Call For Entries: Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival
Philadelphia…April 25, 2012. Project Twenty1, a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization, has opened its call for entries for live-action and animated shorts, features, and music videos for the annual international Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival.
Judges for this year’s Festival have not yet been released, but past judges include Aaron Parry (The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, The Last Airbender, Thor), James Rolfe (Angry Video Game Nerd), Mike Mayfield (The Cleveland Show, American Dad), and Deborah Twiss (KickAss). Unlike the traditional film festivals model where there is one artistic director viewing and selecting all of the films, a panel of at least 21 rotating volunteer community screeners make all of the Official Selections of the festival. “As a fellow filmmaker and animator, I know how frustrating it is to submit to festivals that only seem to curate their friends work,” says Project Twenty1 Executive Producer, Stephanie Yuhas. “We put the power of curation into the hands of the community to keep selections unbiased.”
In addition to accepting pre-existing work, Project Twenty1 runs the 21-Day Filmmaking Competition, an international contest where Teams of animators and filmmakers must create an original short based on a common secret “Element” in only three weeks. On July 28, 2012, Project Twenty1 will host its annual free “Launch Event” in Philadelphia for the 21-Day Filmmaking Competition as a way for filmmakers and animators to meet musicians, actors, writers, crew, and volunteers to help them with their production. Non-local teams are encouraged to find eager partners on Facebook via Project Twenty1’s networking “mascot”, Susie Filmmaker.
“Birds of a feather flock together, which is why most animators hang out with other animators, actors tend to know a lot of other actors, etc.” says Matt Conant, Project Twenty1 Artistic Director. “We’ve created a platform to allow for cross-disciplinary team building to help creatives get their foot in the door, get screened, and create lifelong partnerships. We want people to utilize our mailing list of fellow artists to create the best shorts possible.”
All films completed within the guidelines of the 21-Day Filmmaking Competition and all Official Selections of the Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival will receive a theatrical debut and Red Carpet event Top 21-Day Filmmakers will also have a chance to receive DVD distribution, awards, prizes, and a national festival tour. “Top films are also submitted to screening partners on our filmmakers’ behalves, which saves filmmakers time and money,” says Aislinn Tomchak, Project Twenty1 Event Coordinator.
“I participate in the 21-Day Filmmaking Competition every year,” says Team Drop the HAT leader Jason Heffner. “It’s the best thing I could have ever done for my film career.”
“I’m blown away by the number of festivals I’ve gotten into since becoming an Official Selection,” says Michael Licisyn, the Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival’s “Best Feature” of 2010. “Project Twenty1 got me a huge article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I’ve been getting phone calls from agent and sales reps – I can’t express my thanks enough.”
