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New Time Warner Cable contest opens doors for filmmakers

Time Warner Cable short film contest

Submissions due Oct. 31
youtube.com/timewarnercable

By Jeremy Lu

Sept. 30, 2010 12:13 a.m.

For the indelible mark it has left on our culture, it is hard to imagine that just a little over five years ago, we were without YouTube. In the span of little more than half a decade, the site has shown a knack for creating Internet sensations by way of viral video.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the site has increasingly acted as a breeding ground for up-and-coming auteurs to showcase their work to an immediate and large audience. This particular aspect of YouTube caught the eye of Time Warner Cable, who, for the first time, collaborated with IFC to create the Time Warner Cable Short Film Contest in Association with IFC.

“We are very excited … for aspiring filmmakers to really show what they can do,” said Jeanette Ciscineda, a Time Warner Cable spokesperson.

The contest accepts two-to-five minute submissions, uploaded onto Time Warner Cable’s new YouTube channel, from filmmakers countrywide. The contest’s deadline is Oct. 31, with four grand prize winners receiving trips to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, among other perks.

While short film contests are inherently built into IFC’s nature, for conglomerate Time Warner, the competition is a foray into completely new territory.

“This is a great way to get in touch with our customers and provide them with something that they find useful,” Ciscineda said.

The catalyst for the independent filmmaking contest may very well have come from Time Warner’s consolidated power.

“This time around, as part of a sweepstakes, we just decided, what better way to use Sundance Film Festival tickets than to give them away to the people that would enjoy them the most, which is aspiring filmmakers?” Ciscineda said.

Judge Matt Singer, the IFC News host, said that the shorts will be critiqued primarily on creativity, quality and content.

“My only expectation is that the films will be short,” Singer said. “Other than that, I’m remaining totally open-minded.”

For its part, IFC, a seasoned veteran in all things independent filmmaking, helps lend credibility to the contest in the form of its hand-selected judges. The panel of judges mirrors the variety that the contest strives for in its submissions.

Judges, including Singer, horror film director Ti West, indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg and IFC and Sundance Channel President Evan Shapiro, will help narrow the field of candidates down to 25 finalists. The final videos will then be posted on Time Warner Cable’s YouTube channel from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16 for fan voting.

“The idea is to have this contest for independent filmmakers and be judged by the experts in the industry,” Ciscineda said.

“That’s the reason you don’t see Time Warner Cable executives serving as judges for this sort of thing.”

Singer says students should not be intimidated by the caliber of judges.

“I’d absolutely encourage people without film school training to submit,” Singer said. “You only have to look online to find hundreds of interesting shorts from people with no professional training.”

Prospective filmmakers can take comfort in Singer’s words of encouragement. Carolina Ortiz, a fourth-year theater student, is excited by the chance to make a short documentary and have its message be heard by a large audience.

While she is intrigued by the contest’s Sundance prize, there would ultimately be more at stake for Ortiz.

“I think I would be more interested in my work being recognized and helping a cause,” Ortiz said.

Singer echoes these sentiments, citing fellow judges and directors Swanberg and West as another reason to enter the contest.

“If I were thinking about entering the contest, the chance … to introduce myself to them through my work would be almost as big a motivation as the chance to go to Sundance,” Singer said.

For Ortiz, the contest’s use of YouTube is encouraging. Still, she doesn’t know whether or not YouTube’s role in democratizing filmmaking can be seen in an entirely positive light.

“Nowadays, everyone can view a movie, and before, it was really difficult to videotape something and get it to all the people,” Ortiz said. “Nowadays, everyone can make it. So I think it’s good, but how do you define what is good filmmaking or not?”

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Jeremy Lu
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