SAG-AFTRA Nashville Local Connects With Local Film Community

SAG-AFTRA Nashville Local members got involved in various film festivals across the Tennessee and Kentucky regions in 2024, participating in panels, discussions and film screenings.

Nashville kicked off the season in October, visiting the 2024 Louisville’s International Festival of Film. Members got to mingle and show what they’re all about during the opening night party, which featured SAG-AFTRA Nevada Local member and Louisville magician Lance Burton and the premiere of his film Billy Topit Master Magician.

Next, Local President Carla Christina Contreras and other local members attended the International Black Film Festival, which took place Oct. 2–6 in Nashville. Contreras sat on the industry panel The Power of Women Storytellers: Unfinished Business in Film & TV on Oct. 4. The opportunity put her amid Nashville industry heavy hitters, who all gave powerful testimonies on their journey as women in film.  

Contreras and Nashville Local Board member Mike Montgomery closed out the year at the Tennessee International Indie Film Festival in November, hosting a panel featuring SAG-AFTRA, Film-Com and Script-Com members.

Photo: Nashville Local President Carla Christina Contreras, center, with, from left, Memphis and Shelby County Film Commissioner Linn Sitler, film producer Meleisha Edwards, television producer Chhaya Néné, International Black Film Festival Founder Hazel Joyner-Smith and film producer and Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies Director, Media and Communications Iman Shervington.