Producer/Director Koura Linda Hosts Tennessee Women In Film Event in Johnny Cash's Basement

    BON AQUA, TN, November 18, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Storytellers Hideaway Farm & Museum was packed with film & music aficionados, from novice to professional, all come together at the Saylors Brother's Dinner with Dreamers event, hosted by Cindy Cash, daughter of music legend, Johnny Cash.

President of Tennessee Women in Film & Media, Nan Puetz, brought in Producer/Director Koura Linda to host a special film screening and QnA Panel as part of the event, with special guest, Charlene Tilton of the TV show Dallas, moderated by Hummingbird Productions Producer, Karen Espenant. Tickets to the film event benefited the Gary Sinise Foundation for Veterans.

Koura Linda co-owns Space Dream Productions with her producing partner and husband, Spaceship. They have produced over a dozen films in the last 3 years, garnering 49 award nominations at festivals internationally, winning 15 awards total so far. Koura herself was awarded the Mico Award in Las Vegas, NV last August, recognizing her innovation, excellence, and courage in a career in film.

First to screen was a music video for the title song of the latest Highland Kites EP, "Better Off." Produced and styled by Koura Linda, directed and shot by Spaceship, it features lead singer Marissa Lamar under oppressive powers that are controlling her every move. The video artistically brings to life the lyrics of the song, through carefully styled visual designs, subtle VFX, and graceful cinematography. It's been nominated and short listed for "Best Music Video" at several festivals.

Next to screen was Koura's breakout film as a Director/Producer, "Names On The Wall", a powerful short film about two soldiers in the Viet Nam War. Half in Vietnamese and half in English, this period piece telling a story of humanity swept at festivals internationally, taking home multiple awards including "Best Original Score", "Best Actor", "Best Short", "Best Director", and "The Alan Baily Award for Excellence in Filmmaking in a Major Genre".

Finishing was "Sound Off", a 48 Hour Film Project co-directed by Spaceship and Koura, introducing dancer/actress Kellie Kessling. This black and white 7-minute film was created, written, shot, and completed in under 48 hours, including a full dance sequence choreographed by Koura. It tells the story of a young dancer who lost her hearing in an accident, and learns to dance again as a deaf dancer. The film won a special judges award for choreography at the 48 Hour Film Project Orlando in 2018.

An hour-long QnA panel on filmmaking and getting started in the film industry followed, with questions answered by all 3 panelists.

The audience noted the wide range of Koura Linda's work and the vast scope of styles, genres, and topics. In reply, Koura spoke about what inspires her, citing the mission of Space Dream Productions, "To tell stories that need to be told, and creating music that needs to be heard."

Questions following asked about her work with Stunt Coordinator Melissa Tracy on Names on The Wall, the filming locations used, and what it was like working as a husband and wife team.

One mother in the audience asked for advice for her young aspiring director daughter, to which Koura replied "Just get out there and make stuff" and stressed the importance of learning from what you make and always working to grow and get better at what you do.

"Independent filmmaking has become synonymous with unprofessional filmmaking and there's no reason for that," says Koura. As her solution to this, Koura spoke about her free podcast for independent filmmakers, Filmmaking (Actually) where weekly episodes answer basic questions on filmmaking.

Koura's next project, Comic Relief, is a female-led feature film currently in early pre-production, about a children's party entertainer chasing her dreams, while struggling with ever-increasing alcoholism and depression.

Join Tenessee Women in Film & Media here.

Space Dream Films is a part of Space Dream Productions, an independent film and music production company with a focus on telling stories that need to be told, and creating music that needs to be heard.

Since Sept 2016, their projects have so far been accepted to over 40 film festivals all over the world.

They have so far received 49 award nominations and 15 awards, including "Best Director" (awarded to both Koura Linda and Spaceship for their films), "Best Animation," "Best Drama: Short," and "Best Short."

Films produced by Space Dream Films hope to continue to highlight hard-working otherwise unknown or relatively unknown exceptional talent both above and below the line, in front of the camera and behind it.

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