HISTORY & MISSION
History & Mission
When co-founders Nancy Dragun and Warren Etheredge first visited Walla Walla—“the city so nice, they named it twice”—they knew they’d found the right home for the festival they had long imagined. After years of attending festivals across the country, they set out to create something different: a celebration of short films that values filmmakers, audiences, and place in equal measure. That vision found its perfect home at the Gesa Power House Theatre.
The spirit of Movie Crush is connected to Warren’s work with the Red Badge Project, started by actor and Air Force veteran Tom Skerritt. As a founding faculty member and primary instructor, Warren teaches storytelling to veterans living with post-traumatic stress through Red Badge’s ongoing workshops in Walla Walla. Time and again, this work demonstrates the transformative power of story. That belief guides Movie Crush today.
We curate movies that resonate, create spaces for meaningful connection, and build a festival rooted in care, curiosity, and craft. There may be thousands of film festivals—but there’s only one Movie Crush. What sets us apart lives in what we call the “Crush Credo.”
The Crush Credo
a consistent curatorial vision
The Movie Crush is the only festival to be programmed by a sole individual. Each year, Warren personally reviews over 2,000 shorts to select only the +/- 100 best. Thus, it is easy to offer guidance to creators whose work has been passed over and to champion those we showcase.
smashing the patriarchy
From the beginning, Nancy instituted the “20% rule,” by which our staff, advisors, and juries must comprise no more than 1 in 5 individuals who identify as “straight white guys.” Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity is baked into the Crush. We actively seek content from creators in underrepresented communities and often waive or discount entry fees. We partner with businesses that are primarily women, LGBTQ+, and/or BIPOC owned. We can’t solve the problem of institutionalized racism, homophobia, and misogyny, but we can work towards a solution.
american filmmaking needs a champion
The Movie Crush only screens “American” shorts — those made by Americans, or attending American film schools, or featuring American content — because we believe in order for the greater film industry to survive, we must focus on work that is generated stateside. Nurturing homegrown talent can have great impact, commercially and creatively.
audience awards are not a popularity contest
The Movie Crush boasts the festival circuit’s only honest Audience Award, determined solely by those individuals who have sat through all 17 hours of programming over the three-day weekend. These dedicated souls, usually numbering around two dozen, have been christened the Iron Ass Jury.
crushfam is forever fam
From Day One, we committed to growing our #CrushFam4Eva, waiving all future entry fees for those who’ve played the Crush, welcoming moviemakers back to Walla Walla with or without projects, compiling the CrushFam-ily photo album (with portraits by renowned photographer Steve Korn), and soon, launching an online venture to keep our moviemakers connected year-round. The Movie Crush is like summer camp for movie makers and movie lovers… minus the mosquitoes and letters from home. Once you’re here, you’re family.
serving those who serve
Proceeds are donated to the Red Badge Project — specifically our Walla Walla cohort — serving veterans by teaching them storytelling skills to combat post-traumatic stress.
a labor of love
The Movie Crush operates not on a shoestring budget, but rather on the aglet of that shoestring. Neither Nancy nor Warren has ever taken a penny from the venture. For nearly a decade, we have operated entirely as a volunteer effort. We couldn’t do this without our dedicated team, many of whom are or have been students of Warren’s, as well as a tiny-but-mighty group of stalwart supporters and community partners.
oh, and about the name…
Yes, the Walla Walla Movie Crush is an allusion to the region’s world-class wine production, and also a reference to our lives as movie lovers — with a particular fondness for compact cinematic gems like the ones that fill our festival.
We trust you’ll fall in love as well.