LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Women In Film LA, ReFrame and IMDbPro (http://www.imdbpro.com), the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, today announced the CURBSIDE SHORTS Two-Minute Film Challenge, inviting female and non-binary filmmakers from North America to create and submit for free a short film inspired by life while sheltering in place. What have you discovered about yourself, home, or neighborhood? How do you envision the future coming out of this pandemic? Have you imagined a new character or superhero? Or perhaps been inspired by a real life hero working on the front lines? The contest launches Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at NOON PDT at https://audpop.com/womeninfilm/curbsideshortsfilmchallenge and all submissions must be received by Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at NOON PDT.
“The filmmaking community was hit immediately, and hard, by the COVID-19 crisis, with the loss of thousands of jobs in the first week due to halted productions, and job losses are ongoing,” said Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director, Women In Film Los Angeles. “In the spirit of keeping filmmaking alive, and to capture this moment of profound interconnectivity, the CURBSIDE SHORTS Two-Minute Film Challenge supports female filmmakers during this crisis by providing an opportunity to stay productive, creative and inspired in this time.”
The MPA has stepped up with $10,000 which will go directly to COVID-19 charities. Commenting on their support, John Gibson, Vice President, External and Multicultural Affairs said: “During these challenging times, it’s important that we keep the fire of creativity burning – and we’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with Women In Film and ReFrame to support efforts providing much needed relief to creators until the industry gets back to work.”
Audiences will have one week to vote for their favorites on the submission platform, AudPop, a video network that connects diverse filmmakers to opportunities to help change the world. Audience voting opens May 26, 2020 at NOON PDT and closes June 2, 2020 at NOON PDT. Registration is required to vote and there is no cost.
The finalists will then be reviewed by a jury of ReFrame Ambassadors and established industry professionals including Maria Bello (actress/”NCIS”), Cara Buono (actress/“Stranger Things”), Marta Cunningham (director, actress), Nisha Ganatra (director/LATE NIGHT), Catherine Hardwicke (director/TWILIGHT), Barbara Kopple (director/AMERICAN DREAM), Col Needham (founder and CEO of IMDb), Tanya Saracho (writer, director/”Vida”), and Kim Yutani (Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival) who will vote for one grand prize-winning film to get a $5,000 cash prize, a first runner-up to get a $2,000 cash prize and three additional films to each receive a $1,000 cash prize. The five winning films will be featured on the homepage of IMDb, the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, and receive a one-year membership to IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, to help filmmakers continue achieving success in their careers.
Filmmakers will have one week to write, shoot, and edit a two-minute short video following social distancing guidelines. All genres are welcome: drama, comedy, horror, animation, documentary or a hybrid. Filmmakers can employ smart phones and/or DSLR cameras, animation, lighting, camera equipment, and editing tools as available “at home” to create a short film. There is no cost to submit.
Click here for more information and to submit your short film: https://audpop.com/womeninfilm/curbsideshortsfilmchallenge
About Women In Film, Los Angeles
Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF L.A.) advocates for and advances the careers of women working in the screen industries—to achieve parity and transform culture. Founded in 1973, Women In Film supports all women working in film, television, and digital media, from emerging to advanced career. Our distinguished programs include: mentoring, speaker and screening series, a production training program, writing labs, film finishing funds, legal aid, and an annual financing intensive. Women In Film advocates for gender parity through research, education, and media campaigns. Women In Film honors the achievements of women in Hollywood through the Legacy Series, annual Emmy and Oscar parties, and our signature event, the Women In Film Annual Gala. Membership is open to all media professionals, and more information can be found on our website: www.womeninfilm.org.
About ReFrame
Founded and led by Women In Film, Los Angeles and Sundance Institute, ReFrame is an initiative that employs a unique strategy, a peer-to-peer approach, in which ReFrame Ambassadors engage with senior industry decision-makers at over 50 Partner Companies to implement ReFrame programs. The initiative’s goals are to provide research, support, and a practical framework that can be used by Partner companies to mitigate bias during the creative decision-making and hiring process, celebrate successes, and measure progress toward a more gender-representative industry on all levels. For more information download the ReFrame Culture Change Handbook or visit ReFrameProject.org.
ReFrame is made possible by support from The David and Lura Lovell Foundation; The Harnisch Foundation; Hulu; IMDbPro; Mercer; the Women at Sundance Leadership Council: Ruth Ann Harnisch, Katy Drake Bettner, Barbara Bridges, Abigail Disney, Suzanne Lerner, Cristina Ljungberg, Ann Lovell, Pat Mitchell, Susan Bay Nimoy, Patty Quillin, Brenda Robinson, Kimberly Steward, Lynda Weinman, Jenifer Westphal, and Jacki Zehner; Delta Air Lines; Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation; and an anonymous donor.
About IMDbPro
IMDbPro (http://www.imdbpro.com) is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals. This membership-based service includes comprehensive information and tools that are designed to help entertainment industry professionals achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro offers members the following: detailed contact and representation information; tools to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including the ability to select their primary images and the credits they are best “known for”; exclusive STARmeter rankings that are determined by page views on IMDb; the IMDbPro app for iPhone and Android; IMDbPro Track, which empowers members using the app to receive personalized entertainment industry news and notifications on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient tool that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. Additional IMDbPro services include Box Office Mojo (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/), the leading online source of box-office data. IMDbPro is a division of IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/), the #1 movie website in the world with a combined web and mobile audience of more than 200 million monthly visitors. Follow IMDbPro on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/imdbpro/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/imdbpro/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/imdbpro).
About IMDb
IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and IMDb X-Ray on Fire TV devices. IMDb also offers a free streaming channel, IMDb TV, and produces original video series. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit www.imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.
About the Motion Picture Association
The Motion Picture Association, Inc. (MPA) www.motionpictures.org serves as the global voice and advocate of the film, television, and streaming content industry. It works in every corner of the world to advance the creative industry, protect its members’ content across all screens, defend the creative and artistic freedoms of storytellers, and support innovative distribution models that bring an expansion of viewing choices to audiences everywhere and on any screen.
The association’s members are: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Netflix, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO.
About AudPop
AudPop is the video network for brands. We provide brands a way to easily obtain the video they need and increase digital marketing ROI. We offer an engaging video marketing platform powering turn-key video. Brands use AudPop to crowd-source addictive, gorgeous video content at scale from our award-winning diverse global filmmaker collective. Submissions are juried by the brand, entertainment industry, and voted on by the world. We democratize entertainment by connecting our filmmakers to fans and brands and providing opportunities such as cash, prizes, distribution and festival screenings. AudPop has worked with many brands including Southwest Air, GoDaddy, Hilton Worldwide, Better Business Bureau, SONY, KODAK, and DELL. AudPop has a community of 70K global filmmakers, 10K short films on platform, and has operated over 500 online film festivals, video contests, and film challenges.