Speed on Film… The 24 Hour Film Festival

3rd Annual Orlando 24 Hour. Film Festival Returns May 14th, 2011 at the Enzian
Theater.

Professional filmmakers and College film students from all over Central Florida will come together May 14th for the third annual Orlando 24 Hour Film Festival (O24HFF) for the $2,000 grand prize. The wildly successful event made its debut in 2009 and received attention from press in multiple states, not to mention filmmakers’ state-wide.

The goal is to gather together and bring to the surface some of Orlando’s most talented filmmakers, by challenging their creativity on an entirely new level. Participants have 24 hours to write, film, edit, and direct a 3-5 minute short film. If this sounds like an easy task to you, think again. Last year, out of the 65 teams that signed up, only 57 teams managed to actually get their films submitted on time.

Teams will meet prior to 9am at the Enzian Theater on Orlando Ave. on Saturday, May 14th. Each team will receive a packet with rules, regulations, and instructions for the festival. There will be a “Required List,” which includes: 2 genres (one must be selected), 15 items (3 must be selected to appear somewhere in the film), and one line of dialogue, which must be used in the film. Each team will have a “team leader” who will receive the packet at 9am, and the clock will start. Each team from that point will have 24 hours to get their film finished and back to the Enzian Theater by 9 am, May 15th.

The completed films will then be viewed by a panel of judges who will select the top 24 films to be shown on May 21st at the red carpet screening. The awards ceremony will be held Sunday May 22nd at 11:30am, where the winning films will be announced. The films will also be shown on the WMFE (PBS) TV stations throughout Central Florida.

The 24 Hour Film Festival is not only a competition, but is also seen as a valuable opportunity for networking. “You never know who you may be talking to” said Film Festival President and Festival Producer Michael DiCarlo. “One thing I have learned about the film industry is that we do not have a particular look or identification.”

As further incentive, there will be a grand prize of $2,000 and a trophy, 2nd place cash prize of $1,000 and 3rd place prize of $500, not to mention 8 more categories, each of which will be awarded a trophy and merchandise prizes from various sponsors. Categories include best director, cinematography, actor, actress, screenplay, high school film, college film, and general public film.

For more information, or to register for the Orlando 24 Hr. Film Festival, please visit (www.Orlando24hourfilm.com)