nofilmschool » competitions

Make a Dead Can Dance Music Video for a Chance to Win £3,000/$4,700 (and Additional Prizes)

Justin Minich — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:31:02 +0000

Dead Can Dance has been making their particular kind of mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful music ever since I was but a tot. After disbanding for about 7 years, they reunited in 2005 for a world tour, and last year they released their first studio album in 16 years, Anastasis. Now the band is teaming up with Genero and reaching out to filmmakers everywhere to create a music video for the opening track of the album – Children of the Sun -- and compete for a chance to win £3,000 ($4,740). (more…)

Make a Short Film in Northwest Louisiana for a Chance to Win $50,000

Justin Minich — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:00:48 +0000

Last year, 86 teams competed in the first annual Louisiana Film Prize, and one lucky team walked away with $50,000. Now, the 2013 iteration of the LAFP has just kicked off, and once again they’re offering a cool $50,000 for the best short film shot in the northwestern section of the Bayou State, as well as $500 prizes for each of the 20 finalists. Here’s the details on the competition’s rules and how to enter: (more…)

Win $1,000 from the Alamo Drafthouse by Making a No Talking, No Texting PSA

Joe Marine — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 02:14:03 +0000

Some of you have had problems with it, some of you haven’t, and some of you might even do it, but Alamo Drafthouse has a strict policy against it. What am I referring to? Talking and texting during movies of course. The Alamo is a specialty theater that serves real food and beer during the film, and they take their no talking or texting policy very seriously. There have been some great PSAs that have played in the theater and online that reiterate this policy, and now the Alamo Drafthouse is asking you to create your own PSA, with a chance to win $1,000. Check out the video below for an introduction. (more…)

Win a $10,000 Film Grant in 'The Cabin in the Woods' Spoof Horror Film Competition

Justin Minich — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:17:08 +0000

It’s that time of year when people are thinking up costume ideas, picking out pumpkins for carving, making party plans, and if you’re a filmmaker with a penchant for horror, you’re probably also thinking about making a film. And really there’s no better time to do it. Vimeo and Lionsgate are putting on The Cabin in the Woods Spoof Horror Film Competition which is offering a $10,000 Grand Prize to the best satirical or comedic horror short. (more…)

Driven Creativity Competition USA: Offering a Grand Prize of $5,000 and an 8TB Thunderbolt Hard Drive

Justin Minich — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:02:49 +0000

Hard drive company G-Technology is holding their annual contest for professional and amateur filmmakers (as well as photographers and musicians): The Driven Creativity Competition USA. Filmmakers can submit in the Short Film, Animation, and GoPro Active categories and will be competing for some great prizes, including a grand prize of $5,000 towards your next creative project and an 8TB G|RAID Thunderbolt hard drive. (more…)

Get Industry Attention with the 2012 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships and Two Other Competitions

Joe Marine — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:55:45 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is kind of a big deal – and if you’ve never heard of the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, it’s a life-changing opportunity to write a script and win a grant. We’ve also go two other fantastic opportunities for script writers: Scriptapalooza and the Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition. That’s a mouthful, but let’s see what’s so special about these competitions. (more…)

To Start a Film Career, How Important are Contests? Two Interviews with Competition Veterans

Guest Author — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:34:45 +0000

When I was 19 I was awarded grand prize in an online video contest put on by a now-defunct site named FirstEye. My music video entry (shot on a Sony VX1000, before HD, 24P, DSLRs, and After Effects made this video look primitive) won me a professional Sony video camera, which I used to shoot several successive projects — before selling it and buying a newer camera (which I’ve since done several times). Winning that contest gave me more confidence to keep pursuing film as a bona fide career, and every project I’ve shot since has been with that camera or its successors — including The West Side. In my own experience, contests offer a great opportunity to jump start a career. With this in mind, the following is a guest post by David Hinds, from video hosting platform Vzaar. They recently announced this year’s video festival winners. (more…)

Discount (Free if you Hurry!) Entries to the 48 Hour Guerilla Film Competition

Ryan Koo — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:01:38 +0000

I’d mentioned the 48-Hour Guerilla Film Competition in the past, but the competition has beefed up their prize package a bit and is now offering NoFilmSchool readers a limited number of free registrations (and an unlimited number of discount entries). The contest, which features a $5,000 grand prize, runs May 13-15. As you can guess from the name, entrants are given 48 hours to write, direct, shoot, and edit their entry to a given theme. If interested, here are some more details and the link for free entry: (more…)

Upcoming Contests and Opportunities for Filmmakers and Artists

Ryan Koo — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:14:51 +0000

As long as you’re not surrendering exclusive rights in the process, contests can be a great way of gaining exposure and/or funds. In my own case, I won my camera (since exchanged for a newer model several times) in a music video contest, and I bought my laptop with grant money. Here are several upcoming opportunities for screenwriters, video makers, and other artists:

Zooppa will pay you 0.001% of what your winning ad is worth

Ryan Koo — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:16:42 +0000

Zooppa is an interesting site, deeming itself “people powered brand energy.” Wait, that sounds pretty… ugh. So basically it’s a bunch of people using their creative energy to create spec work for brands looking for original ideas? Don’t they have overpriced agencies for that? (more…)

Screenwriting competitions: Page, BlueCat

Ryan Koo — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:12 +0000

Two upcoming screenwriting competitions, The Page International Screenwriting Awards and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, share a deadline of April 1st (and a submission fee of $60). Page’s grand prize is $25,000 and BlueCat’s is $10,000. As with any contest, read the fine print. These opportunities are often great for money and/or exposure, but some of them also have draconian legalese attached, so be sure you’re not surrendering too much, like exclusive rights in perpetuity, or your firstborn child.

Does anyone know of a centralized resource for filmmaking competitions and grants? I’ve certainly benefitted from such opportunities — I won my camera in a competition and bought my laptop with grant money — and so I’m looking for a decent competition/grant calendar to share with others, but I can’t find one on the ‘net. If there isn’t a good calendar for filmmakers out there, I may have to scrape one together. Thoughts, anyone?