Deadline: Reel Spirit Young Filmmaker Showcase
Date: March 01 - March 01
Description:
Celebrating local young filmmakers in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Reel Spirit is the youth alliance for AMC Kansas City FilmFest, the region’s largest film festival. Scheduled this year for April 14, there is still time to submit a film for competition. Reel Spirit was founded by local educators Barbara Noble, Becky Palmer, and Toni Travalent, each with a passion for video production as an imaginative medium for children. As today’s youth grow up in a visual age, it is Reel Spirit’s intent to encourage inventive involvement in the cinematic process. Through video production, the positive outcomes for these young filmmakers are priceless in terms of self-esteem, problem solving, cooperation, character building, and perseverance.
Reel Spirit Young Filmmaker Showcase provides an authentic competitive opportunity for young student filmmakers in grades 2-6 and middle school. These students are involved in the entire video production process, including creating, writing, acting, directing, filming, editing and producing their films. Entries cover a range of categories including documentary, comedy/drama, commercials, public service announcements, claymation/animation, and news broadcasts. Last year, Reel Spirit announced the addition of a new category, “Reel Spirit of STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), through a grant sponsored by Time Warner and its initiative called Connect A Million Minds (CAMM).
This year, independent judges, all professionals in the media and technology fields, will judge the entries and select winning productions that will be shown on the big screen at AMC Mainstreet in Kansas City’s Power and Light District on April 14, 2012. Winning filmmakers receive certificates and Oscar® style trophies, along with the full “red carpet” treatment. Young filmmakers will also have the opportunity to participate in media workshops presented by local filmmakers and professionals. Reel Spirit is open to participation by any young filmmaker in the Midwest region.
Reel Spirit is proving to be the launching pad for young filmmakers. Ginger’s Encounter, one of the Reel Spirit 2010 winning entries by filmmakers Christopher and Gabrielle Dierenfeldt, was accepted and shown at the Chicago Children’s International Film Festival in October 2010 and other film festivals around the country. Another winning filmmaker, Gigi Harris, and her documentary San Mateo, has had a profound impact on the lives of people in this town on the island of Belize. Her production has been broadcast nationally in Belize and has rallied the financial support and donations to build a much-needed road to replace wooden planks over disease-infested waters in a low-income neighborhood.
Empowering these filmmakers and celebrating their cinematic visions is at the heart of Reel Spirit. We encourage all young filmmakers out there to submit entries for this year’s showcase. All entries must be postmarked by midnight March 1, 2012. For more information about the competition and showcase guidelines, including entry form, categories and divisions, visit www.reelspirit.org, email info@reelspirit.org, or like Reel Spirit on Facebook. Could 2012 be the year that you walk the red carpet?
Location:
Kansas City