Showing posts with label short films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short films. Show all posts

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Latest Web startups for filmmakers

As the author of the Digital Filmmaking Blog I often get emails about the launch of a new film camera or filmmaking scholarhip or film training program requesting to get featured on this blog. Often I find those things overtly promotional and commercial and decide to ignore them. But I would like to list a few good web startups for filmmakers:

1. Tyro TV: tyrotv.com is a website that's intended for emerging television and filmmakers. They are sponsoring a new kind of online film festival/contest. According to the site owner,


We give young filmmakers a topic and everything they need to create their own movie -- video, music, and sound effects. Then let them create the best short film they can using these materials. Because everyone's using the same "building blocks," contestants will be judged not by their budget but on their creativity and storytelling abilities.

Their first competition is called "The Marijuana Mash-Up." For this contest, they are asking contestants to “mash up” (that is, creatively condense and re-edit) an hour’s worth of hilariously dated drug education films from the 50s and 60s to create a short campaign commercial that convinces people to vote for or against legalizing marijuana. The contest is motivated by the California initiative that'll be on the ballot this fall, but young filmmakers across the country have passionate views on this issue, to say the least! Finalists will be named late in the summer and a winner just before the election.

2. Fleetflicks: FleetFlicks.com is trying to revive the short film as both art and entertainment. It's a place for filmmakers to expose their work to an international audience. The site hopes to spread the word to a diverse viewership and combat the stigma that the short film is only for crotch-punch and cat videos. The site has been up for a few months and has gathered a lot of followers, many of whom have uploaded their short films on the site.

3. Student Film Makers of India: SFMI is a site for student film from India where they can upload their films, make their profile and network with other film makers. The website has a decent design and has got quite a few members already who have uploaded their short films and animations there.

Friday, August 29, 2008

CHIEF wins accolodes at LA Short Film Festival

CHIEF - a short film written and directed by Brett Wagner and produced by Dana Satler Hankins, has won "Best Dramatic Short" at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival on August 22nd.



Jurors included actress Sandra Oh, HBO Executive Producer Andrew Reimer, and L.A. Weekly film critic Ernest Hardy. L.A. Shortsfest is an Academy Award accredited film festival whose winners are eligible to be nominated for an Oscar in the short film categories. CHIEF was among thousands of shorts submitted to the fest for consideration.

CHIEF's winning run started in January, when it became the first Hawaiian short film ever to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. IndieWIRE declared it "one of the 10 must-see shorts of the festival."

The film received a British Academy of Film and Television Certificate of Excellence and won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short at the Maui Film Festival. CHIEF has been recently screened at the Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa.

Thanks to a sponsorship from Hawaiian Airlines, Wagner and lead actor Chief Sielu Avea were able to travel to Pago Pago and present the film to enthusiastic audiences at the quadrennial event. CHIEF's Honolulu premiere will take place in October at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

More about the movie - including styills and info available at http://www.chief-movie.com/