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11th Mar 10
RodneyThe Third Babelgum Online Film Festival Calls for Entries, with Independent Filmmaker Network Shooting People.
Online and Mobile Audience and International Jury to Award Cash Prizes in Four Categories.
Short Film Submissions Begin March 11th and run through March 28th.LONDON / NEW YORK (March 11, 2010) – In response to the success of its previous editions helmed by Oscar-nominated director Spike Lee, Chairman Emeritus of the Jury, independent web and mobile video content platform Babelgum is pleased to announce the call for entries for the 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival (BOFF3).
This year’s BOFF will feature simultaneous mobile and online viewing and voting by the global public in four categories. As part of the festival, Stolichnaya Vodka will present the inaugural Stoli Vanguard Award.
Acclaimed filmmakers and industry experts including writer/director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, The School of Rock, Me and Orson Welles), writer/director Sally Potter (Orlando, Yes, RAGE), director/producer Annie Sundberg (The Trials of Darryl Hunt, The Devil Came on Horseback, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work), producer Eric Watson (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), and director/curator Jason Wishnow (Oedipus, Director of Film & Video, TED), will be among those serving as Jurors for the Festival. Awards will be presented in four categories with additional Jury members to be announced soon.
The Babelgum Online Film Festival was created to celebrate and reward the very best in international independent short filmmaking by providing exposure and cash awards. With its non-restrictive submission guidelines and international visibility, the Festival supports and encourages emerging talent and continues to provide a unique venue for filmmakers to showcase their craft.
For this year’s edition, Babelgum has partnered with Shooting People, the world’s largest network of independent filmmakers, to reach its 35,000+ global membership and the two million plus constituents of its partner organizations.
The Stoli Vanguard and BOFF3 Award Winners will be announced at a screening and cocktail reception in New York City in late April.
Karol Martesko-Fenster, SVP & General Manager of Babelgum’s Film Division, stated “The first two editions of the Babelgum Online Film Festival made an impressive debut with filmmakers, the entertainment community, and audience members around the world. We are very excited to be launching the 3rd edition of BOFF and are honored that Stolichnaya Vodka has demonstrated its commitment to independent film by agreeing to partner with us. We are looking forward to highlighting the deserving work of filmmakers around the globe including those in Shooting People’s extensive professional community”.
From London, James Mullighan, Shooting People’s Creative Director, said: “Shooting People has greatly admired the opportunities offered to undiscovered independent filmmaking talent by the Babelgum Online Film Festival’s previous two editions. As such, we are delighted to be so heavily involved with the third edition of BOFF, and will be exhorting our members to enter, and get amongst the generous prizes”.
Entries for BOFF3 will fall under four categories, with no restrictions on production year or whether the film has been previously distributed or entered into any offline or online film festival. Films with running times up to 15 minutes are eligible:
- Animation – includes stop-motion, anime, hand-drawn, CGI, paper-cut, or any other animation form (five minutes maximum);
- Narrative – includes story-based, fictional live-action films in any genre (15 minutes maximum);
- Non-narrative – includes live-action artists’ film and video (five minutes maximum); and
- Documentary – includes observational, presenter-led, narrated, real-life storytelling (15 minutes maximum).
The Babelgum Online Film Festival will award the following prizes:
- The Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award will be presented to new or emerging filmmakers who display clear and outstanding achievement through direction, animation, writing, and/or camerawork in any of the four categories.
- The Audience Awards will be given to an outstanding film in each category receiving the highest number of votes determined solely by the voting totals from the global online and mobile Babelgum audience.
- The Best Viral Short Award will be given to an outstanding film with ‘viral’ potential and a running time of under five minutes. The winner will receive a ,000 cash award.
- The Jury Awards will be given to an outstanding film in each of the four categories, determined by members of the Jury. Four first-place winners will receive a ,000 cash award and four second-place winners will receive a ,000 cash award.
- The Grand Jury Award will be given to an outstanding film in any category, chosen by members of the Jury. The winner will receive a ,000 cash award.
Submissions will be accepted starting today until 11:59 PM GMT on March 28th, 2010.
Further information about the submission specifications and regulations, including deadlines for viewing and voting, are available here.
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About Stolichnaya Stolichnaya is a premium Russian vodka, known for its award winning flavor, impeccable clarity and sleek, sensual undertones. Long considered a trailblazer in the vodka industry, Stolichnaya is a brand constantly on the verge. Stolichnaya was the first imported Russian vodka, the first to launch flavored line extensions and one of the first to debut a super-premium offering. The Stolichnaya portfolio includes Stolichnaya Red, Stolichnaya Blue, the super-premium Stolichnaya Gold and the ultra-premium elit by Stolichnaya. Stolichnaya’s naturally flavored vodka portfolio currently includes Ohranj, Blueberi, Razberi, Vanil, Citros, Cranberi, Peachik, Strasberi, Blakberi and Gala Applik.
About Shooting People Shooting People is the world’s largest networking organization dedicated to the support and promotion of independent filmmaking. Over 35,000 members in the UK and US share tips recommendations and news using Shooting People’s website, the nine Daily Bulletins to get their films cast and crewed, and individual Member Profiles to exhibit themselves and their work to their peers, the industry and the world. Founded in 1998 by filmmakers Jess Search and Cath le Couteur, Shooting People’s patrons include Mike Figgis (Founder Patron), Sally Potter, Morgan Spurlock, Christine Vachon, Michael Nyman, Penny Woolcock and Jason Solomons.
About Babelgum Babelgum is an integrated web and mobile video content platform free for users and supported by advertising available on-demand to a global audience. Babelgum Mobile is an original application currently available in the United States, the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and soon other countries which brings regionally tailored programming to smart phones – at present iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, Google Android G-Phones 1 and 2, Nokia (N96, N95 and 6210) – via 3G and WiFi. (babelgum.com/mobile).
Babelgum’s programming is comprised of exclusive original productions as well as independent and mainstream titles. Babelgum’s content partners include, among others, EMI, Sony Music, The New York Times, PBS, BBC, VBS, Lonely Planet, Coolhunting, National Geographic, Funny or Die, T5M, Shine Limited, Cinetic Rights Management, Content Republic, Gong Anime, WorkBook Project, Reverse Shot, Shooting People, Film Independent, Power to the Pixel, and the Spirit Awards as well as the Encounters, Los Angeles, and Hamptons film festivals. The company has also set up a series of online contests to nurture independent film, music, and art talent: the Babelgum Online Film Festival, the Babelgum Music Video Awards, and the Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize, chaired respectively by Spike Lee (BOFF1 &2), Michel Gondry, and Isabella Rossellini. Babelgum is an independent and privately held company with offices in the United States, the UK, and Italy.
For further information contact:
Andrea Giannotti
Babelgum Media Relations Director
UK +44 7825 892 640
andrea.giannotti@babelgum.com
