Craft Brews Of The Columbia Basin Film Competition in Nelson BC

The booming craft beer scene in BC’s Kootenays is thrust in the spotlight by this unique film competition.

The Craft Brews of the Columbia Basin Film Competition profiles local breweries in the East and West Kootenays. Filmmakers, and aspiring filmmakers, are given the opportunity to create their very own ode to their favourite local brewery with a three-minute beer commercial. In addition to the fame and glory on the line, there are financial prizes be awarded for the top three films.

Civic Theatre Manager and Programmer Jason Asbell says, “we want to create a culture of making local films, especially now that production is so much easier. We’re trying to find a happy medium for filmmakers where it’s still fun but also a chance to win some decent money and support the craft beer vibe.”

Asbell credits Big Rock Brewery’s popular Eddie’s film competition as an inspiration, and even worked on a submission years ago while living in Alberta. “This competition is open to everyone from hobbyists to professionals, and based more on ideas and originality than production value.”

Although the breweries benefit from being able to use the new short films for promotional purposes, the bigger pay off is in helping to foster creativity and collaboration among media artists that live in the area. “Part of the Civic Theatre’s mission is to become a media hub in the region; there are lots of people who live here and work remotely, and we hope this event encourages them to connect,” said Asbell.

Although entrants don’t need to reside in the Kootenays, they need to profile a brewery in Rossland, Trail, Nelson, Kaslo, Golden, Revelstoke, Cranbrook, Kimberley or Invermere. A list of participating breweries is available each year.

Here is our entry from the first annual Craft Brews Festival which took home second place. Cheers!