Deadlines for Vancouver filmmaking contests approaching

Think you can you change the world in just five minutes or write a 10-minute script worth $30,000?

Spring is full of opportunities for those of you ready for your big break in Vancouver.

But if you’re interested, you’d better get your creative juices flowing. The deadlines for two short film contests—the “5 Minutes to Change Your World” documentary film contest and the “Hot Shot Shorts Film Contest”—are fast approaching.

This week marks the return of Five Minutes to Change Your World, a contest that hopes to promote social change and create a socially conscious community through independent filmmaking.

This Saturday (March 28) teams will begin shooting their five-minute films, which must be completed in just seven days, and are expected to show the impact their topic has on the community. The films must also offer possible solutions, or explain how it has “changed” their world.

Last year’s first place winner, “Guerrilla Gardens: Can You Dig It?”, focused on people reclaiming urban public and private spaces for gardening in creative ways. “Following Foster”, the story of a homeless, drug-addicted man who created and sold over 15,000 pieces of art in Vancouver, won second place. Taking third place was, “RAK the World”, a feature story about group of school kids doing random acts of kindness throughout the city.

This year’s first place winner will receive $1000; second place, $750; and third, $500. A screening of this year’s films will be held on April 18 or 19.

Teams can register until this Friday (March 27) by filling out the online application and paying the registration fee ($125). This year, filmmaker Hossein Fazeli, National Film Board of Canada associate producer Catrina Longmuir, and the Celluloid Social Club’s Paul Armstrong will be the judges deciding which videos have the most impact.

Speaking of the Celluloid Social Club, which holds monthly screenings at the ANZA Club, the group is also launching their third annual Hot Shot Shorts Film Contest, which is open to all willing participants.

Contestants must simply submit a script, no longer than 10 pages (ideally about 10 minutes long). No need to make it fancy quite yet as just the bare scripts are going to be judged on their ”˜filmability’ and scripts used last year can be resubmitted.

Five finalists will be selected and the winner will be given about $30,000 to produce the film.

Submit early and save money as entry fees go up the later the script is submitted ($30 to $50). The first submission date, for the early birds, is next Wednesday (April 1). The regular deadline is Wednesday (April 22). There will also be an extended deadline (May 27) and a last call deadline (June 17 or 24).

Visit the Celluloid Social Club Web site for full details.