The 54th Nashville Film Festival Announces the 2023 Living Reel Partnership Film to Premiere on Opening Night
The female-led project premiers “Today is Someday”, a song written and produced with teens in foster care with local nonprofit Youth Villages and local music publisher Moraine Music Group
Nashville, TN – August 25, 2023 – The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), a week-long celebration of film, music and culture, announced its official “Living Reel” Community Project’s 2023 short documentary will be presented at the opening night of the Film Festival ahead of GLORIA GAYNOR: I WILL SURVIVE on September 28, 2023 at the historic Belcourt Theatre. This marks the 19th year for the Living Reel program, an initiative that brings professional talent together with at-risk-youth in the Nashville area to help the teens learn to work together as a team, while expressing their thoughts and experiences through the art of music and film.
This year, the Nashville Film Festival partnered with Youth Villages, a national leader in children’s mental and behavioral health committed to building strong families with a local chapter in Nashville, and local music publisher Moraine Music Group to give at-risk teen girls in foster care hands-on experience in filmmaking and songwriting.
The program not only documents the process of songwriting but also demonstrates the various aspects of filmmaking and recording in the music and film business in an homage to Music City’s rich musical history. The project consists of after-school hours dedicated to the writing, composing and recording of a song telling the story of the teens’ strengths and struggles with the help of professional musicians and songwriters. This female-driven project serves as a healthy outlet for the teens to express themselves and further explore their strengths in an environment where adversity is celebrated.
This year’s song, “Today is Someday,” is an original piece co-written by Nashville singer-songwriters Shannon LaBrie, Kyshona and Autumn Nicholas and the teens of Youth Villages, also known as the Cool Dinosaurs Never Sleep Band. The official trailer for the Living Reel 2023 song can be found here, and the audio and lyrics can be found here.
With support from Moraine Music Group, Metro Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Memorial Foundation, the program has been able to operate since 2004. For more information, visit www.nashvillefilmfestival.org/living-reel.
About the Nashville Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) is a globally recognized nonprofit organization and cultural event presenting the best in world cinema, American independent films and documentaries by veteran masters, up-and-coming directors, and first-time filmmakers. With Academy Award® qualifying status, the Nashville Film Festival celebrates innovation, music and the many voices of the human spirit through the art of film. Originally founded in 1969, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the first film festivals in the United States and will host its 54th festival from September 28-October 4, 2023. For more information, visit www.nashfilm.org.
About Youth Villages
Youth Villages of Middle Tennessee offers a full continuum of programs to provide mental health support to children and young people who have experienced trauma throughout Middle Tennessee. This year, we will serve more than 7,000 children, young people, and their families through offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dickson, and Nashville.
As a national leader in children’s mental and behavioral health, Youth Villages will bring help and hope to more than 30,000 children, families, and young people across the United States this year. The organization offers a continuum of evidence- and research-based programs, including its two national models: Intercept, which offers intensive in-home services, and LifeSet, which gives former foster youth a good start on a successful adulthood. Youth Villages has been recognized by the U.S. News & World Report and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.youthvillages.org.
About Moraine Music Group
Moraine Music Group and the Blueroom Studios are among Nashville’s leading independent music companies with hits spanning over 25 years across multiple genres with breakthrough hit singles and Grammy winning records. Their songs have been recorded by Chris Stapleton, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, The Chicks, Garth Brooks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Tim McGraw, The Judds and many more. Their new artists can be heard on numerous TV shows and commercials inducing Subaru, Disney, ESPN, Lucifer, Suits, This is Us, NASHVILLE as Moraine continues to develop young talent. For more information, visit www.morainemusic.com.
