Friday 4 July 2008

Cinemagic Call For Young Film Making Talent

The Cinemagic International Film Festival for Young People has launched its annual Young Filmmaker Competition for 2008. The judges are looking for imaginative and original short films made by young people to be showcased as part of the Festival which takes place in Belfast from 13th- 30th November. The Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Competition is free to enter and it is open to young people from across the UK and Ireland aged 4-25 years old.

Cinemagic is dedicated to supporting and encouraging young filmmakers and each year the standard and quantity of films submitted is getting higher and higher. Chris Shaw, Cinemagic Festival Programmer encourages young filmmakers to get involved:

“The annual Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Competition offers young people from across the UK and Ireland the opportunity to submit their films to Cinemagic and have them judged by a panel of industry professionals. Whether you are a first-time filmmaker or developing your skills in filmmaking the competition offers a great platform to showcase your work. The short-listed films in a number of categories will then be screened during the festival. Applicants to the competition will also have the opportunity to participate in a festival masterclass of their choice and attend a series of festival films.”

Application process.
The deadline for entries to the Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Competition is 31st October. Please send a VHS or DVD copy of your film with a completed entry form to Cinemagic Young Filmmaker 2008, Chris Shaw, Cinemagic, 49 Botanic Avenue, Belfast BT7 1JL. Films should be no longer than 15 minutes. Entry forms and regulations can be downloaded from www.cinemagic.org.uk

Motorola announce 'DirectorMe' shortfilm competition winner

BASINGSTOKE - 1st July, 2008 - Motorola today announced that aspiring filmmaker Beau
Fowler from Richmond, London has won its nationwide short film competition taking
the £10,000 first prize. Beau's winning film 'Brotherly Love' - which was shot and
edited entirely on the MOTO Z10 mobile phone - was selected by a distinguished panel
of judges including Empire Magazine, FilmLondon, Ogilvy, 02 and Motorola and will be
reviewed exclusively by Empire.


The winning film is a humorous short that depicts two brother's arguing over the TV
remote control before descending into a brilliantly choreographed martial arts
sequence that evokes scenes from The Matrix and Star Wars films. "It's been a great
competition and I'm absolutely delighted to win, the Z10 is an amazing breakthrough
and lets filmmakers be creative on the fly. The money will also certainly come in
handy for some other film projects I have in the pipeline," said Beau Fowler.


The two month long two stage contest supported the launch of the MOTO Z10 mobile
phone that allows users to capture, edit and share footage on the move. The
competition gave entrants a unique opportunity to showcase their talents and
creativity in front of peers, family and industry figures.


Twenty finalists were selected from the first round of the competition which
attracted over one hundred entrants. In the first round entrants were asked to
create a short film based on a 'logline' or abbreviated summary of a film's plot.
Each finalist was issued with the phone with which they were invited to create a
ninety second short film on any subject of their choosing. The films were all
posted on to a dedicated YouTube channel before the competition deadline.


"We'd like to congratulate Beau on his success and we hope that this is a platform
for him to pursue his interest in film in the future. We've been amazed by the
quality of the entries throughout and would like to thank everyone who took the time
to enter. One of our aims was to show how easy it is to create, edit and upload a
film from the MOTO Z10 and I think the entries from the final stage proves our
point." said Rachael Ward, UK Marketing Manager, Motorola Inc.


For more information on the MOTO Z10 visit www.hellomoto.co.uk; to see the winning
entry please visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/motoroladirectorme

Rushes Soho

Rushes introduces The Adventures of Peter SP¹ Episode Two: Who¹s Made The
Final Cut?

In honour of the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival short list being announced
Peter SP has made a grand return to the stage. Literally!

Episode two was filmed in a controlled environment which made production
time about a day versus five days around London on the first episode. This
meant more care could be taken with lighting, set building and general
finesse. Episode two required a theatre/stage environment to be created and
because of time restraints, these scenes were filmed on green screen and
digital matte paintings were completed in Flame later. In addition, colour
grading, rig removal and general finessing were completed in Flame. Adam
Watson, Flame artist at Rushes, commented: ³I love working with this
technique, making something from nothing, utilizing desk lamps and fairy
lights to light my scenes, generally just having fun.²

The production music was once again created by Tom Linden at Bulb Ideas. Tom
has worked his magic adding music and foley to the latest Adventures of
Peter SP.

