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Ivette Marques & Kristin Heilman

Tallahassee Film Festival Announces 24-Hour Contest
For Non-Filmmakers

-- November seminar provides first film instruction session for general public --

Tallahassee, Fla. – Members of the Tallahassee Film Festival announced today the addition of the 24-Hour Film Contest to the list of activities for its first annual film festival. The contest will provide the general public and local area professionals with the chance to be a part of the film process from conception to viewing by offering contestants training seminars and the opportunity to create and submit their own short film.

The contest is open to anyone in the community who assembles a team of one to five people to compete. Each team must use a commercial digital camera and common computer editing programs to shoot and edit their films. In addition, there will be two seminars – one in the fall and one in the winter – that provide instruction on filmmaking for interested contestants. The first seminar will take place on November 10 at Tallahassee Community College from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"We are very excited to offer the chance for interested members of the public to showcase their talent and creativity," said George Fernandez, Tallahassee filmmaker and volunteer for the film festival. "The Tallahassee Film Festival strives to expose existing film talent in the Southeast region and beyond, but also to provide the chance for the larger public to be a part of the filmmaking process."

The Tallahassee Film Festival is one of three initiatives borne out of the Knight Creative Class Initiatives (KCCI). The festival celebrates professional and emerging talent in the film, music and related arts industries and will be held May 15-17, 2008.

Two weeks prior to the weekend of the film festival, contestants of the 24-Hour Film Contest will be provided with a common theme for their short film and then must create and submit their film within a one-day period.

In addition to the fall seminar in November, the winter seminar will be held on April 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both the fall and winter seminars will be located in TCC Building #41 Technology and Computer Room 118 and will offer tips on script writing, filming, casting and editing. Each seminar will cost $15 per person.

To qualify for entry, all film teams must include one to five members, with an entry fee of $75 for each team. Each film should be no longer than five minutes and no shorter than three minutes, including titles and credits. No more than $100 can be spent on the production of the film. Any film received after the 9 a.m. due date will be disqualified. All films should be shot on DV, edited on PC or MAC platforms, and then burned onto DVD’s. All films in the contest will be accepted in DVD Format.

During the contest, held May 3 to 4, 2008, the winning film will awarded. The winning film will then be shown during the film festival. All entered films will be available for viewing.

"Part of the mission of the Tallahassee Film Festival is to expose the Southeast to the cinematic arts," said Fernandez. "The 24-Hour Film Contest will help make that mission a reality."

To learn more about KCCI, the Tallahassee Film Festival and the 24-Hour Film Contest, visit http://kccitallahassee.wordpress.com or e-mail kccitallahassee@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE KNIGHT CREATIVE COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE

The Knight Creative Communities Initiative (KCCI), a joint venture of The Knight Foundation and Richard Florida’s Creative Class Strategies Team, is a year-long, cutting-edge program designed for Tallahassee residents to build authentic sustainable regional prosperity. In January 2007, KCCI selected Tallahassee as one of three regions in the nation to participate in this project, primarily due to its high concentration of jobs in government and education and its consistent inability to attract and retain members of the creative sector, which renowned social theorist Richard Florida argues is the driving force of economic development. More than 30 "community catalysts" were selected to assess the region’s potential for economic growth, establish a broad community vision, and determine three key initiatives that aim to bring greater economic prosperity to the region. To learn more, visit http://kccitallahassee.wordpress.com.

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