Winners of this online festival will be announced in December, 2010.
Bursting onto the scene in 2010, the 1st Annual INTERNATIONAL MOVIE TRAILER FESTIVAL (IMTF) is an online competition created specifically to celebrate the art of the movie trailer. Filmmakers are invited to submit trailers for short or feature films they’ve made or trailers for movies they dream of making. All genres are welcome, including trailers for dramas, comedies, thrillers, animations, and documentaries.
Entries will be presented on the Web within a “virtual theater,” featuring advanced search capabilities encouraging fans, producers, and exhibitors to find and view trailers in a multitude of ways. IMTF’s Grand Prize of $5,000 USD will be awarded by a jury of industry pros including Scott Rosenfelt, producer of MYSTIC PIZZA and HOME ALONE. Other awards include a $1,000 People’s Choice Award chosen by visitors to the site, a $500 music/soundtrack award, a $500 student prize along with a $500 grant to the winning student’s school.
What’s more, select trailers will have the opportunity to be included in an upcoming feature-length documentary entitled PREVIEW YOUR DREAMS: THE ART OF THE MOVIE TRAILER.
UPCOMING DEADLINE
August 31, 2010 – Late Deadline
Upgraded projects save $5 on this deadline
MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Filmmakers who submit to IMTF become part of an online community where information is exchanged, production problems are solved, and members can collaborate on movie projects. Everyone who signs up will receive a free digital copy of Moviemaking Illustrated: The Comicbook Filmbook.
To date entries have been submitted from across the globe. Get your trailer seen by both movie fans and movie professionals from around the world – submit today!
In the Spotlight this week is the 5th Annual ILLINOIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (IIFF), celebrating a broad spectrum of indie films and screenplays against the vibrant backdrop of Chicago, Illinois.
With the belief that no matter the film’s budget or the director’s vision it’s the filmmaker’s passion that drives a film, IIFF declares itself a “no limits” festival, screening a multi-genre lineup of films from around the world. From underground and horror films to the more traditional family-friendly fare, IIFF has been known to show a diverse selection of works, offering something on the schedule for film fans of all ages. Noteworthy selections from years past include CRAZY, MASS ROMANTIC, GOD’S EARS, and documentaries HEARTS OF HOPE, JACK BE NIMBLE, FACING SUDAN, and FOUND IN CHINA which enjoyed sold-out screenings.
IIFF’s list of alumni only furthers the point: the festival is rapidly growing and picking up steam early on. Alumni include Mike Reiss (ICE AGE 3, “The Simpsons”), who unveiled QUEER DUCK at IIFF; Tony Wash (IT’S MY PARTY AND I WILL DIE IF I WANT TO), who recently inked a distribution deal; and Mark Roberts (writer/producer of “Two and Half Men”), who presented WELCOME TO TOLONO and declares it “a wonderful experience for showcasing my film.”
UPCOMING DEADLINE
July 31, 2010 – Late Deadline
Upgraded projects save $5 on this deadline
MISSION AND OBJECTIVE
The Illinois International Film Festival brings audiences and filmmakers together to better enjoy the art and fun of filmmaking.
MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Exhibiting filmmakers receive two all-access passes to IIFF festivities and a gift bag filled with swag. What’s more, the Festival emphasizes the filmmaker’s role in the equation; filmmakers participate in engaging Q&A sessions, sharing their behind-the-scenes stories and perspective on their films. Networking opportunities abound with fellow filmmakers and visiting industry players. Alum Warren Sheppard (STEWARD) gushes that IIFF “is an amazing…opportunity to meet…artists. I had the best time!”
Filmmakers & Screenwriters: to present your work in the great city of Chicago, submit to the Illinois International Film Festival today!
I hope to meet you at “Doing Your Doc,” an upcoming 3-day seminar in St. Paul sponsored by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) in conjunction with Native American Public Telecommunications, Native American Journalists Association, InMotion, St. Paul Neighborhood Network, IFP Minnesota, Intermedia Arts, UST, Latino Public Broadcasting, NBPC, ITVS, CAAM, PIC and Twin Cities Public Television.
Here’s a unique chance to work with story consultant Fernanda Rossi, the Documentary Doctor, author of the book “Trailer Mechanics,” plus receive project mentoring on your proposal, trailer or documentary idea. This intensive 3-day workshop is tailored for anyone… whether you are just beginning, have already shot footage on a documentary project or are seeking finishing funds.
“Doing your Doc” is designed especially for media makers in the diverse communities of Minnesota, preparing them to receive production funding and apply to national professional programs while developing unique stories and views. It takes place starting at 3 pm on Sunday and runs all day on Monday and Tuesday.
