Film Festivals are a great way to get involved in the local artistic community. They are not only a great outlet of exposure to talent, they are also a great way to network within the industry. This year I had the pleasure of attending The Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival. TBUFF is an annual event and is one of many in the area that gives local filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work and offers a large number of awards for films submitted. The Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival was held December 3 through December 6at Britton 8 Movie Theater this year. The film festival celebrates and supports filmmakers both local and around the world.

The festival’s purpose was to give the filmmakers, cast and crew the opportunity to watch their film on the big screen. There were a variety of genres at the festival this year. A short list includes drama, comedy, crime, adventure, romance, children’s and animation. Filmmakers came from as close as Tampa and as far away as Scotland.

The support for local filmmakers is high in Tampa Bay, which is home to a large number of other film festivals including the Gasparilla Film Festival, India International and more. Many filmmakers take advantage of submitting their films to more than one festival, giving the public the opportunity to watch their films multiple times.

Attending a Tampa film festival is something that no Bay area resident should miss. "There is so much creativity around here," director and a writer of "Reset," Domonic Smith, said. "A lot of people always complain about Hollywood regurgitating everything right now, that's why you should support local and indie filmmaking. If you want a taste of something that is not being sugarcoated or washed out by big producers. It's very raw."

"I think it is important for everybody to support [local filmmakers]," said David Melendez, producer of "Mombie" and "Rat Catching." "It just brings people together and it helps local business." Melendez has been featured in a number of film festivals, including the Gasparilla Film Festival earlier this year.

The highlight of the festival was the awards ceremony and the winners took home a “Buffy” award. Categories spanned from Best Florida Film, Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Musical Score and Best Documentary. The festival’s biggest winner was Domonic Smith and his film Reset that had a total of seven nominations and four wins including Audience Choice for Short Film.

If you missed the festival or would like to support more local filmmakers, the next film festival in Tampa Bay is Gasparilla from March 30 through April 3, 2016.

Here's a short clip showcasing some of the filmmakers and what they had to say when I interviewed them: