As a college town, Ypsilanti, Michigan, is filled with potential and promise in each one of the students that reside here, especially the Film majors who are so dedicated to expressing their ideas through their movies.
So, to bring them out of their shells and get their work out there to be seen by people that can critique it, there is finally an outlet. SeeFlik is the new online film festival and competition, free of charge. SeeFlik’s Media Contact, Zach Rosenfield, calls this competition “an essential destination for emerging filmmakers and innovative storytellers.”
The idea is to encourage young filmmakers to create and submit pieces to SeeFlik and have them judged in two separate competitions. One is based solely on audience voting, American Idol-style, and another will be a selection based on a panel of judges selections.
This year’s panel of judges includes Michael London (producer of Academy Award winning “Milk” and “Sideways”), Suzanne De Passe (discovered the Jackson 5), Angelo Pizzo (screenwriter of “Hoosiers” and “Rudy”), Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon” screenwriter), Keir Pearson (screenwriter of “Hotel Rwanda”), Luis Guzman (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) and Robert Mark Kamen (“Taken”, “The Fifth Element”, and “The Karate Kid”).
Both competitions will feature a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner, each of which will receive a cash prize, and an overall winner who will win $20,000. However, it’s not only a cash prize incentive. If selected, the winners will be shown to major talent agents. So, not only is it a way to get a film out there for people to see, it is also an opportunity to network and make connections. Also, this competition is based completely online, making it easier for more internet surfers to have access to the competitors’ submissions.
According to their 2011 press release, SeeFlik’s David Greenblatt said, “SeeFlik puts in one place a great forum for emerging filmmakers to be discovered. Before SeeFlik, it took much effort to get a film shown to an industry audience. Now with SeeFlik there is a unique showcase providing easy access for talent to have their work seen by buyers and sellers.”
This competition/film festival has films from genres across the board, spanning from documentaries to musicals to horrors, which makes any filmmaker eligible. While many of the submissions come from film schools all over the country, do not be discouraged. SeeFlik wants to encourage students from all 50 states to join in.
Eligibility to enter the SeeFlik festival depends solely on being a student or an alumnus (five years or less) of an accredited undergraduate or graduate film program at a college or university. The competition opened Sept. 15, 2011, and is open until 11:59 p.m. Jan. 8, 2012. Winners will be announced on Feb. 29, 2012. If you think you’ve missed you chance, this is a competition that happens twice a year. However, the dates for the next entry time has not yet been released.
If you are interested, contestants are not limited to only one film entry. They may enter as many as they would like, and they also retain full rights to their films.
Submissions will be shown online until March 31, 2012. If you have anymore questions or are seeking more information on the SeeFlik Film Festival and Competition, please visit SeeFlik.com.