Come back every day to vote for your favorite submission – even if it’s your own. Keep up with the contest on Twitter using the #pbsvideocontest hashtag.
At PBS.org, you can watch your favorite PBS shows on the new video player, in their entirety, whenever you want. You can interact with PBS producers and talent through live chats. Or you can get up close and personal with your favorite shows through blogs, Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter and YouTube.
The Associated Press said “PBS may be cooler than you think.” Check out our online offerings and see if you agree. Then SHOW us what you think. Create a 30 second video showing something surprising about PBS on the web.
Top 10 Tips for Making Your Video
Your video must show something surprising about PBS on the web.
Be innovative, clever, engaging or cheeky.
Your video must be 30 seconds in length, including a 5-second PBS video logo resolve. Click the link to view the video resolve, or right click to save the file to your computer: (Right click to download the PBS video logo)
Your video must be under 32MB in size.
Video must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. EST April 18th. Register, login and click UPLOAD MEDIA from the menu bar to submit your video.
You can submit up to three entries.
You must live in the United States to be eligible.
You must be at least 18 to participate.
Check out the HOME short video for ideas and guidance before you get started.
Videos should be thirty (30) seconds long, including a five (5) second PBS video logo resolve (an animated version of the PBS logo available from the contest site). Videos can be shot with camera phones, digital video cameras, or any other digital moving image format. No still photo entries will be accepted. All entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. on April 18, 2010. There is no cost or purchase required to enter the Site or submit a video.
As part of the BBC’s SuperPower season, take part in the MyWorld competition – make a two-minute video about how you see the world and you could be broadcast by the BBC around the world.
Stephen Kastner
MyWorld
The BBC says, “No-one sees the world the way you do. The BBC wants to see things from your perspective – and create a unique picture of our lives today across the planet.”
We are asking you to use any camera you can find – a mobile phone, a point-and-click, or a friend’s camcorder – and shoot a two-minute documentary with the theme MyWorld.
We are looking for original films that you think the world should know about and will shortlist films that are emotionally touching, important or visually impactful.
The best will then be selected by a panel of the world’s top documentary makers and assembled into sequences showing the stories of each continent.
About the competition
We are looking for entries from across the planet
You can interpret the MyWorld theme any way you choose. Your film could be a compelling personal story, tell of a place that is changing, or document the joy or difficulty of your work life.
Each film must be relevant to one of the five major continents – Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania – and must be tagged as such. You can shoot a single shot documentary, if appropriate to your story, or edit your film with any editing software available to you.
A selection of all work received may be shown on TV and online and an ultimate winner will be selected based on the judging criteria.
After submissions close, five prestigious MyWorld curators will each be assigned films from a particular continent. From each, they will choose and assemble a sequence of up to ten of the best films creating a fascinating portrait of the world today (Editor’s note: 10 films x 5 continents = 50 films).
Finally each of the five curated sequences will be available to view online and on BBC World News. An overall winner will then be chosen and receive a prize of a semi-professional HD mini DV camcorder.
You can enter the competition by clicking here.
(Closing date 1600 GMT March 5, 2010)
Five continents, any camera, any editing, plain and simple or complex and highly-crafted, no rules, no limits… where do I start? By taking the first step! I clicked there… and found:
MyWorld competition
Send us your videos for the MyWorld competition.
BBC World Service wants you to tell us the story of your world in a two-minute video. Full details of the competition are here.
To enter, we need you to do two things:
Fill in the form below. Don’t forget to include your name, email address and some background information about your video – and don’t forget to attach the video itself!
Email us at myworld@bbc.co.uk with the additional Information requested below. This is very important – if you do not do this we cannot accept your video for competition.
Your age (if under 18) – If you are under 18, please indicate that you have your parent or guardian’s permission to enter and provide their name and contact information.
Film Title
Country of Entry
Country of Filming
Synopsis
Original Language
Please write an English translation of all speech
Duration in seconds including any titles and credits:
Your Email address
Your contact phone number
Please name all contributors featured
Please list all contributor contact phone number(s) and email contacts
*If any contributors are under 18 then please provide their age and the name and contact details of their parent/guardian.
Please confirm that consent has been given by all contributors to both appear in the film and for their personal details to be supplied to the BBC.
If featuring music please confirm that this is your original composition and performance.
Remember that when filming please do not endanger yourself or others, take unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. Please read our Terms and Conditions for the full terms of our – and your – rights.
