The Social Media Film Festival took place in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 8-9, 2012. The festival showcased films about social media affecting social change. There were films like “The Real Social Network” using Twitter to communicate with each other while avoiding the police while protesting rate hikes on schools in England. “Face-2-Face” involved Emmy Award Winner Katherine Brooks down on her luck. She hadn’t received a physical hug in over a month. So, she decided to reach out to her 5,000 Facebook friends and go on a journey to see them in all 50 states. The closing night film, “Craigslist Joe” was about Joseph Garner’s idea to go cross country supplied only by his laptop, a cellphone, knapsack, toothbrush and the clothes on his back. He wanted to see if he could get from place to place only using Craigslist and the kindness of strangers. The cellphone was only used to meet up with his Craigslist connections. There were many other great films that represented the good and hope and positivity that social media could be.

We had a panel about visual effects moderated by filmmaker, Sean Kinney. After all, the festival was not just about social media and social change, but technology as well. Panelists included Eric Hayden who directed one of the festivals’s films, “The Last Push” about an astronaut’s troubled mission to Jupiter. Other panelists included Patrick Rodriguez, a senior illustrator, pre-visualization Artist and technical director. Additionally, there was Jerry Thompson, a local filmmaker of Las Vegas.

The other panel was called Social Media for Social Change moderated by Sara Gabriella. The discussion was about how social media can influence change for the better. Panelists included Joey Dumont, one of the producers of another festival film, “The Naked Brand.” Dumont also gave the opening keynote about how influential ‘smart’ phones are and how they’ve changed the world. Porter Erisman, director of “Crocodile in the Yangtze” and Ann Oren, director of “InContact” were there physically. And to really mark the occasion of the Social Media Film Festival, we had filmmaker Matthew Pilischer, director of documentary, “Broken On All Sides” Skype into the conversation.

There was an entirely different website associated with the festival, but unfortunately it had been taken down by the host server before Ross H. Martin could update the site or move it to another site. Ross H. Martin was the founder, producer, and festival director of SMFF.

The following is the keynote given by Joey Dumont, Producer of “The Naked Brand.”