As an independent filmmaker it's sometimes very difficult to choose the best venues for getting your work in front of the public. Film festivals are an obvious choice, but those $25, $50, and sometimes $100 entry fees can really add up. Think about, how many shorts have you produced digitally for less than $180?
The entry fee is $30 and the due date for entries is Feb 21, 2011. The thing that makes the festival so interesting is just how specific the guidelines are. Chances are you'll need to make something specifically for this festival. That's an advantage, in my mind, over spending a fee for a festival that your horror, drama or comedy may or may not fit into. Another plus, if you're an impatient person such as myself, is the date of the festival itself. The Orlando Festival of Chocolate is being held, March 5th and 6th, so not a lot of wait time to find out which films will be screening. Heck in just about 5 weeks the festival will be happening. That's stupendous in my book. No waiting around 6 months to find out what happened with your gem.
The movie must relate to chocolate and involve a known or original fairy tale. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to have time to make one myself. Depends on how the miniatures shoot for "The Simplest Things" goes this weekend. For more details and to print the entry form go to http://orlando.festivalofchocolate.com/
Oh, one more cool thing for you newer filmmakers, the festival entry form ALSO includes release forms for talent, music and locations. Read them carefully to know what you're having people sign. Also take into account that you need these types of releases for any and all films you plan to use for festivals.
So, you want to look for unique opportunities well suited to your work. For some of you reading this, The Festival of Chocolate Film Fest (The Chocolate covered Fairy Tale Film Competition) will be just what you're looking for in terms of a creative outlet. Better hurry though, there's not much time.
The entry fee is $30 and the due date for entries is Feb 21, 2011. The thing that makes the festival so interesting is just how specific the guidelines are. Chances are you'll need to make something specifically for this festival. That's an advantage, in my mind, over spending a fee for a festival that your horror, drama or comedy may or may not fit into. Another plus, if you're an impatient person such as myself, is the date of the festival itself. The Orlando Festival of Chocolate is being held, March 5th and 6th, so not a lot of wait time to find out which films will be screening. Heck in just about 5 weeks the festival will be happening. That's stupendous in my book. No waiting around 6 months to find out what happened with your gem.The movie must relate to chocolate and involve a known or original fairy tale. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to have time to make one myself. Depends on how the miniatures shoot for "The Simplest Things" goes this weekend. For more details and to print the entry form go to http://orlando.festivalofchocolate.com/
Oh, one more cool thing for you newer filmmakers, the festival entry form ALSO includes release forms for talent, music and locations. Read them carefully to know what you're having people sign. Also take into account that you need these types of releases for any and all films you plan to use for festivals.
I am in agreement with much of what you said here in regards to the potential for the Chocolate Covered Fairytales Film Competition.
ReplyDeleteI had to also consider if I had enough time to submit.
My initial ideas for the story were to include a 2D Dragon. It was not entirely clear to me that I could "put together" this Dragon and write music and film
(with new camera that I had not yet used).
But I forged forward once I had a reasonable Dragon to work with.
Very glad that I did. The films selected to advance to the final round were shown at the Cinedome screen at the Orlando Science Center.
It was a great experience viewing the video on a big screen and having a large audience feedback.
I was fortunate enough to have won the "Fan Favorite" vote and win the competition.
The video is now posted at Vimeo for those that have an interest;
http://www.vimeo.com/20744124
Thanks
That was fantastic. The 2D Dragon had a perfect fantasy look. That along with the greenscreening of the backgrounds and castle interiors really gave it a story book feel. Good work.
ReplyDeleteSorry so late in returning back but thank you very much for the compliment on the video. As I posted earlier - I had a great time putting this video together for the Festival. The organizers of the Festival wanted to see how a Film Festival could help promote and enhance the Festival. They seemed content with the response and mentioned wanting to do this again next year. They realized that 1st time Film Festival ideas may take some time to root. There were some very good submissions but I suspect that the "product placement" aspect in the requirements may have limited the overall response from the "Film" community in central Florida. The overall experience was very good and the marketing people I interfaced with were very professional and supportive of the Film Festival. I would surely submit again next year and would encourage others to do so as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the thoughtful review.
Ya, trying to tie-in chocolate is a bit of a challenge, but it shows a skill not every writer/director has: An ability to work on something for someone else. In other words, while making your own movie is creative and artisitic and a skill in and of itself, being able to be creative in a commercial way, for a client is an specific version of that skill.
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