Love is a Doing Word
Another new microbudget scheme has been launched, this time just over the border. iFeatures, a partnership between South West Screen and BBC Films, is looking for projects that have a Bristolian vibe and can be made for around £300k. The web site is actually very informative and is definitely one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen for a scheme like this – but somehow I missed the roadshow in Cardiff when it came around. I actually have a couple of projects that could really work for this, so I’ll be putting an application together for 85 Films.
What Can a Slumdog Possibly Know?
The Cardiff film festival that successfully picks the Best Picture winner at the Oscars every year is back for a, er, second year, and they’ve announced the full programme here. Last year’s inaugural festival beat the hype with an early screening of Slumdog Millionaire, while this year’s closing film will be Bunny & The Bull. Probably not an Oscar contender, but a film that features a lot of stars of British TV comedy from Mighty Boosh director Paul King, so hopefully worth a look. There’s also a programme of workshops and masterclasses, and other events. Its focus is on the role of music within film, hence the festival’s title.
If you’re interested in how the festival came about, here’s the original call out for ideas for the festival from the Film Agency for Wales, though to be honest, it doesn’t give too much away. Apart from how much money was on offer.
Our Dream Was Short
A quick festival update – 17 will screen at next year’s Swansea Bay Film Festival, hopefully I’ll be able to make it along to see the film on a big screen.
Clermont Ferrand, which I think is the world’s biggest short film festival, is now closed for entries, and you can see details of all the films submitted by looking through their web site (there’s a lot of them). They list all UK films by country, and there’s ten submissions from Wales, including Shed Convention from Big Font. Large Spacing producer Vivien and writer/director Paul. All the films submitted are available to view in the video library of the market during the festival, so even if you’re film isn’t selected for screening, someone might still see it and maybe even buy the rights. We’ve entered 17, and as this was the first festival I wanted to enter, I’m hoping we’ll be selected. I don’t think it’s really their sort of thing, but you won’t know unless you try.
I went to Clermont Ferrand in 2007 – it was the first film festival that I’d been to overseas and it was a great experience. Driving to the airport in a left hand drive Opal Zafira with a brutal hangover after the last night was a particular highlight. There are more shorts there than you can shake a stick at, so it’s worth going to just for the screenings. There’s other events there that were run in the French language, so I couldn’t take part, but if you’re interested in seeing a lot of the best short films from around the world, it’s the place to be.
Get a cheap flight while you can.
Student Masterchef – The Video
The first in a series of videos highlighting the student experience to promote the forthcoming release of Big Font. Large Spacing. Feel free to pass it on via your favourite social networking sites (click the ’share’ link under the video) or email this link to your friends.
Good News For Short Film in Wales
This week has seen the launch of the Digital Shorts Wales scheme. Finally, a new short film scheme in Wales with some decent budgets for the films, apparently between £7k and £13k. They’re accepting submissions from writer/director/producer teams, as well as individual applications from writers and directors. The deadline for applications is the 16th November.
There’s a lot of talent in Wales who have desperately needed this scheme for a long time, so fingers crossed that the finished films will reflect the potential of the people here. Get your applications in. There’s a mentoring element to the scheme that will hopefully be very useful.
On a side note, reading through the guidelines, I’ve noticed that “only original and newly-composed music or pre-cleared library music (cleared for all formats) can be used”. So take out that bit in the script where the protagonist drives down the street to the Stereophonics. Please.
