Author: Mark Shaffer

The Beaufort International Film Festival Celebrates a Milestone – A Look Back With Executive Director Ron Tucker Interview by Mark Shaffer Last year more than 70 filmmakers – writers, producers, directors, editors, cinematographers and actors – traveled to Beaufort in support of their selected projects. A whole bunch more simply showed up to see what all the buzz was about. Familiar faces mingle with the rookies, friendships are rekindled, partnerships are formed, and the post-screening pub-crawls pass into legend.

Former U. S. Army Chaplain and Writer/Producer/Director Justin D. Roberts will be presented the Santini Patriot Spirit Award at the 10th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival, happening February 10 – 14. The award will be presented for his film “No Greater Love,” during the festival awards ceremony on Saturday, February 13.

The 2015 feature film Gallows Road by Little Faith Pictures has roots in the Lowcountry. The movie scriptwriter is Sun City resident Grace McAdams along with her son, Bill McAdams, who also directed and starred in the drama. Bill McAdams has a supporting actor role as does his sister, Mary Jean Bentley, Gallows Road producer.

An encore presentation of a conversation with bestselling author Pat Conroy about his work from the page to the screen Story and Photos by Mark Shaffer October 29th the ‘Pat Conroy at 70 Literary Festival’ kicks off with a special screening of The Great Santini at the USCB Center for the Arts. The film was a cinematic landmark for South Carolina: the first major motion picture to shoot in Beaufort, the first of several Conroy adaptations, and the movie that put the state – and the Lowcountry – on Hollywood’s hot sheet. I’m set to moderate a post-screening panel with the author and some of the film’s stars, including Michael O’Keefe and David Keith. (Keith was also in The Lords of Discipline.) This is familiar ground and territory I never tire of covering.