2007 Insomnia Film Festival

This year Apple is again running a film festival for high school and college filmmakers -- the idea is to make a film basically from scratch in 24 hours.

Thinking of participating? Check out John August's top ten tips for making a short film in a limited amount of time. My favorite: "Protein, not carbs. Because you’ll likely be working all night, sugar will send you into a crash."

Of course, the most practical is to "Go funny." This applies to documentaries as well as narrative films; if you can display a sense of humor towards your subject -- however dire -- your film is much more likely to be remembered and rewarded.

Best of luck to the participants.

Passion for Film Spurs New Festivals, but Grueling Work Keeps Them Going

New York Times article highlights the upcoming ACE Film Festival and the highly competitive NYC festival market.

Fledgling festivals must lure filmgoers with the prospect of important premieres and director appearances while promising filmmakers a sophisticated New York audience. The balance became too much for Josh Koury, who this year dissolved his own five-year old Brooklyn Underground Film Festival to concentrate on documentary making and programming at the Hamptons Film Festival.

“If I knew then what I know now, maybe I would have done things differently of course,” Mr. Koury said, noting the competitive conflict in mid-spring with the larger Brooklyn International Film Festival. “But I think that’s the beauty of film festivals like that. Real, underground, experimental cinema is an idea of do-it-yourself culture and having enough energy and gumption to just jump into something.”

Read the NY Times article about ACE Fest now.

Michael Moore Announces Traverse City Film Fest Lineup - Cinematical

Cinematical's Jette Kernion notes the announcement of this year's lineup at the Traverse City Film Fest Lineup. This is definitely one of those festivals that benefits greatly from the celebrity association, however polarizing he may be.

As Jette writes:

I admit I was one of the people who thought that this Michigan film fest might be a way for Moore to promote propaganda-like documentaries. But to be honest, the programming doesn't support that. One category of films at Traverse City is called "Dangerous Docs," and although it does include issue-driven films, it also includes selections like The King of Kong, probably the least political movie I've seen this year. If the festival is promoting anything, it is indie filmmaking -- my guess is that films like Waitress and Paprika don't usually get much theatrical time in that part of Michigan.

See the Traverse City Film Festival lineup for yourself.

KC Jubilee call for entries - fee just $15

KC Jubilee just put out their call for entries for 2008.

Go to our website - www.kcjubilee.org - for complete details, entry form, and pay fee online.

Check out our special CinemaJAZZ division if you have made a work (short or feature) inspired by JAZZ.

It's rare that you see an entry fee under $20 these days, even for shorts. All the more reason to apply early.

Slamdance Programming Coordinator positions available

Posted at Mandy.com:

The Slamdance Film Festival Programming department seeks two persons to fill position of Film Festival Coordinators. This is an unpaid part time position (18 hours per week) that spans from early August to December. Persons will work closely with the Slamdance Programming Director, and will be involved with the administrative side of the programming of one of America’s top independent film festivals.

If you're an aspiring filmmaker living in L.A. with the time to commit to an internship like this, it's a fantastic way to get to know what film festivals want -- from the inside. I talked to Sarah Diamond (the Programming Coordinator mentioned in the description above) and she indicated that they're looking for people who will commit seriously and can support themselves financially while working such a position.

The position ends in December but I suspect you'd have the opportunity to attend Slamdance in Park City in January. I also suspect that you'd end up working the festival more than enjoying it, but I could be wrong about that. Regardless, the internship is a great opportunity for anyone in independent film -- a few months of serious volunteerism could set you up with contacts that would last the rest of your career.

Apply here.

Toronto 2007 Festival Site online

Second only to Sundance in prestige among North American film festivals, the Toronto International Film Festival commands the attention of the independent film world in September. This week they put their new site online, though it doesn't have any of their program information just yet. Check it out.

Vancouver IFF announces $25,000 environmental award

Vancouver, BC (June 27, 2007) - The Vancouver International Film Festival today announced that it is launching an annual environmental film series and a $25,000 juried environmental award, one of the largest cash prizes at any film festival in North America. The new series, called Climate for Change, is sponsored by new festival partner Kyoto Planet. The series will include both dramatic features and documentaries and emphasize fresh information, vision and cinematic artistry. The jury will award the prize to the director of the film that best meets these criteria. The 26th annual VIFF takes place September 27 to October 12.

(Via Mad About Movies.)

George Clooney to turn more festivals into fundraisers

From the Starpulse blog:

George Clooney is so impressed with the amount of cash his Not On Our Watch fundraisers have raised in Cannes, France and Las Vegas, he's planning to turn every film festival into a charity drive for Darfur aid groups. The actor and his Ocean's Thirteen co-stars staged dinners and galas at the Cannes Film Festival in May and recently at the film's Las Vegas premiere,raising almost $10 million in the process.

Now Clooney, who has become a leading celebrity advocate for action against the genocide in the Sudan after filming a documentary about the crisis last year, wants to turn every starry film event into a fundraiser.

He says, "I have every intention of doing this in other places. Film festivals sound like good spots."

This is without question a good thing in the larger picture, but I wonder how this will go over with the film festivals? Some of them have their own pet causes. Others have to work hard enough to raise funds to keep themselves going without the added competition. Not that the struggling festivals would attract Clooney in the first place, but it will be interesting to see the actual lineup of festivals he ends up visiting for this purpose.

10 or Less Film Festival extends deadline

I'll just let them say it in their words:

In the spirit of procrastination, the 10 or Less Film Festival has extended its regular deadline to July 15th and it's late deadline (late fees apply) to July 31st! So get off the couch, quit compulsively searching YouTube for episodes of Yacht Rock, and get that submission in the mail...before it's too late!

The 10 Or Less FF screens films of 10 minutes or, um ... fewer. The festival is held in Portland, Oregon, in October.

Big Bang FF announces partnership with IFTrailers.com

The formation of the new Indie Film Trailers site has been highlighted by an announcement of a partnership with the new Big Bang Film Festival, which holds its inaugural event this October in Philadelphia.

IFTrailers positions itself as a YouTube for indie filmmakers looking to host their trailers somewhere with a specific bent towards independent film. I'm still not sure whether I think this will work or not -- there's a lot of noise to get lost within on YouTube, but IFtrailers.com is so tiny (there are only 40 trailers on the site at present) that there's not much to bring users back on a regular basis. The key here will be growth -- and lots of it -- coupled with good communication to remind users that the site exists and has new trailers coming in every day.

Beyond that, the site needs to find a little more focus around what a user does once they've seen the video. Yes, you can view the trailer, but then what? There's no link to the film's web site, or a store to buy it, or a list of the festivals where you might see it. Unlike YouTube, where the videos are usually little stories unto themselves, trailers are an invitation to move on to a larger/longer experience -- and there's no way to do that from IFTrailers.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the site does in the future. Below I've included a sample of a trailer as embedded in a blog post.

States of the Art Film Festival

There's a constant flow of ideas coming from the creators of film festivals these days as they all try to distinguish themselves from the traditional local film fest model -- and from one another. Indianapolisfilm.net profiles the States of the Art Film Festival, which solicits all types of films, but will only select one film from each State. (I guess films from outside the U.S. are just outta luck.)

It's one of the more interesting spins on the film festival concept I've seen lately but one wonders when the film festival bubble will pop.

Visit the States of the Art Film Festival web site for more information.

(Via Indianapolisfilm.net.)