The second step will be to spend one day – this day – the last day in the year of the rat, thinking about the synopsis of my world. Profound or simple. What is My World? It seems like a very appropriate way to end this year and enter into the New Year… of course, following the Lunar New Year, which seems more appropriate for me than the typical western habit of the Gregorian calendar. If nature rules my life then those are the cycles I honor – certainly not one dictated by Papal decree!
But My World is a hybrid, a mix of the natural and the technological. I work with computers and digital technology all day (and into the night) and heat my home with wood. I shovel my snowy driveway by hand with a shovel and often ride a bicycle, yet I have an old pickup truck. My World is a weird mix of ancient and modern.
Recently a Nexus One Android entered my life. I think it will very soon become my digital soul. I am wired now, everywhere I go, always LlinkedIn… seeking my synopsis.
I have been asked to develop and promote a bi-weekly film series at Greens ‘N Grains Natural Food Store in Egg Harbor. The intent is to provide an opportunity for people in Door County to see a collection of high quality films – ones that would never get a screening in our local mainstream theater(s). I plan to post links and reviews here as a way of asking for your comments and to open a discussion regarding what people would like to see. I personally love documentary films, but also appreciate independent drama, sci-fi and comedy.
We plan to show a broad spectrum of new and unique films in a casual environment – the loft above the Deli at Greens N Grains. Kathy has a great dinner special planned so you can enjoy a healthy, natural and organic supper before or while you watch.
Here’s my current schedule followed by some other films under consideration… Please, comment and let me know what you think of them:
Thursday, November 5 at 7 pm
One Minute More – 60 films in one evening.
Don’t Panic: Guy Livingston is back! This is a brilliantly zany and provocative collection of one-minute films… with music by sixty composers from 23 different countries… the 60 films include comic animations, docu-fictions, portraits, surrealism, and abstract art films.
Sleep Dealer
The place: Mexico. The time: The near future. Memo Cruz ( Fernando Peña) has always dreamed of leaving his tiny village and heading north to a big city where he can work in a modern, high-tech factory. Finally, his dream becomes a reality… and his reality becomes a nightmare! Memo finds himself in a terrifyingly bizarre world of border walls, shanty towns, high-tech factories, remote control drones and aqua-terrorists a world of tomorrow that will soon be today! Winner of two prestigious awards at the Sundance Film Festival, and nominated for both the Gotham Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, this groundbreaking film has been praised by critics and audiences alike.
This film lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing how our food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, thelivelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it’s produced and who we have become as a nation. Director Robert Kenner explores the subject from all angles, talking to authors, advocates, farmers, and CEOs, like co-producer Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma), Gary Hirschberg (Stonyfield Farms), and Barbara Kowalcyk, who’s been lobbying for more rigorous standards since E. coli claimed the life of her two-year-old son. Food, Inc. examines the costs of putting value and convenience over nutrition and environmental impact.
Under consideration, your comments and nominations are cheerfully encouraged!
Trouble the Water
2008 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature, this astonishingly powerful film is at once horrifying and exhilarating. Directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (producers, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine), Trouble the Water takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall–just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. “It’s going to be a day to remember,” Kim declares. As the hurricane begins to rage and the floodwaters fill their world and the screen, Kim and her husband Scott continue to film their harrowing retreat to higher ground and the dramatic rescues of friends and neighbors. The filmmakers document the couple’s return to New Orleans, the devastation of their neighborhood and the appalling repeated failures of government. Weaving an insider’s view of Katrina with a mix of verite and in-your-face filmmaking, Trouble the Water is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes–two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.
Trashed is an excellent film about the problems and opportunities associated with waste. The U.S. now has around 10,000 landfills that are costing a fortune to maintain, creating massive amounts of methane, and leaching “garbage juice” into water supplies. In addition to the concerns from community activists, one of the most critical voices in “Trashed” is an executive for Waste Management, Inc. who says we need to get smarter and find alternatives to our “primitive” landfills. Among the alternatives are recycling, composting, better design of products, decreasing packaging, capturing the gasses being released by the landfills and much else.
We are looking for entries from across the planet
is an excellent film about the problems and opportunities associated with waste. The U.S. now has around 10,000 landfills that are costing a fortune to maintain, creating massive amounts of methane, and leaching “garbage juice” into water supplies. In addition to the concerns from community activists, one of the most critical voices in “Trashed” is an executive for Waste Management, Inc. who says we need to get smarter and find alternatives to our “primitive” landfills. Among the alternatives are recycling, composting, better design of products, decreasing packaging, capturing the gasses being released by the landfills and much else.