colleges and universities that had been named winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 37th Annual Student Academy Awards competition.

Spurlock came home with a Silver Medal Award and $3,000 for placing second with her film during the June 12, ceremony at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Spurlock's film, which won first place People's Choice in the short film category at this year's Appalachian Film Festival, follows a terminally ill coal miner as he struggles to find refuge for his developmentally disabled son. It was filmed in Huntington and Milton.

You can find out more info, at www.kimspurlock.com.

Goalllllllll, CVB wins Award

Since Tyson Compton has gotten the reins of the Cabell-Huntington Convention & Visitors Bureau, the CVB has jumped into promoting the area through short videos shot by Huntington-based Trifecta Productions.

Trifecta and the CVB just won a Telly Award for Outstanding Online Video in the Travel/Tourism category. The award winning "Soccer Welcome Video" served to orient visitors for the 2009 US Youth Soccer Region 1 Tournament, which brought approximately 16,000 people to the Barboursville and Greater Huntington area.

The Telly Awards receive nearly 14,000 entries from the world's finest production companies, ad agencies, TV stations, cable companies, corporations and interactive agencies.

You can go online at www.wvvisit.org to see the new 2010 Soccer Welcome Video, also produced by Trifecta.

National Win for Huntington Public Access

Another national video award winner can also be found in downtown Huntington as Richard Bartram, who for the past five years has been the volunteer programmer for Huntington Public Access (Channel 20), received word that his compilation of short films called, "Twaddle," has won in its category in the Alliance for Community Media's "Hometown Video Awards."

"Twaddle" is Bartram's original production featuring a fun hodge podge of animation, short films, local historical features and segments on local artists. One segment is a darkly humorous look at the funeral industry while another piece features a three-minute film that pans a near 360 degree view of 1910 Huntington from atop the Chafin Building.

"Twaddle," which also features a short documentary on Dave Trippin' and Bartram's own trip to the Palace of Gold, was one of 1,300 entries. It won in the category of "Magazine Shows: Non-Professional."

You can see Bartram's programming on Huntington Public Access Television daily at 8 to 10 p.m. with repeats from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

For more information regarding Huntington Public Access Television, go online at http://cinemystique.home.zoomnet.net.

You can go online at www.alliancecm.org/hometownwinners and see all the winners from around the U.S.

An Explosion of Cool Music And A Movie

Believe it or not, the Billy Bob's Wonderland in Barboursville is one of only four places in the country where you can still see the animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion, the subject of a new documentary film, "The Rock-afire Explosion," that has been making the film festival circuit and that is now released on DVD.

Created for Showbiz Pizzas, Rock-afire Explosions once performed at more than 200 Showbiz Pizzas before the chain declined.

The documentary traces the meteoric rise of the chain and its wild and furry rock band, its decline, and then the resurrection of the Rock-afire Explosion by super fan Chris Trash, of Alabama, where he bought and now programs a band at a pizza place there.

You can find out more about this rock band journey online at www.rockafiremovie.com.

Edelweiss, Edelweiss ...

There are lots of movie events associated with the 2010 FestivALL Charleston, the 10-day arts buffet that started Friday and runs through Sunday, June 27 in downtown Charleston.

One of the cooler ones for classic movie fans is a sing-along for "The Sound of Music," that starts at 7 p.m. Friday, June 25 at the WVSU Capitol Center Theatre, 123 Summers St., Charleston. The movie will be shown uncut, and the audience is invited to become a part of it. Bring the kids and come dressed as your favorite characters, or as anything that the movie suggests to you, and be ready to sing with Von Trapps and make your comments heard. Climb every mountain and ford every stream in a family friendly spirit of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Film Premiere In the Library

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, the Cabell County Public Library, 455 9th St., will host a premiere of the "Escribitionist," a new feature-length dramatic comedy from local writer and director David Smith. The film is a bout a blogger who's obsession with writing about everything that happens in his life causes him to lose his job. "Escribitionist" is the first feature film from Apartment 2B Productions, a brand founded by Smith and his wife Molly Tilly. Tilly served as an executive producer and assistant director on "Escribitionist."

The film was shot with local actors in Huntington and features the music of Carter County, Ky., native and nationally traveling Americana artist, Sasha Colette.

The Herald-Dispatch

Created for Showbiz Pizzas, Rock-afire Explosions once performed at more than 200 Showbiz Pizzas before the chain declined.

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