Mammoth Film Festival Closes Out Another Successful Year with Top-Tier Talent and Incredible Storytelling (Recap)

“Mammoth still feels like this kind of undiscovered gem, you know? It’s still small, but it’s big,” co-founder Tanner Beard tells Celeb Secrets as to why he chose the town of Mammoth Lakes, CA to house his event. “You’re standing next to some of the most famous people on the planet and it just feels more cozy. It’s not so overdone and overrun where you don’t have access. We all stand shoulder-to-shoulder as filmmakers here at Mammoth, that’s for sure. The town is just a beautiful setting for it.”

 

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Celeb Secrets was one of the select few who scored an invite to attend the event and to no surprise, it did not disappoint. Despite a blizzard and avalanche warning that closed the town and surrounding areas for days, the community that Tanner and Tomik have built over the course of six years spreads nothing but love and support while celebrating the one thing everyone truly loves — the art of telling stories through filmmaking.

Throughout the weekend, we rubbed shoulders with a ton of celebs, including Bella Thorne, Caitlin McHugh and her husband John Stamos, Rachel Bilson, Olivia Allen, Nadine Crocker, Michael Madsen, Derek Waters, Shelley Hennig, Jamie Lee, Thomas Cocquerel, Jeremy Sumpter, Matt Fahey, Cassie Scerbo, Shiloh Fernandez and more. We also had the chance to see some pretty good flicks, including Mushka, We Have Notes, The Invisible Raptor, French Girl starring Vanessa Hudgens, Flycatcher, In The Fire starring Amber Heard, The Fall, Hellride, which was celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, Plan B, FLUXX, and more.

On day four (March 3), the Mammoth Film Festival hosted their Her Voice roundtable discussion during the Mammoth Film Summit Interactive Panels, where actress, director and festival manager Alexandra Chando moderated a panel with Bella Thorne, Shelley Hennig, Nadine Crocker, Olivia Allen and Rachel Bilson to talk about the advancement and achievement of the next generation of female filmmakers in film and television. The panel aims to inspire and create accessibility, outreach, and community through various workshops, summits, content and mentorship opportunities.

Keeping the real reason as to why film festivals exist at the forefront, Tanner says that the event is “made by filmmakers for filmmakers,” which ultimately is the  secret to running something that’s not only been successful, but also see more success as years go by.

“Everybody thinks this thing is run by like a team of 25 people, so hats off to Tomik Mansoori, Alexandra Chando, Theo Dumont, Evan Weisman and Nicole Castro because those are the five department heads that make this work. We’ve got the four wheels and the spare tire there, so we’re ready for a breakdown and we’re always ready to pick ourselves up,” Tanner says.

“That’s the secret. It’s just run by us and all of the people that help us below that — the family tree starts to grow. It’s a film festival made by filmmakers for filmmakers.”

Watch our interviews from the Mammoth Film Festival via the playlist below and let us know if you’re loving them by leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post.