News Tagged ‘Competition’

DepicT! 2013 Call for Entries

We’re delighted to announce that DepicT! – Watershed’s super short film competition – is once again challenging filmmakers across the world to create a masterpiece in just a minute-and-a-half! Whatever your budget, whatever your genre, we want your shorts: simply enter for free online and be in with a chance of winning £1500 prize money, a slot on Channel 4, invaluable industry exposure, and other exclusive prizes.

Every year, the shortlisted DepicT! filmmakers are given the opportunity to network at Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (17-22 Sept 2013), the UK’s longest running competitive short film and animation festival held right here in Bristol. While at the festival they get priceless exposure to distributors, producers, funder, exhibitors, other filmmakers, and enthusiastic fans of the short film format.

DepicT! is now in its fourteenth year and prides itself on the quality of its little gems, not to mention the quality of the filmmakers who submit them. Previous DepicT! winners have had their work screened at international film festivals, been picked up by commercial distributors, and carved themselves strong and successful careers in the film industry – even being recognised as Stars of Tomorrow by industry magazine Screen International.

Why 90 seconds? Because it will challenge you to think creatively and to cut ruthlessly. More importantly, it will get you and your work noticed. As Anna Ginsberg, one of the DepicT! winners from last year, said: “DepicT! is a great format in which the time constraint is in many ways liberating”. Some of the other DepicT! filmmakers and judges shared their thoughts on the 90 second format in this short film we made last year at the DepicT! showcase during Encounters:

Mole Hill, who scooped the top £1,500 cash prize for their film The Fat Cat at DepicT! 2012, said:

“The competition was incredibly strong and varied in both style and content. There’s something about the 90 second format – longer than a commercial, but shorter than a short – that seems to bring out a really high level of invention and experimentation in all the filmmakers.”

DepicT! accepts films from anywhere in the world, from any genre, and it’s totally free to enter. The one and only caveat is that your short film must be 90 seconds or less. That’s it! So what’s stopping you? Pack your tiny film with masses of creativity and send it to us.

You have until Mon 8 July 2013 to upload your little gem to us, giving you plenty of time to read the rules and get a short bit of inspiration by checking out our archive of 13 years of teeny, tiny shorts. Who knows – maybe next year we’ll be telling everyone to watch your creation for inspiration?

Tags: Competition|

DepicT! ’12 Shortlist Now Live!

We would like to start by thanking all filmmakers that have submitted their shorts into DepicT! this year.

A staggering variety of entries were received from all over the globe from Brazil and Ethiopia to Germany and Hungary and we very had a difficult job in selecting the shortlist. We received a record number of entries (over 600 from more than 30 countries!), and now the shortlisted films for DepicT! ’12 are all available for your viewing pleasure.

These 15 tiny films have been selected stood out for their ability to be hugely distinctive, imaginative and engaging. They are all in the running for the four prestigious prizes, which will be announced during the Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival (Tue 18 – Sun 23 Sept). These include the main DepicT! Award of £1500, the British Special Mention Award and the Shooting People Audience Award, as well as the brand new DepicT! Random Acts Award, which gives one lucky winner the chance to have their film screened on Channel Four’s popular weeknight programme Random Acts.

The Shooting People Audience Award is where you come in – watch, vote, and comment on the shortlisted films online to help determine the winner!

The DepicT! ’12 films will have their big screen premiere on Sat 22 Sept at 15:30 at the ever-popular DepicT! Showcase at Watershed, Bristol, as part of Encounters. The DepicT! showcase gives everyone a chance to see the films in a cinema setting, meet the talent behind them and find out more about the competition. Tickets are on sale now so snap them up to see these super shorts in their full splendour!

Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (Tue 18 – Sun 23 Sept) is now in its superb 18th edition. Join us over six days of action-packed programmes to discover today’s best and brightest short filmmaking talent and more. For full details of all Encounters events, delegate registration and to purchase tickets online go to encounters-festival.org.uk

Last but not least, if you are a young filmmaker aged 21 or under, or part of an organisation working with under 21s, we’re delighted to invite you to submit your films to Electric December, an online advent calendar showcasing shorts by new talent from all across Europe.

The deadline has been extended to Fri 28 Sept so if you want to submit your short film (this time five minutes or less!) head on over to electricdecember.org now. Previous winners have received travel bursaries to attend the BUFF Young Peoples’ Film Festival in Malmö, Sweden – and we have some similar treats in store for whoever wins this year – good luck!

Tags: Competition|

DepicT! 2012 Judges Announced

We are delighted to announce the stellar judging panel for DepicT! – Watershed's super short film competition part of Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival.

The judges are Chris Auty (NFTS), David Sproxton (Aardman Animations) Karen Alexander (Royal College of Art), Ravi Amaratunga (Channel 4), Will Massa (British Council), Sarah Chorley (Shooting People) and BAFTA nominated Karni Arieli (Karni+Saul) whose short Flytopia premieres at this year’s festival.

