The 50 Hour Slam is an annual film competition and festival open to all filmmakers in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area. It’s creators and organizers- Adam Boyd, Adam Harum, Dr. Amanda Cantrell, Brandon Smith, and Tom Dineen - designed the festival as a way to encourage new and emerging independent artists as well as to challenge the more established filmmakers of the region. The filmmakers will have exactly 50 hours to complete a 3 to 6 minute movie; starting from the writing and development process all the way to the final editing stage. The competitors will be encouraged to experiment and push their talents to create a unique and entertaining piece for their entry.
Meet the Organizers
Adam Boyd
One of the original founders of the 50 Hour Slam, Adam Boyd has spent the majority of his career dedicated to visual storytelling. In addition to a decade-long career in feature filmmaking as an assistant director & producer, Boyd was also an active member of the Directors Guild of America, served as the chair of the Spokane Arts Commission, and as the director of the Spokane International Film Festival. He worked as a faculty member in the Film Department at Eastern Washington University, teaching film production, film theory, and screenwriting for nearly 10 years. When he isn’t helping run the 50 Hour Slam, you can find Boyd enjoying a beer and chatting about movies at his brewery and restaurant, Garland Brew Werks.
Adam Harum
Though a recent graduate of Eastern Washington University’s Film Program, Adam Harum has been a filmmaker since the age of nine. Harum currently works freelance, but splits his time between visual effects work for Seattle based Web Series’, editing commercials and a feature length Haiti documentary for Spirit Lake Pictures, and pursuing his own passions through his award winning Web Series “Transolar Galactica”. He also rarely ever sleeps.
Dr. Amanda Cantrell
Dr. Amanda Cantrell brings over 20 years experience in communications for the nonprofit, government, and NGO sector, with a dabbling in the private sector. She is motivated by improving her community, increasing representation, and encouraging engagement for self-advocacy, thus a sector which gives back is really the only for her. She has been lucky to work with some amazing people, leveraging a visionary leadership style, and excited to join the 50 Hour Slam.
Brandon Smith
Brandon is a founding member and co-owner at Vexing Media. Along with an Eastern Washington University Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, he has had over 20 years of experience handling the development, implementation, and maintenance of dozens of websites and databases, including redesign efforts for current and past projects at Vexing Media. Brandon’s passion to learn new technology inspired him to launch Vexing Media as a website development company and experiment with new website building techniques while offering each client a unique and calculated end result.
Tom Dineen
Tom is a founding member of Vexing Media and Director of Interactive Experience. Tom got his start in feature films on set as a PA and worked his way up to the production office on such projects as Z Nation for the SyFy network and most recently True Detective for HBO. In conjunction with his professional film and TV work, between projects he assists with community projects and has spent many years designing and managing their social media campaigns to help raise awareness and in the case of the Spokane International Film Festival, the Spokane Film Project and of course the 50 Hour Slam short film competition, as well as provide video technical services for the presentations of their programs. With experience from the production office to post, he understands how a production works from inside out and applies that knowledge to meet his clients’ needs.
