In many ways, The Gangrene Film Festival: Forehead marked the birth of the festival’s outrageous personality. Motivated by the success of past years, film festival organizers decided to up the production value and incorporate the theme of the festival into the show. The theme of the festival was Forehead. All posters and handbills featured a photograph of host, Nate Peck, with the Gangrene Productions logo clearly stamped on his head. To infuse the forehead theme into the show, prop designer and Gangrene Productions member, Mike Terrell, directed the construction of an oversized forehead—a stage prop that stood about 8-feet high and 10-feet around. At Tte beginning of the show, Nate emerged from the forehead, which split down the middle, and graced the stage. More time at the beginning of the show was devoted to Nate. He prepared standup material specifically for the show and began with an opening monologue. The infusion of theme into the show was a great success. The Gangrene Film Festival was beginning to take on it’s own culture and those who attended had the pleasure of sampling that culture.

The competition to get films into the festival was also on the rise. More and more artists had noticed the festival and were striving to have presence in the show. To it’s date, The Gangrene Film Festival: Forehead was the most successful installation. The audience was bigger; there were more laughs; people went home wanting more.