Prize suggestions for a film fest?
 

I'm organizing a film festival for shorts, and I'd like to hand out some interesting prizes. So, I'm wondering - if you were making a short, and you won a Best Film award at a festival, what would be a satisfying prize for you?

I've been thinking about producing a short for the winner, because, for a lot of directors, the producing is the boring part. How would that be? A great script, written by a real writer, a real DP with real equipment, good actors and finesse editing - what do you think?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Those iPads seem to be the flavor of the month. Throw in some cinematographic related software to make it even cooler and you should have something worth competing for.

Andrew

Yeah, except they'll wind up on Ebay in a month, being sold for half price. I'm trying to find something that you can actually do something with.

A lighting kit? Because light and its use makes all the difference. When you've shelled out for a camera and good microphones ... lighting is what you next aspire to.

For bonus points, throw in some one-on-one lighting tutoring from a real live DP.

Andrew

Production funding is offered by some short film festivals. Making the short eligible for Oscar nomination is a prize that some festivals offer to their award winner.

Often directors of shorts aren't into camera and lighting equipment, they tend to want something that will help progress their career or their film.

That's what I'm thinking. A lot of people already own their own equipment. I want to come up with things that help move their career down the road. That's why I'm thinking that if I produce a short for them, with excellent resources, so that they have something really, really superb on their reel, that might make a difference for some people. I happen to love producing and for a lot of directors, having someone onboard to pull all the resources together, and get it through post, would make a real difference.

And yes, to making it available for Academy consideration - that's a great suggestion.

Career consultation with an experienced Director/Producer? They might not like what they hear, but realistic advice from an industry veterans would help.

If they are of the writerly persuasion, maybe a talk with a script consultant? Gift card to Learn Screenwriting, Creative Writing, Movie Making & Filmmaking. I think filmmakers should at least take a whack at writing - I think us little indie guys (and gals) usually write our own scripts, so learn to write.

Some of the production software, like Gorilla (I'm fogetting the name)?

Not to be too far off topic, I always thought it would be great prize to do a short film with really good character actors, and maybe a good veteran DP.