Teen Film Contest submissions open
The 21st Annual Idaho Teen Film Festival is taking online submissions for this year’s competition. The festival is put on by the East Idaho Falls Rotary Club, and is for participants ages 13 to 19 across the state. The submission period is now open, and the deadline to enter is midnight on April 13. There is a $20 entry fee per film submitted.
Entry is limited to those films made and produced by Idaho teenagers, and will be judged by a panel of industry professionals. Over the years, the festival has drawn the interest and participation of hundreds of Idaho kids, and more than $50,000 has been awarded. Previous winners have gone on to work within the film and television industry both regionally and nationally.
There are seven categories in the competition, including action/drama, comedy, sports, short subject, commercial, documentary and music video.
The festival was designed to show local students that there is support for their efforts in the media landscape, and to provide a venue for expressing themselves in the visual art forms they are interested in pursuing. Filmmakers will have the opportunity to attend a workshop conducted by professionals within the field, and to have a “red carpet experience” the night of the ceremonies on May 3.
The film festival will be held at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls. That morning at 10, there will be a workshop taught by professional filmmakers for the teenagers who entered the film festival. Prizes such as microphones and lights will be given away at the workshop.
There will be a red carpet event at 5:30 p.m., and a screening of the winning films will begin at 6:30 p.m. The films will be shown inside Hillcrest High School’s Performing Arts Center. The public is invited to attend the free showing.
“We really want to pack the auditorium at Hillcrest for these kids,” event organizer Alex Purcell said. “It’s cool for them to see their movies on the big movie screen, but it’s cooler when we got hundreds of people seeing their film on the big movie screen. It’s pretty impactful for these kids.”
Sponsorship opportunities for the film festival are available. Contact Purcell at [email protected] for more information.
For more details on the film festival itself, including how to submit films, visit https://www.idahoteenfilmfestival.org/.
Best in Show prize is $1000, and each category Best in Show winner receives $300.
