Friday, December 18, 2009
A few weeks ago, Fede Alvarez uploaded his short film Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack) to YouTube and now the viral video hit - which has 1.75+ million views to date - has landed him a U$30 million dollar movie deal. The 31-year old Alvarez made the five minute film for U$300; it depicts an alien invasion by giant robots and flying spaceships on Montevideo which is the capital of Uruguay.
“I uploaded (Panic Attack) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of emails from Hollywood studios,” he told the BBC’s Latin American service BBC Mundo. “They sent me emails that said ‘Now that we’ve seen what can be done with 300 dollars, let’s see what you can do with 30 million,” Alvarez told Agence France-Presse.
Alvarez sorted through a number of offers and has chosen to work with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to develop a feature-length film which will be set in his native Uruguay and neighbouring Argentina.
Making a short film is a great way to get noticed. Many people specialize in making short films, and that’s an art in itself, but some people use them as a springboard to making a feature film. Depending on how they approach the situation, it can be to either showcase their talent to big name players so they can land a Hollywood-type deal, or raise enough money to fund an independent full-length feature film.
Alvarez’s success via YouTube is reminiscent of Canadian-South-African director Neill Blomkamp, who landed a deal to make his 2009 sci-fi hit District 9 after first winning attention with the six-minute viral video short Alive in Jo’Burg. Another director who recently made a short film which morphed into a full-length film is Shane Acker who made 9. It too has a Canadian connection as it was animated by Toronto-based Starz Animation. View the original short and poster. Both Blomkamp and Acker’s shorts provided the genesis for their features, but Alvarez has noted that his feature won’t likely be based on the premise of his short.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
2009 marks the tenth anniversary of the Bitfilm Festival which is dedicated to films created digitally. This year it takes place online at bitfilm.com and in the real world cities of Hamburg and Tel Aviv from August 20th to October 1st.
Bitfilm’s founder Aaron Koenig says:
“It was always important for us to be present not just on the internet, but also in the real world. We wanted to create an annual ritual for our community so they could meet face to face, exchange ideas and party. All films can be watched via internet, the voting process relies on the internet community. This would not have been possible seven years ago. Today, broadband connections and fast computers for playing videos are taken for granted. However, an event in the real world can never be replaced. Nothing compares to a good chat at the bar about the films and a wild party with other film maniacs.”
The judging categories have been altered somewhat. Originally, they were structured by technique, but have now been simplified. For example: The 3D SPACE category now features 3D animations and realtime demos. The FX MIX category now includes films that mix various techniques like live action, 2D and 3D animation digitally and the previous stand-alone FLASH category has been folded into it. The MACHINIMA category has films which have been shot live inside computer games or virtual worlds. And finally, the MOBILE category has been eliminated, the reason being that most submissions now play well on handhelds.
The Five Competition Categories:
- 3D SPACE - Open for films of all genres which are entirely computer generated, using 3D animation software.
- FX MIX - Open for films of all genres which mix various techniques digitally, eg. 3D animation, 2D animation and live action.
- MACHINIMA - Open for films of all genres which are shot live inside a computer game or a virtual world.
- REALTIME - Open for animations generated in real time by EXE files, so called demos.
- POLITICOOL - A new category open for digital animations or mash-up videos with a political message.
Bitfilm has placed no size or length limits on submissions which were due by July 1, 2009. People can enter as many films as they like. There’s no entry fee. Acceptable entries include artistic works as well as music videos or commercials. Entries cannot be sent by mail; all files must be uploaded. Acceptable formats include formats Quicktime, MPEG and Windows Media.
There will be a pre-screening process by the Bitfilm team. Accepted submissions will be placed on the Official YouTube channel. The public will view them and vote for the winners from August 20 to September 24, 2009. The rating process will have a sliding scale for each film: 0 to 5 stars to a film, 5 stars being the best rating. Active promotion and recommendation of entries is permitted. Members who vote will also be eligible for prizes. Read the full Competition Guidelines.
The winner in each category will receive 2000 Euros. Addtionally, each nominated film will be available on the free cover-mounted DVD on September 2009 issue of 3D World Magazine. Those selected for inclusion will receive a free copy of the magazine.