Bulb Ideas creates bespoke music for all media and are delighted to be
involved with Rushes and their Soho Shorts Festival.

The spot can now be seen online on the Rushes Soho Shorts homepage.

The link for Peter SP¹s quick time file is:
http://web.rushes.co.uk/quicktime/soho_shorts_peter_sp_ep02_master_v2.mov

Famous Writer Adds to Allure of MA in Screenwriting

Writer Allegra Huston, daughter of legendary filmmaker John
Huston, has confirmed that she will teach at NUI Galway in November as part of the
Huston School of Film & Digital Media Writers in Residence Programme. Allegra
Huston will work specifically with the School's MA in Screenwriting students, who
will get a taste of the famous 'Writing Salon' she runs in New Mexico.


The MA in Screenwriting was the inaugural programme of the Huston School of Film &
Digital Media at NUI Galway. The one-year, full-time programme offers training in
screenplay writing, integrated with courses in film history and analysis, supported
by regular film screenings and workshops. Allegra Huston will take students of the
MA in Screenwriting off-campus to the home of Tim and Máiréad Robinson in
Roundstone, Co. Galway, for an intensive three-day creative workshop.


According to James Finlan, coordinator of the MA in Screenwriting, "Screenwriting
has been in the headlines recently with the Writers Guild of America strike showing
the vital role of the writer in bringing entertainment to our screens. In Ireland,
the Huston school has established itself as the foremost centre for screenwriting
education. We have a very high calibre of students, including mature students,
joining our MA course to progress their writing to the next stage. The Writers in
Residence Programme adds an extra element to the course, allowing our students to
learn from writers such as Allegra Huston, and more recently, Hollywood scriptwriter
Evan Goldberg (Superbad and Knocked Up)."


One of those students currently undertaking the MA in Screenwriting is Grace
Jolliffe, who returned to college as a mature student. According to Grace, a
published novelist and short-film director, "My first love has always been writing
screenplays. Knowing that there is always something more to learn, I enrolled in
the Huston School of Film & Digital Media in Galway. It has been a wonderful
opportunity to improve my writing skills and be among fellow writers."


Allegra's father John Huston had a long relationship with the Galway area, his other
daughter Angelica, went to school in Loughrea. Five years ago, the Huston family
came together to support the creation of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media
and continue to be its patrons. As part of this support, there are generous
scholarships every year on offer to NUI Galway graduates from the film school at
UCLA.

The MA in Screenwriting is particularly suited to incoming students with previous
work experience in writing, film or related media fields. Applications for entry in
September are now being taken, for further information visit www.filmschool.ie

25th Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival

The 25th Kassel Documentary Film and Video
Festival (November 11 to 16, 2008) invites all
artists, filmmakers, producers, distributors,
gallery owners, universities and institutions to
submit latest works and projects to the different
sections of the festival program.
On six days the festival presents about 230
international documentary films as well as
experimental and artistic works. The media art
exhibition MONITORING, the DokfestLounge with
audiovisual performances and the interfiction
symposium (www.interfiction.org) complete the
festival program. Having this profile the
Kasseler Dokfest annually attracts both a
regional audience as well as professionals of the
film and media industry from Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.
Moreover, the 25th anniversary edition of the
Kassel Dokfest shall be an occasion for taking a
look at the past and future of the festival’s
development as well as documenting the facets of
documentary work that have been presented in
Kassel for the past 25 years. For instance with
the anniversary DVD "Most Touching" including a
collection of international films and videos of 25 years of festival history.

Awards
/ "Golden Key" for the best up-and-coming
documentary of a young director (Euro 5,000, supported by the City of Kassel)
/ "Golden Hercules" for an outstanding production
from the region of Northern Hesse (Euro 2,500,
sponsored by the corporate communications company Machbar GmbH)
/ "Golden Cube" for the best installation of the
MONITORING exhibition (Euro 2,500, sponsored by
the software company Micromata GmbH)
/ "A38-Production Grant" awarded in cooperation
with the Werkleitz Gesellschaft Halle (an amount
of Euro 4,000 is available for allowance in kind)

Entry form and rules of participation at www.filmladen.de/dokfest
Please fill out the comfortable online entry form, if possible.
Deadline for entries is July 21, 2008.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Fall 2008 CINE Golden Eagle Film & Video Competition is now open for entry!

