Welcome to Winterfilm – an annual month-long short film competition established in 2013.
Here it is, we’re entering our second decade of furious filmmaking finesse with Winterfilm XI! Teams will be going up against each other creating the best short films they can. The best of the best will walk away with trophies in the usual filmmaking and acting categories.
As part of the new decade, we’re changing things up a bit. This year, teams are getting ONE MONTH to write before production begins, then the traditional month to film. The schedule is as follow:
DEC 1st: Registration Opens. There will again be 30 slots, first come, first served.
JAN 1st: Launch Day! Teams will be given the Theme and Prop, and writers can begin their work. NO PRODUCTION MAY OCCUR YET.
UPDATE: This year’s writing elements:
THEME: “Parallels”
PROP: A Compass (directional, or writing tool)
FEB 1st: Production Launch. Teams will be given a special prompt/item/something that MUST BE IN THE FILM. This will not impact your story, but it’s the only way we can ensure all teams are on the same playing field.
MAR 1st: Completed films turned in.
APR 20th: Screening/Awards Ceremony at the Woodward Theater, OTR Cincinnati.
Another note – this year we’re adding an award for “Best Original Song“, as in the past there have been some killer tunes written for the films that weren’t necessarily done by the main composer.
READ THE RULES!!! This is imperative as it outlines the allowable length of project, acceptable file formats, and administrative expectations. If you remember nothing else from that doc, remember this: 10 minutes max length (including credits), shoot in 24p, widescreen format.
Note – When you register your team, you are agreeing to the Team Leader Agreement, so read that bit of the registration form.
Deadline is 11:59pm March 1st. via our UPLOAD PAGE. Films must be completely uploaded by the deadline.
About Winterfilm XI:
As always, we’re excited to see what teams come up with this time around. This competition has generated some great films in the past, some that went on to success at film festivals all over the country. Winterfilm follows the same simple concept – you’ll have two months to make the best film you can. No genres, no required lines of dialogue or characters, no insane rush – just a theme, a prop and the rest is up to you.
Each film will be judged by the following criteria:
Narrative strength
Character development
Quality of direction and acting
Quality of production
Adherence to the project parameters