Industry Expert to Boost Hot Springs Short Film Program

As Hot Springs organizations continue to build the city into Arkansas’ film hub, an industry expert boosts the Inception to Projection filmmaking course by Low Key Arts. With roots in Arkansas, Mark Thiedeman, who lived and worked in New York for a decade, has returned to the south to pursue his own projects and has joined on as the newest instructor of the program.

“I have tremendous admiration for the great work Jen and the team at Low Key Arts have been doing to uplift, encourage, and support filmmaking talent here in Arkansas, and I’m excited and honored to be a part of Inception to Projection this year,” he said. “I’m always amazed by the unique stories that come from artists in our home state, and I can’t wait to meet this year’s filmmakers and help to bring their vision to the screen.”

Before signing on to instruct, he returned to the south to direct his first micro-budget feature, “Last Summer,” which was hailed as “a masterpiece” by Filmmaker Magazine and was released domestically and internationally on various platforms after receiving enthusiastic reviews from The Hollywood Reporter, LA Weekly, indieWIRE and others. He studied at New York University and now teaches in the film program at the University of Central Arkansas.

“Last Summer” (feature film, streamed on all major platforms)

His most recent film, showcased as part of the Southern Documentary Fund’s Fresh Docs series at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, is an episodic documentary called “Kevin.” It highlights works-in-progress by new filmmakers and will be released this year. His latest short film, “Alley Cat,” will also premiere later this year having just completed post-production.

“Our Inception to Projection filmmaking program is growing like wildfire and this summer we are offering our widest selection of classes and career opportunities to date,” said Jen Gerber, film project manager at Low Key Arts via email. “None of this would be possible without expanding our team and we are thrilled to welcome Mark Thiedeman to our I2P family. I’m elated that our students will have the chance to study with such a talented and respected filmmaker and I can’t wait to see what they create through his mentorship.”

Four years ago, Low Key Arts started Inception to Projection to educate and promote local filmmakers. I2P traditionally is a six-week intensive class open to all ages. Each student writes, directs and produces an original short film. At the end of the course, the participants’ films will be screened at the 2025 Persistence of Vision Film Festival, recently renamed from Arkansas Short Film Festival, from Jan. 3 through Jan. 5.

“Alley Cat,” which just completed post-production

Each film will run about five minutes. Classes will be taught virtually on Zoom and in person in the Low Key Arts Digital Arts Studio in downtown Hot Springs.

The course costs $400, but a limited number of needs-based scholarships are available. All equipment, crew, instruction and food are provided by the fee. According to a press release by LKA, no prior experience is required for the class “designed to challenge filmmakers of all levels.”

The course runs from June 4 to July 14 with classes held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom. In-person production weekend is slated from July 6 to July 7 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Editing takes place in-person July 10 through July 14 with varying times.

“Sacred Hearts Holy Souls” (2014 winner, Best Film Made in Arkansas, Little Rock Film Festival)

The program is split into two types of lectures: screenwriting and production. Screenwriting lectures focus on learning the fundamentals of writing for the screen, pitching, outlines, treatments, notecards and screenplay pages. Students will prepare a short film script then learn how to produce it into a film. Production Lecture classes are spent learning filmmaking fundamentals such as directing, producing, casting, cinematography and editing. Participants will work on small crews for one another, giving each filmmaker an opportunity to practice production roles such as cinematographer, producer, first assistant director, sound recorder or production designer, in addition to writing and directing their own work.

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