Enter before August 1, 2008
and receive a $25 discount on your entry.


THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO ENTER:

Enter online with our online entry form at www.cine.org
Download an entry form to mail or fax to CINE
Call 202.785.1136 to have an entry form sent to you

Early Bird Deadline
August 1, 2008

Final Deadline
August 15, 2008

http://www.cine.org/

WHY SHOULD YOU ENTER?

  • The CINE Golden Eagle Award is highly valued within the industry. CINE has been recognizing excellence in film, television, video and new media among emerging and established filmmakers for over fifty years. The CINE Golden Eagle Award represents the esteem of the fellow filmmakers who serve as judges, and is a prestigious mark of excellence and peer recognition.
  • Many of the elite members of the film and television industry are recipients of the CINE Golden Eagle Award. For some, like Ken Burns and Steven Spielberg, the Golden Eagle was their first award. Other notable CINE Award-winners include Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Albert Maysles, Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis, Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, Mira Nair, Mel Brooks and many others. We've also given a boost to many notable journalists, including Walter Cronkite, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw and Christiane Amanpour. We are proud to call these remarkable people CINE alumni.
  • CINE Award Winners have received thousands of dollars in cash scholarships and product/service grants from CINE sponsors. The Masters Award winner in the Independent Division for 2008 will receive the Henninger Media Services Grant, worth $12,000 in post-production services, and the runner-up will receive an $8,000 grant in post-production services. The Award of Excellence winner in the Student Division will receive a $5,000 film stock grant from Kodak. At the CINE Awards Gala in April, the 2007 and 2008 Masters Series Award winners in the Independent Division became the first-ever recipients of the Henninger Media Services grant , while the 2007 and 2008 recipients of the Award of Excellence in the Student Division received a film stock grant from Kodak, as well as a cash scholarship and rights clearance grant from the Chubb Group of Insurers.

V International Film Festival «Eurasia»


One of the programmes of the film festival “Eurasia”, which will be held in Astana between September 7 and September 13, 2008, will be devoted to Kazakhstan Film premieres. The amount of films produced in Kazakhstan is firmly growing year in and out. Whereas we had only 2 films finished in our country in 2002 – “Leila’s Prayer” by Satybaldy Narymbetov and “Truly Kazakh Story” by Damir Manabay, nowadays there are around 20 full length feature films in production. What other cultural field in Kazakhstan can show such an intensive development? Moreover, cinema begins to be considered as business, field of investment. Box office success of “Racketeer” by Akhan Satayev proved it, backed up by the international success of “Mongol” and “Tulip”.
Essentially, the V
International Film Festival ‘Eurasia” will showcase not only the films shot at government-funded “Kazakhfilm” studio, but also the films of private, independent studios. The makers of our domestic motion pictures are directors of different generations, and the films themselves are of various trends and content – from experimental art-house works to commercial cinema. “Kazakhstan Film Premieres” programme will showcase the broadest range of modern domestic films, and the “Film Critics and Journalists Round Table” discussions will analyze the perspectives of Kazakhstan cinema development.
As of today, there are around 11-12 full length feature films completed or to be completed by September.


More info: www.eurasiaiff.kz

Film & Festival Surgery at Rushes Soho Film Festival


The Film & Festivals Surgery
was launched at the East

End Film Festival in April this year, where award-winning

producer Mike Chamberlain (Inside Hamas) spent an

afternoon offering free, one-on-one advice to filmmakers.

Film & Festivals magazine is now proud to announce that

the next surgery will take place during the Rushes Soho

Shorts Film Festival, between 23rd and 31st July. The 90-

minute seminars will take place from 1pm at Foyles

Bookstore (113-119 Charing Cross Road, London) each day

and will include film professionals talking about their roles

in the industry.

Experts slated to appear include editor Brian Hovman

(Extraordinary Rendition, Sucker Punch, Hell to

Pay) and director Rob Gomez (Sucker Punch, Hell to

Pay). Themes include Science in Film, Funding Your Films

and Women in Film and Television.

The Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival

runs from 23rd July to 1st August.

For more information visit:

www.sohoshorts.com