Representatives from Campus MovieFest (CMF) distributed film equipment to students at a stand in the University Student Union on Wednesday for use in a week-long challenge that invites students to show their film-making talents.
The challenge is to produce and edit a five-minute film in seven days with an Apple Inc. laptop and high definition camera, provided by CMF.
Entrants could potentially receive recognition from Hollywood producers.
Online applications for participation closed Wednesday when the CMF’s moviemaking period launched. Equipment will be handed out from noon to 3 p.m. in the USU.
Submissions are due Oct. 11, and will later be judged by a panel of Cal State Long Beach students, staff and faculty.
According to CMF promotions manager Diane Payes, the 2011-12 fiscal year marks CMF’s 11th world tour. It is the world’s largest student film festival, with more than 75,000 students participating in the 2010-11 world tour.
Today, it visits 75 universities nationwide.
This is the fifth year CMF has searched CSULB for competitors.
“We’re excited to be back,” Payes said. “We’re open to anyone, not just students with a film degree.”
CMF submission categories include Best Picture, Best Drama and Best Comedy.
People entering in the category of CMF Elfenworks Social Justice Category can win up to $20,000 in cash grants. These short films are expected to explore issues such as poverty, equality and other social injustices, according to Payes.
“On Monday, Oct. 17, the top short movies will be shown at a red carpet finale at the Carpenter Center and top winners will advance to Campus MovieFest in Hollywood next June,” Payes said.
Doors open at 7 p.m. and screenings will begin at 8 p.m.
“It’s the most exposure you could get out of any student film festival in the world,” said Alex Perry, Bridgewater State University graduate.
Perry won awards in the CMF competition two years in a row. His film “Scrabble: The Motion Picture” won Regional Best Comedy in 2009 and his film “Grow Grass Grow” won International Best Comedy in 2010.
To further spread the word of CMF, Perry and his friend Evan Charest, an actor in Perry’s latest “secret” film, occasionally threw hockey puck-shaped stress balls at passers-by in the USU.
While not contractually obligated to spend their afternoons promoting the CMF to CSULB students and faculty, Perry and Charest agreed that it was an honor to give back to the organization that had helped launch their careers.
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