Filmmaking popularity on the decline?

Is the popularity of filmmaking on the decline? Yes it is, according to Google trends.

The graph below shows the number of web users who have searched for the word 'filmmaking' on google. It seems less and less people are searching for the profession each year.

Another interesting statistic related to the above graph is the regions from which people are seeking information about filmmaking on the internet. Amazingly, India is at the top spot with a comfortable margin and 2 of its cities - New Delhi and Mumbai figure on the list.

As you can see, the top filmmaking city of America is Irvine, beating Los Angeles! Both are in the state of California though.

But is the filmmaking trend really going downhill? Or are people getting smarter and searching more targetted stuff like film schools, film training etc? Lets see:

As you can see above, that does not seem to be the case. Even the popularity of film schools seems to be on the decline!

Maybe people have just become more practical and instead of wasting time on the internet they are actually going out to shoot their films! Hopefully :)

LA Comedy Shorts a Success

The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, a four-day, non-stop celebration of comedic short films, came to hilarious conclusion on March 8.

The inaugural festival was a tremendous success, bringing together the hottest comedic talent in the industry for a fun-packed weekend of screenings, parties, industry panels and star-studded red carpet events. The LACSFF proudly hosted over 65 filmmakers from around the world…outstanding for a first time festival!

The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival celebrated director/writer/actor/comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, who received the very first COMMIE AWARD in recognition of his comedic genius and contribution to comedy filmmaking. The award was presented by Tom Kenny, who is the voice of Spongebob Square Pants and has been friends with Goldthwait since the early formative age of six.

Filmmakers and screenwriters competed for over $40,000 in cash and prizes. Packages include in-person meetings with comedy video websites AtomicWedgie.com and Atom.com, and management/production companies Benderspink and Generate, as well as a copy of Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 software, courtesy of The Write Brothers. The Funny Or Die Best-Of-Fest Award will also receive a featured position on the Funny or Die homepage, a one-day film production package courtesy of The Association valued at $12,000, plus a post-sound editing package on their next short film, courtesy of Stokes Audio, an $8000+ video editing package from Storytellerz Productions and an original musical scoring package by composer Kubilay Uner.

The 3MM Digital Filmmaking Contest

The Seattle Times newspaper in United States has invited readers to submit entries to the 2009 Three Minute Masterpiece digital-film contest.

The Three Minute Masterpiece (3MM) digital-film contest works like this:

Use your digital-video camera to make a film on any subject you like, as long as it's suitable for a family-newspaper audience. (No sex, violence or bad language, please.) It must be 3 minutes or less.

Here's how you enter: Make your movie. Upload it at www.seattletimes.com/3mm, and your movie will be added to their youtube playlist

Very important: If you use music, you must have permission.

Special category: Filmmakers under 18 are eligible for the J. Michael Rima award for young directors.

That's it. When you upload your video, make sure you include your name, phone number, age (if under 18) and movie title. If you are selected as one of the finalists, you will be contacted about providing a higher-resolution version of your film.

Winners will be shown on The Seattle Times Web site and at the Seattle International Film Festival. The grand-prize winner will get two full-series passes to this year's film festival. The J. Michael Award will be a special prize presented by the Rima family. Entries must be e-mailed to us by 11:59 p.m. April 20.

Source: Seattle Times