Looks like a series of changes paid off for this Virginia Film Festival, which ran Thursday to Sunday: Attendance and ticket sales were up by 25 percent, with 23,750 people spending $90,158 on tickets. "The sales figure tops the previous record of $72,138, set in 2006—a year that featured a heavy dose of star power including Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman and Liev Schreiber," reads the release.
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On Monday I wrote about the The First Amendment Writes competition, which celebrates "the creative heights that can only be achieved when artists are free to express themselves on any theme, subject, or idea." This year’s winner in the musical category is Galen Curry, for his track "Oh, Mama," which originally came out on an EP he released in May called Some Perspective and that you can hear below. Congratulations also to Jennifer Raha, who took home the poetry prize for a work entitled "Junior Year."
