We’re so excited to announce an uh-mazing slate of ‘5 for 25’ Silver Anniversary dCFF25 ICONs whose contributions to film and television have raised global recognition of the state as a cinematic force to be reckoned with.
We’re also bringing back our Community ICON award to honor longstanding supporters of the deadCenter Film Festival who have made
a significant impact on arts and culture in OKC.
We’ll be celebrating these incredible humans at the
25th Anniversary Film Festival on June 11-15.
Read all about them!
WAYNE COYNE, Oklahoma Film ICON
Wayne Coyne is the visionary frontman of The Flaming Lips, the Grammy-winning psychedelic rock band known for transcendent albums like The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and for euphoric, confetti-drenched live shows. Born in Oklahoma City, which he still calls home, he worked at Long John Silver’s before the Lips broke through with their 1993 hit “She Don’t Use Jelly.”
Films featuring The Lips and Coyne have a long dCFF history – The Fearless Freaks was the Closing Night film in 2005, UFOs at the Zoo screened outdoors by the railroad tracks in 2007, and Coyne’s surreal sci-fi flick Christmas on Mars premiered at dCFF in 2008 under a custom-made circus tent in Bricktown. With a career spanning four decades, Coyne is not only one of deadCenter Film’s newest ICONs but an avant-garde trailblazer – equal parts mad scientist, artist, and rock star – with a fanbase in every corner of the world.
MAYOR DAVID HOLT, deadCenter Film Community ICON
David Holt became Oklahoma City’s 38th mayor in 2018, making history as the city’s first Native American mayor and the youngest mayor of a U.S. city over 500,000 residents. He led the development and passage of MAPS 4, a $1.1 billion initiative that funds 16 transformative projects. An unwavering supporter of arts and culture, Holt has championed public art, local creatives, and investments in cultural infrastructure, earning national recognition including the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ award for arts leadership. Holt is a longtime supporter of deadCenter Film and has actually appeared in multiple films that have screened at dCFF over the years. He played a key role in securing OKC as a host site for canoe slalom events in the 2028 Olympic Games, underscoring the city’s growing global profile. Holt, who will serve as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors for 2025-26, is Dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law, a member of the Osage Nation, and lives in OKC with his wife Rachel and their two children.
AMY SCOTT, Oklahoma Film ICON
Amy Scott is a filmmaker passionate about capturing human stories that spotlight artists, musicians, and underdogs. Her unscripted directing credits include Hal, which premiered at deadCenter in 2018 (Oscilloscope),
Sheryl (Showtime), and Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken
(Paramount+), which she co-directed.
Scott also helmed a film for HBO’s Music Box series, set for release in
spring 2025, and has an upcoming music-centered project in production.
A seasoned editor with decades of experience, she brings a deep understanding of storytelling to her work. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Scott spent her formative years in Chicago before settling in Los Angeles, where she continues to craft compelling narratives. The Oklahoma Premiere of her new film,
Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? will screen at dCFF25.
ADAM HAMPTON, Oklahoma Film ICON
Adam Hampton is an award-winning writer, actor, and director from Dale, Oklahoma. He is a co-founder of Outsiders Productions with childhood friend Jason Alexander, and the pair produced their first movie, Looking for Hope,
in 2005. Outsiders Productions would go on to produce Hampton’s superhero script, The Unusual (Calling of) Charlie Christmas, and the narrative series
Rough Cut. Both previously premiered at deadCenter. He is the writer and host of the Heartland Emmy-winning music documentary series, Play It Loud.
Hampton stars in three World Premiere features screening at dCFF25:
Kyle Kauwika Harris’ Opening Night film, Reverence, the post-apocalyptic indie Salt of the Earth, and Ryan Bellgardt’s sequel The Jurassic Games: Extinction.
His 2024 script, Hunting Season (formerly Mermaid) stars Mel Gibson
and is expected to release later this year.
Hampton also won the inaugural Kinolime screenplay contest in 2024 for his rural horror story, The Waif. The Kinoline award is the largest screenplay prize in history, with a value that could exceed $1 million.
HAYLEY MCFARLAND, Oklahoma Film ICON
Hayley McFarland is a proud Oklahoman working as an actor in Los Angeles. Growing up in Edmond, she performed in musicals at Lyric Theatre and developed her craft under the tutelage of Michelle De Long. As a teenager, McFarland was cast as Tim Roth’s daughter in the FOX drama Lie to Me.
Many other television roles would follow, including a recurring role on Sons of Anarchy and memorable turns on shows like Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Just this year, she recurred on the final season of 1923 and guest starred on network television’s number-one show Tracker. Film (and horror) fans will also recognize McFarland as Nancy, one of the Perron sisters in James Wan’s The Conjuring. In recent years, she’s been fortunate to be a part of several Oklahoma film productions such as Agnes and Out of Exile, which previously screened at dCFF, and Anywhere, a feature that will have its
Oklahoma Premiere at deadCenter’s 25th Anniversary Film Festival.
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Wayne Coyne and Mayor David Holt will receive their ICON Awards at a free Flashback Closing Night screening of UFOs at the Zoo on Sunday, June 15, at the OAK in northwest OKC. We’ll be honoring Amy Scott, Adam Hampton, and Haley McFarland at the deadCenter Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 14, at Oklahoma Contemporary, home of this year’s dC Hub. The awards event is free and open to the public, but attendees should reserve seats via the link below.
Our Silver Anniversary Fest schedule is packed with five days of 200+ short, feature, narrative, and documentary films,including 25 World Premieres and more Oklahoma films than ever! Start making your personal watch list today.
