{"id":926,"date":"2024-12-09T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T06:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=926"},"modified":"2024-12-06T19:57:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T19:57:04","slug":"marshall-alums-film-wins-best-narrative-feature-at-montana-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2024\/12\/09\/marshall-alums-film-wins-best-narrative-feature-at-montana-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshall alum\u2019s film wins best narrative feature at Montana festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marshall University graduate Jad Adkins is celebrating a major milestone in his creative career. The film Battersea (2024), which he co-wrote, took home the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Montana International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\"Battersea<\/p>\n

The story follows siblings Lou and Les, who reunite in their small hometown after the passing of their mother. As they work to sell their family home, the two grapple with old dynamics and contrasting worldviews developed over 15 years apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible honor to be included on the list of festival winners,\u201d Adkins said. \u201cIt\u2019s also surreal \u2014 real fever-dream stuff \u2014 to not only be finally pushing Battersea out into the world, but also to see it resonating with audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adkins credits Marshall University\u2019s English department with shaping his creative journey. As an undergraduate in 2009, he discovered his passion for storytelling in a creative writing workshop led by English Professor Rachael Peckham.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no writing success I could achieve that I would not be able to trace back to the Marshall English department,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no writing success I could achieve that I would not be able to trace back to the Marshall English department.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Jad Adkins<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Peckham remembers Adkins as a unique talent from the moment he joined her class.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only was his craft exceptional \u2014 he\u2019s a beautiful prose stylist and poet \u2014 but he had a way of seeing and thinking that was more sophisticated and mature than I\u2019d expect from a person in his early 20s,\u201d Peckham said. \u201cHe isn\u2019t the kind of writer who will ever be content working in one medium. He is fearless in his creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Marshall, Adkins earned an MFA in creative nonfiction from Georgia College and shortly after, began working at UNC Press, in the editorial department.<\/p>\n

Adkins\u2019 journey to filmmaking began after completing his master\u2019s program. Burnt out on essays, he dreamed of shooting a movie at his grandparents\u2019 house and pitched the idea to his friend and co-writer, T.J. Sandella. Together, they brought Battersea to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of this film has been around for the last 10 years, and it\u2019s been my sole focus for at least the last five,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could never really get my head around writing fiction \u2014 I always gravitated to creative nonfiction \u2014 but I loved writing dialogue, crafting conversations,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n

When they decided to create the film, Adkins quit his editorial job and began working at a brewery in Durham so that he could focus all his creativity on the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed a punch-in, punch-out job that didn\u2019t siphon any of my creative energy because I needed every ounce for the film,\u201d Adkins said. \u201cWe created this thing from scratch, with no real filmmaking experience or connections, so we had to pour everything we had into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWe created this thing from scratch, with no real filmmaking experience or connections, so we had to pour everything we had into it.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Jad Adkins<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Adkins wasn\u2019t the only Marshall alum involved in the project. Fellow graduate Chris Miller composed the film\u2019s score. Adkins praised Miller\u2019s musical talent, calling him a \u201cbrilliant\u201d addition to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis film would not have been possible without the love and support of so many friends and family, many of them from Huntington and the Marshall community,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n

Next, Adkins and his team will take Battersea to the Anchorage International Film Festival in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big festival and a great opportunity to meet both established and fellow first-time filmmakers,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n

Creating this film from nothing is what Adkins and Sandella say they are most proud of accomplishing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re writers first,\u201d Adkins said. \u201cThe screenplay was our only currency. That, and our (probably unhealthy) work ethic \u2014 our commitment to getting it right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat we were able to recruit the team we recruited \u2014 the actors, the crew, who are real pros who shared our standard and vision \u2014 is still incredible to me. Not just that we were able to make a film together, but that we were able to make a film that exceeded even our own expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next, Adkins said he and Sandella are finally able to entertain the idea of a second film.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re only just now able to entertain the idea of a second film, because of how all-consuming Battersea has been for so long. We\u2019re definitely planning to work on another feature, if given the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about Battersea, visit www.batterseafilm.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall University graduate Jad Adkins is celebrating a major milestone in his creative career. The film Battersea (2024), which he co-wrote, took home the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Montana International Film Festival. The story follows siblings Lou and Les, who reunite in their small hometown after the passing of their mother. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":932,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}