LEWISTON — When Joshua Shea began planning an awards gala to celebrate Lewiston-Auburn’s first film festival, he worried that he might not sell enough tickets.

“We didn’t know if we’d sell 30 tickets,” said Shea, publisher of Lewiston Auburn Magazine. “This is our first festival.”

He needn’t have worried.

More than 250 movie passes have been sold. And the gala? The festival’s operators — Shea’s magazine, L/A Arts and the Maine Public Broadcasting Network — sold all 104 tickets to the ceremony at Lewiston’s Fuel restaurant more than three weeks ago.

And the daylong festival is still a week away.

On April 2, 10 downtown locations will be transformed into movie theaters. They will show 110 movies from more than a dozen states and 15 countries.

“We were blown away by the reception from filmmakers,” Shea said. In all, 180 movies were submitted. They ranged from silly sci-fi stories to experimental films to heartwarming documentaries. 

It’s far more than anyone expected for a first-time festival.

“It’s been a giant group effort,” Shea said. But the initial idea was his. He’d been searching for a cause, something local that his magazine might promote.

“We kind of wanted to create an event that no one has seen around here,” he said.

They thought of cities’ popular festivals and wondered if there might be room for another.

“I’ve been to film festivals before and the part I really enjoyed was the uniqueness,” he said. “I loved seeing movies I’d never see anywhere.”

He and the people at the magazine talked with Sandra Marquis at L/A Arts. Then, the group went to MPBN. Once everybody signed on, they put out a call for movies and began talking with potential venues.

Projects have a way of growing under Shea’s care.

Among the projects that were quickly targeted for the festival was Bill Maroldo’s “PAL Hop Days,” a documentary on the bands that took the stage for the popular 1960s dances at Lewiston City Hall. The film, still in a rough cut, has been given the prime slot of 4 p.m. at the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s.

Quickly, other offerings found their way in, from an experimental movie called “Motion Picture” by Edward Little High School senior Taylor McIntosh to a goofy comedy called “Scooter McGruder” by husband-and-wife team Bill and Tiffany McLean of Monmouth.

Bill McLean wrote and stars in the film. Tiffany McLean co-directed the film with friend Jeff Sullivan. She also edited the film.

The movie’s appearance at the festival, slated for 1:15 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn  in Auburn, will be the first time it has gone before an audience that wasn’t populated by the cast and crew.

Bill McLean is calling festival-goers his “test civilians.”

He believes they will laugh at the story of a guy who wakes at 40 years old and worries he might be alone forever. The movie was shot in 2009 with a total of 45 speaking parts. Since then, the $5,000 film has awaited the equipment to do a proper edit.

“We just finished,” McLean said. “I think it’s pretty darned funny,” 

For Shea, the other festival organizers and the venue operators, the biggest jobs are still ahead.

Plans call for projectors or big screen TVs to be erected in each spot, festival spokeswoman Molly McGill said.

Some places, such as Fish Bones American Grill in Lewiston, are planning to move furniture and even come up with a special menu for the occasion.

Owner Paul Landry said he plans to make a gourmet popcorn and sell special nachos and other appetizers for the moviegoers who are slated to take over his bar area.

“I just want them to feel very comfortable,” Landry said.

Shea said he is grateful for the way people such as Landry have adopted the festival.

The event has grown far larger than anyone planned, he said. He found himself walking into more venues with invitations to join as he got caught up in the fun of putting on the event.

“I warned them, once we get started, someone needs to hold me back,” Shea said of his fellow organizers. “I should have told them, ‘Hold me back, physically.'”

For more information on the festival, go to www.lafilmfestival.org.

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