Most of what I’d learned about the Port Townsend Film Festival in my few short months here has been about its ongoing programming. Credit for that is due largely to The Leader’s Kirk Boxleitner, who as a cinephile writes about movies with zeal — atop his other entertainment coverage.   

Last week I shortened the learning curve when I attended a detailed presentation on the 25th Annual Port Townsend Film Festival.

This year the eclectic festival runs from Sept. 19-22 and virtually from Sept. 23-29. On the schedule are featured 68 films, 16 forum presentations, workshops and panels, and more than 60 film presenters and special guests — including director Catherine Hardwicke and Louie Schwartzberg.

PTFF makes it easy for attendees to create an individualized experience, sorting through its eclectic offerings to see what speaks loudest. But don’t delay in making those choices. As of Wednesday, Aug. 21, they were already at about 80% of net sales from a year ago, thanks to a different marketing strategy. Organizers say there is a good chance PTFF will come close to and perhaps even surpass pre-pandemic highs.

I am already thinking about how to individualize my first PTFF. I’m a longtime production nerd, so I want to attend a lot of the talks. I spent about 10 years writing about the movie industry with focus on below-the-line artistry and business and still enjoy learning about what happens behind the scenes.

“Above the line” is an accounting term that refers to writers, directors, actors and producers. Below the line includes everyone else in the credits: think camera crew, production and costume designers, assistant directors, propmasters, and drivers. The largest collaborative effort happens in prep and during principal photography, while another team comes in, typically, for post production. The director is there for all of it.  

Movies are the only collaborative art form, which seems obvious to say except that as a nation we’re still far more interested in celebrity than process. 

I will resist the urge to digress here, but you can see why I’m excited about attending Hardwicke’s PTFF forum, “Fixing it in Prep.” 

I also hope to attend “The Magic of Special Effects” with Steve Johnson, whose experience includes “American Werewolf in London” (1981) and “Ghostbusters” (1984). You can probably recall the human-wereful conversion and green slime scenes, respectively, if so.

Just as important in these parts are Johnson’s contributions to “Glampire,” a short film that will debut at PTFF. The screenplay for Glampire won the PTFF contest last year and was filmed in Port Townsend in July. It’s guaranteed to be a huge highlight of the festival.   

Hardwicke is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed “Thirteen” (2003) and the box office dynamo “Twilight” (2008). “Twilight,” about a human-vampire relationship, had a $37 million budget and delivered $400 million at the box office. That success helped launch the broader franchise.

”Twilight” is also known for its cinematic beauty. In telling the story, the camera department collected images of the luscious scenery and greenery of the Pacific Northwest that were ultimately infused into the film with the power of a lead character during post production. 

Hardwicke worked on a lot of motion pictures before she became a director. The largest group of her credits are as a production designer, including on “Tombstone” (1993), “Three Kings” (1999), and “Vanilla Sky” (2001).

The production designer is near the top in the hierarchy of a major film production. They work with the director to create the look of a movie, which speaks volumes in the context of “Twilight.”  

Schwartzberg, the other featured guest, is also impressive. He’s an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer known for his developed use of techniques like time-lapse, high-speed and macro cinematography.

Many know him because of “Fantastic Fungi,” which uses staggeringly detailed time lapse footage to tell a convincing story of the power of mushrooms.  

Hardwicke, Johnson and Schwartzberg each brings a lifetime of great work to talk about at the festival, yet they’re just part of it. To get the full picture you have to check it out, and individualize from there, at ptfilm.org.