907 to 90210: Alaskan filmmakers on the big screen at Beverly Hills Film Festival
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - From the backdrop of the Chugach to the Santa Monica Mountains adorned by the legendary Hollywood sign, a pair of Alaskan filmmakers hit the big screen in the City of Angels.
Alaskan-based directors Bradford Jackson and Steven Cornfield traveled to the megalopolis of Los Angeles for the 25th Annual Beverly Hills Film Festival, but not just for a breakup-season vacation to a warmer clime. Both Jackson and Cornfield screened their Alaskan-made films in the “Entertainment Capital of the World.”
“It has been a journey, a very big learning experience,” Cornfield said. “And honestly, one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Held in the first week of April, the festival screens carefully selected films from around the world at the world-famous Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard in L.A.
Cornfield is showing his short film “Allergic to Love” which he filmed in Anchorage with an Alaskan cast and crew over the course of three days.
The film follows the comedic tale of Calvin, who is quite literally allergic to love, along with the trouble and the hilarity that ensues. Cornfield said the premise is one his brother came up with over a decade ago, and seeing it come to fruition on set was both rewarding and surreal.
“I’m standing by the monitor, and I’m watching these people say what I wrote two years prior,” Cornfield said. “And it was just a weird, humbling experience, and I would just like overwhelmed with gratitude and I looked around and it’s just like everybody here wants this to be the best that it can.”
After creating the film, Cornfield submitted it to a laundry list of festivals, beginning with the hometown, Anchorage Film Festival, but never imagined it would end up where it is today.
“I was like, listen, I’m going to submit it, if I don’t get in, that’s fine. If I do get in, that would be amazing. And we we’ve been very, very fortunate to get into several film festivals,” he said.
The weekend prior to the Beverly Hills festival, Cornfield and his crew were in the Midwest to screen the short at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
“It’s kind of crazy that I’m like, OK, wow, this is wild that Alaska’s getting on the map,” Cornfield said. “You know, we have an amazing community of filmmakers in Alaska that I’m so stoked to be a part of.”
Amongst that community is Jackson, also making the trip to La-La-Land to show his short film “Contra.” A nostalgic, action-packed ode to gritty, over-the-top commando movies, one that Chuck Norris would fit right in as a cast member.
While it plays on a number of different clichés, that’s part of what makes it endearing.
“I really wanna give a homage to the 80s,” Jackson said. “But at the same time, I really wanted to dive into something to do something, action-packed, but no politics, no agendas. Just my own agenda. Good. Hold hard. Fun, popcorn-eating theater fun.”
Justin Stewart plays one of the two main leads in Contra, which are the characters in the beloved ‘80s side-scrolling video game of the same name.
“I mean, it was just a dream playing this character,” Stewart said. “I love playing any kind of character that’s like over the top. He just doesn’t think about what stands before him, what stood behind him; he just keeps going. He sees targets moving and shoots.”
Jackson, who serves in the Army National Guard, actually called up a number of his fellow infantrymen to play extras in the film, which they shot over three weeks in and around Anchorage.
“Of course, we decided to shoot it like July 4th weekend, and so everyone’s there, and they’re all like, ‘Oh awesome!’ you know,” Jackson said. “And you got this whole crowd of people cracking open beers and just watching you kill all these bad guys up above you. It was hilarious.”
Jackson is a veteran filmmaker who helps run the local non-profit Film Rant, whose mission is “elevating the art and craft of filmmaking in Alaska.” Getting exposure at a film festival like Beverly Hills is just one of the ways of doing that.
“They get to know you, they see your film, they see your work, then they go, ‘Oh, that guy, you know, Justin was in that movie, and he’s in Alaska. Well, they do some good work in Alaska,‘” Jackson said. “And they keep putting those three together. So eventually you’re going meet a producer that goes, I want to make another movie in Alaska”
Though, Jackson said the more important aspect of his work is training and educating Alaskan filmmakers, especially kids.
“The best thing that we can do right now with what we have is training, educating and getting out there and teaching these kids how to elevate the quality of Alaska filmmaking,” Jackson said.
After this, Jackson hopes to one day move on to feature length and telling Alaskan stories.
“The only reason I make one feature film is to tell that story so I can move on to the next story and then move on to the next story,” Jackson said. “That’s all it is about. If by some chance the work that I’m doing makes me famous, OK so be it, but I’m not going to get famous in L.A. I want to get famous in Alaska.”
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.
