Trailer Wars 50: The Final Preview
It’s no secret that the community of Bellingham loves to be entertained. From stand-up comedy to punk rock shows and everything in between, there’s nothing quite like a night out in downtown Bellingham. For over seven years now, the community-driven event known as Trailer Wars has graced local movie screens in Bellingham with faux trailers for movies that do not actually exist.
This Wednesday, June 22nd at 9pm, the 50th and final Trailer Wars event will take place at the Pickford Film Center. As always, local cinema lovers will pack into the theater to watch these “movie trailers” created by both long time veterans of the event and first timers alike and vote on their favorite. Tickets for Trailer Wars 50 are available online – click here.
The first edition of Trailer Wars took place on April 4th, 2009 when several friends made fake zombie movie trailers, set up a projector in a living room, and coerced a handful of people into attending. The theme of “Action Movies” was chosen by the voted upon winner and the following screening saw an uptick in entries and attendance. As the events continued to grow, participation with little film experience, no money and the lowest level of equipment was encouraged.
Emphasizing the fun and creativity of guerrilla film by holding events that were open to all, without any submission obstacles or fees, Trailer Wars began to draw in a community of creative minds and audience members intrigued by the unfiltered nature of the events. By the fifth edition, the following had grown enough that it was no longer feasible to house the Trailer Wars experience in the living rooms of Bellingham.
The Pickford Cinema allowed Trailer Wars into its hallowed walls for its sixth installment themed Scary Movies. It was the first public edition of Trailer Wars and the theater was packed beyond capacity. This remained the singular home of TW for some time, including special screenings as part of the NW Projections film festival in 2010 and 2011. Events have also been held at the Old Foundry and the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention as well.
the Pickford Film Center has since hosted Trailer Wars, showcasing a variety of locally made fare every couple months. Entries have ranged from the intentionally to unintentionally hilarious, with works of great artistic passion and simply thrown together oddities alike, made by a combination of Trailer Wars-lifers and one time entrants. Through it all Trailer Wars has been open to all as a wonderful creative outlet and fun opportunity for people to come together and show them all silly videos in the name of entertainment!
Don’t forget! Trailer Wars 50 is the last Trailer Wars event EVER! But, there is still time to enter your trailer into the archives of Trailer War history. For more information on the event or how to enter, visit the Trailer Wars FAQ and How to Enter pages. To catch up on previous entries, check out the Past Entries page.
