Beery founded the annual Carrboro Film Festival six years ago and has shepherded it as it has grown bigger and better ever since. He also works as a volunteer coordinator for the Full Frame Film Documentary Festival every year in Durham.

This week, he launches a new event, the Blue Sky Film Festival, which will be held Friday through Sunday at The Lumina Theater in Southern Village. The festival will present more than 30 films - an international array of shorts, features, documentaries, even a silent classic or two, and another movie shot entirely on an iPhone - along with filmmaking workshops and demonstrations, live entertainment and a reception to benefit The Arc of Orange County.

We started working on this a year and a half ago," said Beery, who runs Beery Media, a local digital film production company. "I wanted to see if there was any interest in doing something sort of like Full Frame in the Chapel Hill area, but I didn't want to limit it to just documentaries. So we have narrative film, documentaries and all sorts of fun stuff."

Beery brought local Realtor Pat Nagle on board to help coordinate the festival, and he called Beverly Carr, the marketing and events coordinator of Southern Village, to see whether she thought The Lumina might be interested.

"She said, 'Absolutely! Are you kidding?'" Beery said. "They're donating their largest screen to us for three days. We couldn't be happier about it."

Carr said Lumina owner John Fugo was open to the idea, even though it will mean giving up a portion of weekend ticket sales.

"He's been wanting to host a film festival, and I knew Nic knew how make it happen," Carr said. "They're actually getting two screens: the first to show the films, and the second will be the filmmakers lounge, where the workshops and demonstrations will be. So it's a big commitment by the Lumina. But we're real excited about it. I think it's going to be great."

Among the highlights of the weekend will be an opening night screening of "The Horse Boy," an award-winning documentary about a couple that travels to Mongolia to seek help for their autistic son from the shamanic horsemen of the Steppes; showings of the horror features "Near Dark" (directed by 2010 Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow) and "Hellphone"; the Chinese documentary "Last Train Home"; shorts by the always-entertaining AV Geeks; and a live appearance by Internet stars Rhett & Link.

Workshops and demonstrations will be presented on topics including digital filmmaking, the Blackbird camera stabilizer, and film production. An opening night reception at Harrington Bank in Southern Village will benefit The Arc of Orange County.

"Nic wants to attract a wide demographic, and he really does have something for everybody lined up," Carr said. "There are activities for people interested in the process of filmmaking, amateurs as well as professionals, and there are movies that will appeal to students, families, seniors and, really, anyone who loves movies."

If all goes well, the Blue Sky Film Festival will become an annual event.

"I think it's going to be great," Carr said. "Anything Nic says he can do, he does. And anything he says he might be able to do, and I say, 'Nic, you have to do it,' he does that too. I said, 'You have to get Rhett & Link,' and the next thing I knew, he got Rhett & Link."