Alternative to Sundance evolves into year-round institute for
TV, film and game production
The Slamdance Film Festival has become much more than a
platform for aspiring independent filmmakers. As the event has grown, it’s
embraced other areas of the industry by holding competitions for hopeful game
developers, teleplay and screenplay writers.
Teenager Grows Up
As proof of its mounting status with independent filmmakers, the event,
which will take place concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 18-27 in
Park City,
Utah, received a record number of submissions
for its 13th edition.
“Each year the amount has gone steadily up, but we saw a double digit
jump this year,” said Peter Baxter, Slamdance president and co-founder. Last
year the organization received about 3,000 submissions, while 3,600 films were
submitted this year. Both figures are a huge increase from the 48 submissions
received the first year of the event’s existence. The festival will screen 29
features and 73 shorts, Baxter said.
“That’s as many as we can show,” he said. “If it got any bigger, we would
start to lose contact with the filmmakers.”
Slamdance strives to assist filmmaker in getting to the next step in
their careers, whether that means finding an agent or distributor or being
invited to show at other festivals. And it does have its success stories. Chris
Nolan showed his film, “Following” at Slamdance and the next year “Momento” was
screened at Sundance. Submitted to the screenplay competition in 2003, “Neo Ned”
was presented at the 2006 Slamdance as a film.
Films submitted must have been made with a limited budget, usually less
than $500,000, by a first-time director without distribution. The process begins
in June, when the organization puts a notice on its Web site. Baxter said that
the films are viewed as they arrive; however, no decisions are made until
November when all of the finalists are chosen at once. The judges, who are
filmmakers themselves, are looking for a film that resonates with them, one with
a voice that sets it apart from the others.
Although the event predominantly features American films, one-third of
this year’s submissions were international.
“We’re not exclusive,” Baxter said. “The majority of independent films
are made in the
U.S.”
More Than Just
Movies
In its third year, the teleplay competition is also gaining ground as
more than 600 scripts were submitted. Three finalists will be chosen and attend
the festival. The winner, which will be announced at the awards ceremony Jan.
27, will win the chance to write another script for Fox21 and be paid between
$35,000 and $45,000, according to standards of the Writers’ Guild of America.
All three finalists also will have the opportunity to travel to
Los Angeles and take part in a pitch
session with Fox21.
“They’ll (the winner) be working with Fox21 and getting paid for it,”
said Slamdance President and co-founder Peter Baxter.
However, there is no guarantee the script will be turned into a
pilot.
As the gaming industry has continued to expand, the organization has
added a gaming element to Slamdance. Also in its third year, the Guerilla
Gamemaker Competition gives promising game developers the opportunity to
demonstrate their work and win some prizes. A jury of five industry
professionals will chose the winner of the Grand Jury Award, while audience
members will get to vote for their favorite. There’s even a student competition
and the winner will be awarded a fellowship with the
University of Southern
California’s Game Innovation Lab. The only catch: in
order to submit, the games must actually be able to be played.
Year-Round Endeavors
But Slamdance is more than a week-long festival for industry members. The
organization is evolving into a year-round business through events such as
Anarchy, a monthly online short film competition, as well as its screenplay
competition. The submission process occurs during the spring and summer months.
The Top Ten scripts are recognized and Slamdance conducts readings of them
throughout the year.
“It attracts a general audience and industry members and it gives the
writer a chance to hear their script read for the first time,” Baxter said.
