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Life in a Day. One World, 24 Hours, 6 Billion Perspectives.

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

lifeinaday

An Historic Cinematic Experiment

On Saturday 24th July, filmmakers all over the World are invited to capture a glimpse of the World through their eyes.  The most “compelling and distinctive” footage will be edited together into an experimental documentary film directed by Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald. The project is called “Life in a Day” and aims to create a record of one day in the life of the planet’s population.

What’s more, if your contribution is chosen and appears in the final cut, you will be credited as co-director alongside Scott and MacDonald. The film will premiere at Sundance in January 2011 and it will be available to view on YouTube.

You can film anything you like, in any style you want.  Nothing should be considered too mundane or too profound as subject matter.  It’s not every day you get the chance to be part of history and co-direct a film with a Hollywood giant.  So, what are you waiting for?

Check out the website for full guidelines and submission details.

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MPS Live Action Short Film Program at SVA

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

    MPS_logo_for_white

    The one-year degree program in which students earn a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) features an intensive studio-based approach to short, narrative film production. Led by industry professionals, the program emphasizes the creative, critical and technical skills essential to the working filmmaker in today’s marketplace. The program is chaired by award-winning television and film director and longtime SVA faculty member, Bob Giraldi.

    “Many established and successful directors, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, first began by making short films—it served as a way for them to hone their craft and gain entrance into the industry,” says Giraldi. In addition to the opportunities that short film has historically provided, the changing media landscape has helped to vitalize the genre, as Web sites and mobile device platforms have created increased outlets for short films.

    “The short film is a vehicle for experimentation with new technologies and offers a freedom of ideas that cannot easily be realized in a longer format,” Giraldi explains. “Digital media and editing equipment have made the genre an accessible, economical way for filmmakers to articulate ideas that might otherwise be deemed too challenging or untenable.”

    Working alongside professional casting agents, actors, cinematographers, location scouts, stylists and editors, students in the MPS Live Action Short Film program have the opportunity to explore every aspect of short filmmaking—from the conception of an idea to the creation of a script, to casting, budgeting, directing, filming, editing and marketing the final product—in a program that mirrors the real-life experience of a professional independent film production. The program culminates in a thesis-based short film festival at the SVA Theatre in New York City.

    Additional details about the program can be found at http://mpsfilm.sva.edu.

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    ÉCU partnership with Naperville Independent Film Festival

    Thursday, July 1st, 2010

      napervillefest

      ÉCU is happy to announce our new partnership with Naperville Independent Film Festival

      The mission of the Naperville Independent Film Festival is to promote, encourage, and inspire local and international filmmakers, future filmmakers, and those passionate about the film industry, while encouraging cultural tourism and film industry development in and around Naperville, Illinois.

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      G-Technology by Hitachi launches Driven Creativity Awards

      Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

      gtechcreative

      Aspiring and professional filmmakers can have their unique work recognised and rewarded by entering G-Technology’s Driven Creativity competition

      With a grand prize of €5,000 up for grabs, online entry is available through the G-Technology website. The competition celebrates creativity across not only the film sector but in music and photography too.

      Entrants will be rewarded not just for the aesthetic qualities of their work, but for the dedication, invention and drive that has gone into creating it.

      Entrants’ work will be part-judged by G-Technology’s ambassadors, including ECU’s very own President and Founder, Scott Hillier and ECU 2010 shortlisted Film Director, Charles Haine. Click here to see Charles revealing what he’ll be looking for in competition entrants.

      ‘Jury members will contribute their expert advice and feedback throughout the entire entry and judging stages, with exclusive video and blog content on G-Technology’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr channels.’

      As well as awarding successful entrants with innovative G-Technology drives and the overall winner with €5,000, the best entrants will be showcased at a week-long exhibition in London’s famous Brick Lane Gallery on November 16-22.

      Good luck!

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      Scott’s June Festival Update

      Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

      scottlouisa

      With a lot of Europe preparing itself for a nice long summer break we seem to have stepped up a gear and had an incredibly busy month here at ÉCU this month – and the cool thing is that there appears to be no end in sight as we head down various roads and avenues at warp speed!

