News

Hollywood beckons for DepicT! 2011 Winner

DepicT! proves it’s a genuine springboard to success with the news that previous winner Tim Bassford has won the top prize in The Pitch: a £25,000 budget to turn his film idea into a 20 minute short, and a once in a lifetime chance to go to Hollywood.

Last year Tim’s enchanting 90 second short The Launderette won the Shooting People DepicT! Audience Award at the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival. DepicT! is open to anyone, anywhere in the world, on any budget, and in any genre. There is only one caveat: the film must have a maximum running time of 90 seconds. That’s it – we really are looking for the shortest of the short.

Each year the shortlisted DepicT! films get priceless exposure at Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival. One of the fantastic things about Encounters are the incredible opportunities to network and speak to real industry professionals: it was this experience that proved crucial when Tim began working on his ideas for The Pitch.

The Pitch challenges up and coming filmmakers to pitch their film ideas: Tim made it to the last 10 finalists and was invited to the legendary Pinewood Studios where judges editor-at-Large of Empire Film Magazine, Nev Pierce, Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, and screenwriter Stuart Hazeldine declared Tim the winner.

Tim will now receive mentoring from filmmaking professionals who will help develop his idea, Samson, into a 20 minute short film due to be recorded during the summer. Once filming has wrapped he will fly to Tinseltown where he’ll have a private meeting with Producer Ralph Winter (X-Men, Fantastic Four) for yet more invaluable industry tips and advice.

Tim says:

Winning an award last year at DepicT! gave me such a boost of confidence and self-belief: it certainly encouraged me to dream big and has increased my ambition to want to go on and do bigger and better films. DepicT! and Encounters in general provided such a great opportunity for me to meet other filmmakers who are at a similar stage or a few stages further on – that is invaluable when you’re looking to progress as a filmmaker.

If you want a brilliant, credible place to start your career in film, I’d wholeheartedly recommend entering a film into DepicT! – it did wonders for me, and I’m sure it’ll do wonders for you too!

You too could be jetting off to Los Angeles some day: DepicT! is open for submissions now – enter your film for free online before Mon 9 July and keep those fingers crossed!

Tags: 2011, Awards, The Pitch, Tim Bassford, Trailer|