A round of applause erupted in the historic Schieffelin Hall in Tombstone as the last pitch video faded to black. The crowd watched five filmmakers pitch their projects, then a panel of finalists answered questions from the audience and festival founders.
Diego Moreno and Michael Kaufmann, a filmmaking duo from Tucson, won the Tombstone Film Festival’s first ever pitch competition on Feb.1 with their film “Dust.”
Tombstone Film Festival attendees gather to watch the pitch videos in Schieffelin Hall in Tombstone Ariz. on Feb. 1, 2026. The audience will vote on winners after watching the pitches.
“Dust is the story of two brothers who go to a 1930s Arizona mining town and get trapped there by a dust storm,” Moreno said. “The dust ends up being toxic and the town gets poisoned by a mass hallucination event and they all turn on each other.”
Diego Moreno and Michael Kaufmann stand in front of Tombstone City Hall on Feb. 1, 2026. The two are winners of the Tombstone Film Festival’s first pitch competition.
Moreno and Kaufmann heard about the competition online in early 2025 and immediately got to work.
“We wrote the script in pretty much two months and made the pitch video in a month and it was off to the races,” Kaufmann said.
Winning is a unique opportunity, they said.
“I’m just grateful to have been selected from such a strong group of pitches and excited to work with Travis (Mills) and John (Marrs) to bring this story to life here in Arizona,” Moreno said of working with the festival organizers.
Tombstone Film Fest
The filmmakers made their pitch during Tombstone’s annual film festival on Feb. 1, which returned for its fourth year in the iconic western town.
The festival focuses on the western films and features small and low budget films on a big screen alongside better-known classics. It was founded and organized by two western filmmakers John Marrs and Travis Mills.
Director Jesse V. Johnson opened the festival with his newest full length feature film, “Thieve’s Highway,” which he both directed and wrote the script for.
“The programmers have terrific taste, and we enjoyed everything we watched,” he said of the festival.
A banner for the Tombstone Film Festival flies over the iconic Allen Street on Feb. 1, 2026. The festival was on its fourth and final day.
New pitch contest
The pitch competition, where aspiring filmmakers can submit pitches for a western film they want to create, was new this year.
Festival attendees watched short pitch videos created by competitors and voted on a winner. Some pitch videos were akin to movie trailers, while others focused on the filmmakers and their visions for what they wanted to create.
“We had 15 original submissions, then narrowed it down to the final five that are here today. Each of them gets to talk to the audience and make their pitch,” Marrs said.
The winner of the competition will receive $20,000 to get their film made, plus assistance managing the budget and making the film from the two co-founders of the festival, Mills and Marrs.
Props from a featured film in the festival, “Frontier Crucible,” were on display on Feb. 1, 2026. Organizer Travis Mills directed the film, and co-organizer John Marrs played a small role.
The idea is to get a beginner’s foot in the door, Marrs said.
“Of course, to an established filmmaker, ($20,000) doesn’t seem like much, but we will be able to get a newcomer’s film made. Likely someone who doesn’t have the resources to get it done on their own,” he said.
But money isn’t everything.
“I mean it is low budget, but I don’t think that matters. I think what matters is, making a statement about unique filmmaking, unique stories, taking chances on something, trying something new,” Kaufmann said.
Kaufmann and Moreno plan to begin filming later this year.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