      Last week I was joined at the London Film Academy by Lousia Mayman (director of ÉCU 2010’s Best Student Film) for an ÉCU 2011 presentation and the screening of Lousisa’s film, The Highest Low. It was a great night and many thanks to Anna and Daisy from the LFA, the attending students, Lousia as well as to G-Tech who supplied 2 of their fantastic drives as lucky door prizes.

      While in London I also met with Elliot and Julian from The Raindance Festival – keep an eye on this space for some interesting news regarding ÉCU and Raindance in the near future!

      Then it was off to Italy for the Corto in Bra film festival. Bra is the ‘slow food’ capital of Italy and has been hosting the festival for 9 years. While the food was slow (the service sometimes matched) the festival’s organizers were right on the ball, the atmosphere was fabulous and the ‘official selection was invigorating. Italian cinema isn’t what it was, that’s for sure, but what a pleasure to see a new wave of Italian filmmakers coming up and pushing boundaries again. The outdoor screenings on warm and sultry nights in cobbled Piazzas in front of responsive audiences is a memory I won’t forget for a while!

      Submissions are continuing to come in at a good rate and clips from them will soon be available on ÉCU’s viemo site – check ‘em out and leave your comments! If you have a film that you’d like to submit go to www.ÉCU filmfestival.com where it’s simple and easy!

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      IX Open St.Petersburg Student Film Festival BEGINNING

      Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

      beginning

      B E g i n n i n g

      IX Open St.Petersburg Student Film Festival
      October, 1 – 6, 2010, St. Petersburg, Russia

      St.Petersburg Filmmaker’s Union invites you to take part in IX Open St.Petersburg Student Film Festival ‘Beginning’ which will be carried on October 1 – 6, 2010 in St.Petersburg, Russia. 69 film schools from 39 countries presented their works in our last festival program. The deadline for submissions this year is July 15.

      Festival program includes:

      • competition program

      – Main Competition (short student fiction, documentary, animation and experimental films)
      – special competition programs

      Nominations:
      Grand-Prix
      Best Fiction Film
      Best Director’s Work
      Best Script
      Best Camera Work
      Best Sound Supervisor
      Best Documentary Film
      Best Animation Film
      Best Experimental Film
      Best Film in Special 5-minute-length Fiction Film Competition.
      Best Film in Special Social Commercial Competition

      • non-competition and retrospective programs
      • master-classes
      • round tables
      • presentation programs of film schools and international student film festivals
      • art exhibitions

      We will be very glad if you are interested in participation.
      We look forward to see your films!

      Go to the festival website to see its Regulations, Entry-Form, program and members of the jury – www.festival-nachalo.ru/eng

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      ÉCU Alumni: Christian Delavie @ Cannes

      Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

      Tof 4-2

      I get to the Short Film Corner right after they open the gates to the Palais des Festivals. And I mean right after—I’m the first one there. The first thing that hits me is great space we’re allotted. Walls for posters, slots for postcards, a conference room, cafeteria and additional wings for screening booths and rooms. There was one just one thing that didn’t quite fit–not a single staff member was present. I mean, the place was a desert. Problem was, I didn’t know how many posters I was allowed to put up. Nor did I have any tape with me. I say this because at Palm Springs, they tell you exactly how many posters you’re allowed, what size they’re supposed to be– everything. And the staff is in charge of putting them up. Thinking this was Cannes, I expected at least that much. Anyway, I rush back out and start asking people working the accueil where I can find a papeterie. No one really knows, nor do they have tape. I pursue my questioning outside and eventually find a Monoprix near the train station. I buy some pate-a-fixe and get back. One hour later, the short film corner is still a desert, except for a few posters hanging on the walls. Still not knowing if I’m allowed one or two posters, I decide to put both up as best as I can. One on the main wall, the other by the water fountain in the cafeteria. I decide to head upstairs and check out the feature film market. I get back to the corner by 1130. Finally, staff members! I ask one help out with my poster on the main wall (as I did a terrible of job putting it up). Anyway, he helps me out right away. Quick look around, there are more filmmakers present—the place looks a little more lively. I go out, have lunch, come back to the Riviera portion of the Palais, talk to a friend of mine there and come back. It’s 1600 hours. My poster on the main wall is gone, replaced by someone else’s. A sudden rush comes over me. I keep it in check. I walk over, peel to top end of the intruder’s poster back, being careful not to damage it. I verify to make sure he didn’t just paste it poster over mine. There’s just a white expanse of wall behind it. My poster had been removed. I find the staff member who helped me earlier on and ask him what the hell happened. He looks genuinely distressed and says that yes, he saw my poster being taken down. By who, I ask. His boss, he says. My thigh muscle starts jumping. I ask if I can speak to him. The staff member takes me over to the bar and calls him. Sure enough, the”boss” comes out. I ask him what happened. He says something to the effect that each short is only allowed one poster. I tell him that maybe if he would have been around at 0900 he could have told me that in person. I follow up with a “Couldn’t you have called me at least?”. All I get is another mumbled response. “And why did you take off the poster on the main wall?” I pursue, “Why do you think I dragged my ass out here early? What were you trying to do–punish me? Set an example? Look tough?”. He starts answering, I cut him off, “I don’t care–you have to fix this. Now”. We walk back up to the main wall and get to work taking the other guy’s poster down but the thing was practically glued to the freaking wall. There was no way to remove it without tearing it. In the end, he took my second poster off the wall by the water fountain and put it on one of the main walls, way towards the top—clearly not as advantageous a spot as where the previous one was.

      And that was day one.

      There’s more.

      I start watching some of the short films in the viewing booths. One of the movies in the competition officielle has sound synchronization issues. Another is spoken in Hebrew without any subtitles whatsoever.

      Alarm bells starts ringing—maybe my short film’s got a problem. I check it out and ca ne rate pas—the sound is completely off.

      I go back to find the manager. He puts me in touch with the “computer” department. I meet their “boss”. She says they’re going to do everything they can as soon as they can. But she remarks on the strangeness of it all—that they had checked every single film and nothing had been wrong.

      Strange indeed.

      In the end, they did fix the problem—but this resulted in my movie being out of action for four entire days.

      And last, but certainly not least–for those poor souls who brought people in to watch their films inside the screening rooms—you could hear the movies from the adjacent rooms as clearly as theirs.

      I’d been warned about this by two other filmmakers.

      And this was only confirmed by my own personal experience there and what an up and coming producer said during a conference, that Cannes, is a terrible short film market.

      But all that said, there were some good points—the free alcohol at Happy Hour, the fact that I met some production/distribution company CEOS, sales reps, and other serious directors and producers. Except for the person in charge of the short film corner, the rest of the staff was great (despite the fact that they were only interns being paid fifty cents an hour…) and the festival threw us a fantastic party on Friday night—quite honestly one of the greatest, classiest parties I’ve ever been to. I say one of the greatest parties I’ve ever been to because of one small detail—the alcohol ran out at two in the morning.

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      ÉCU 2010 Filmmaker Louisa Mayman at LFA

      Friday, June 25th, 2010

      Louisa Mayman at LFA from ecufilmfestival on Vimeo.

      We had an amazing ECU presentation last night at The London Film Academy with Louisa Mayman (winner of ECU 2010’s Best Student Film).

      Lousia’s story of recovery from a car accident (which broke her into a zillion pieces) is a truly inspirational story and I break out in goose-pimples every time I hear her tell it..

      The audience loved it.. and I think that Lousia enjoyed the opportunity to talk about how her film got to be made :)

      Many thanks to Anna, Daisy and the rest of the LFA team for making possible. I can’t wait to welcome them to ECU 2011 in Paris – and hopefully hosting a LFA workshop during the festival.

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      Winner of the Festival 2010: Das Kind

      Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

        Winner of the Festival 2010: Das Kind from ecufilmfestival on Vimeo.

        Winner of the Best European Independent Film Festival 2010, Das Kind directed by Yonathan Levy. Check out this revisited moment at the peak of our awards ceremony!

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        Faces of the Festival

        Thursday, June 17th, 2010

          G-Tech ECU Festival Compilation filmed on Canon EOS 7D

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