Monday

DIY Film Festival Pushes Pause

Dear DIY Filmmakers.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we've decided to suspend the film festival for this year. 

We're hunkering down and figuring out what we need to figure out, editing, re-editing and rethinking our master plan.

FIFTEEN YEARS!!!!



That's a long time. Older than most cars on the road.  Older than most studio executives' tenure. We've had successful Festival screenings across LA and Hollywood, from the Egyptian theater in Hollywood, to AFI and more often at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.


We've had a number of people go on to success from their DIY filmmaking roots, people who've gone on to direct feature films, commercials, television - and when they take the time to write to us, point out that we were part of their journey. Winning their first award sometimes puts them on a path they didn't think they could have made.



When "the cost of making a film is as much as a pencil and piece of paper, then we'll find true art."
  

So sayeth avante garde filmmaker Jean Cocteau.  
We appreciate the thought...


But at the moment, we're a completely online film festival, and shifting over to Film Freeway did not give us the same kind of exposure or simple access that the folks at WithoutABox did - which is not a complaint or criticism, just an observation...


In the past we've had contestants from across the globe; New Zealand, Australia, India, Nepal, Iran, Ukraine, Israel, France, Italy, Germany, England, Canada.. not to mention entries from across the US, from film school students to professionals (Thomas Dolby) who had a piece of work that didn't fit into any known category but was a "do it yourself" enterprise.


We applaud you filmmakers.  You made films about artists, films about composers, about ice cream addiction, comedies about life and death, full length features about murder, mayhem - sometimes made with friends and family, but all of the festival finalists and winners demonstrated examplary story telling skills. (Take a look at any of the films linked on this page - all of them worthy of notoriety and applause.)

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While we retool, rethink, and go forward, we encourage filmmakers to do the same. Retool, rethink - don't let fear of success stop anyone from doing what they were meant to be on the planet to do.  Scan through some of these posts, see if there's something that will inspire future artistic endeavors and dropping the fear of starting a film.




We'll catch you on the flipside. (Or later on this year once we figure out where to land this plane).


THANK YOU DIY FILMMAKERS! Until then...


From the folks who brought you the DIY Film Fest