The Butler and the Ball will premiere in Oklahoma at the 2021 Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival in the historic town of Claremore on Route 66. The film has been selected in the Short Film category for ages 14 and under and will screen in the Will Rogers Theater at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Birthplace Ranch on November 4, 2021, at 2:38pm. The film will also be screened online on Festivee from November 1-8, 2021. Each film selected for the festival will also receive the opportunity to air on RSUTV, a regional public television station at Rogers State University. Winners will be announced on Saturday, November 6, at 7pm, at the Dog Irons Awards Ceremony.
The Butler and the Ball, an urban fairy tale about a lonely boy who enters a contest to become the new butler of a grieving, reclusive singer, was directed by eight-year-old Andrew Chan-Possemato, who wrote and produced it with Albert M. Chan. The film previously won Best Young Director – Live Action at Kids Video Connection Children’s Film Festival, Best Kids-Made Film at the San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival, and the Under 10 category at the Prague Youth Film Festival.
The Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival is a program of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Birthplace Ranch and coincides with the 142nd birthday of Oklahoma’s Favorite Son. The festival celebrates motion pictures from a number of different genres and age groups, including showings of films featuring Will Rogers. Claremore was the hometown of Will Rogers, who was the #1 movie star in America in 1934. Claremore was also home to Lynn Riggs, who wrote the play that eventually became the movie, Oklahoma!