Creatives worldwide were challenged to come up with distinctive, imaginative and engaging shorts in just one minute and a half. With a record number of entries – 650 from 32 different countries whittled down to a shortlist of 15, the judges will have the difficult task of choosing winners for the main DepicT! Award of £1500 as well as the British Special Mention Award, a tailored package of career development opportunities from NFTS, BAFTA, British Council and Shooting People for a UK-based filmmaker.

For 2012, we join forces with Channel 4 to introduce the brand new DepicT! Random Acts Special Mention, which the Jury will also select. This is a fantastic opportunity for one of the shortlisted filmmakers to win a slot on Random Acts, Channel 4’s short-form arts strand that airs every weeknight.

Editor Ravi Amaratunga says:
“We’re delighted to be offering this unique opportunity for the very best creative filmmakers out there. Random Acts is absolutely committed to showcasing the most brilliant creative short bursts from all over the world to a mainstream UK TV audience and cannot wait to see what the high calibre of entrants to DepicT! have to offer.”

All will be revealed; there are just few weeks to go until the shortlist goes live on depict.org on Mon 3 September for everyone’s viewing and voting pleasure as part of the very popular DepicT! Shooting People Audience Award.

The tiny shorts get their big screen premiere at the ever-popular DepicT! Showcase (Sat 18 Sept, 15:00) at the 18th Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival (18 – 23 September) one of the world’s leading showcases and meeting points for emerging talent. The winners will be announced by members of the Jury later on that evening at the festival’s prestigious Award Ceremony. After the festival, the winning films will also be digitised by Arts Alliance Media and made available for theatrical screenings at cinemas across the UK.

Maddy Probst, DepicT! Producer comments:
“A staggering variety of entries were received from all over the globe from Brazil and Ethiopia to Germany and Hungary. The range of styles, subjects and ideas expressed in these shortest of shorts never ceases to amaze me. The jury has a tough job ahead of them!”

DepicT! is a Watershed project part of Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival sponsored by Aardman Animations and Films@59 with support from BAFTA, British Council, NFTS, Arts Alliance Media, Channel 4, Shooting People, in partnership with the Independent Cinema Office.

The 2012 DepicT! Jury:

·      Chris Auty – Head of Producing, NFTS
Former film critic Chris Auty has produced films including Stealing Beauty, My Summer of Love, In This World and 24 Hour Party People and is currently Head of Producing at NFTS. He sits on the governing board of the European Film Academy and has just launched a new course (EPCRI), backed by the NFTS, Ingenious Media, and Sir Richard Branson.

·      Will Massa – Film Advisor, British Council
Will is Film Advisor at British Council, working to promote new British work internationally. Will is also Development Co-ordinator for Rankin Film (the new film wing of photographer, Rankin) overseeing their recently launched Collabor8te Shorts Scheme.

·      Karen Alexander – Senior lecturer, Royal College of Art
Karen Alexander is currently a senior tutor in the RCA's Curating Contemporary Art department. Prior to that she worked as a film curator and freelance consultant on film exhibition and distribution.

·      David Sproxton – Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Aardman Animations
David is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Aardman. Together with co-founder Peter Lord, he has overseen the development of the company from a two-man partnership to one of the pre-eminent animation houses in the industry.

·      Karni Arieli – Filmmaker / Photographer
Artists Karni+Saul direct films and music videos and their film 'Turning' was short-listed for the best film short in the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and shown in several festivals, including Encounters Short & Animation Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival and the LA Shorts Fest.

·      Sarah Chorley – Operations Director at Shooting People
Sarah has worked for independent production companies like Slate Films, Signal Films and Living Cinema and the London Disability Film Festival and Cambridge Film Festival.

·      Ravi Amaratunga – Media Project Manager, Creative Diversity Editor, Random Acts / Channel 4
Ravi works across short form at Channel 4 running Channel 4’s late night zone for short films ‘The Shooting Gallery, its weeknightly arts strand Random Acts and commissions short form factual for the channel.

Tags: Competition|

DepicT! 2012 Call for Entries

Filmmakers worldwide: we need you! DepicT! ’12 challenges you to get creative in just one little minute and a half. Whatever your budget or genre, we want your super shorts – you can enter for free online and be in with a chance of winning £1500 prize money, invaluable industry exposure, and other exclusive prizes.

Read more »

Tags: Competition|

DepicT! ’11 Call For Entries

We’re very excited to announce that DepicT! is once again challenging filmmakers across the globe to show their stuff in just a minute and a half. Whatever your budget or genre, we want your super shorts – enter for free online and be in with a chance of winning £1500, priceless industry exposure, and other exclusive prizes. Read more »

Tags: Competition|

Success Continues For DepicT! ’10 Filmmakers

We’re extremely proud that DepicT! ’10 filmmakers Kiron Hussain and Aidan McAteer have continued their run of super-short filmmaking success with some well-deserved recognition at UK and international film festivals.

Read more »

Tags: Competition|