True North Film Festival

Your little film on the big screen!™

The Summer cycle of competition is ON!

The deadline for application turn in is on Friday, June 13th for the next round.

Current jackpot = $120
plus
A $200 coupon towards equipment rental courtesy of Lowing Light & Grip!

Competitive films are due on Wednesday, August 27th by 7:00 PM at the Wealthy Theatre. Come on out and watch a free movie at the WMFVA Fourth Wall event that night too!

The next True North Film Festival Screening is:
Friday, September 5th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM)

The Mission:
To provide filmmakers with an opportunity to hone their skills through friendly competition in order to stimulate growth, creativity and collaboration here in Michigan's thriving film community.

Three Easy Steps:
Step one: Competing filmmakers throw $60 ($40 for students) into a jackpot and in turn draw a title from the festival organizers.
Step two: The filmmakers have a certain amount of time to make the best movie they can based on their title and turn it in by the deadline.
Step three: All films are screened to the audience and the top three films are selected as a critical choice by a a panel of judges composed of industry professionals.
Final step: The jackpot is awarded to one critical choice filmmaker as selected by the audience in attendance during the competitive screenings.

Location & Tickets
We screen your films at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center's Wealthy Theatre located at 1130 Wealthy SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506.
General admission tickets are available at the door for $5 while competing filmmakers and a guest may attend their film screening free of charge.

So do you have what it takes to make a film of your very own?

Check out the FAQs section below for addtional information about how to compete and/or screen your film at True North Film Festival.

Friday, April 4, 2008

True North Film Festival tonight!

Hello all!

A friendly Friday afternoon reminder that True North Film Festival will be screening it's four finalist tonight down at the Wealthy Theatre here in Grand Rapids. http://www.grcmc.org/theatre/directions.php

Tickets are a modest $5 at the door which open at 6:30PM with the show starting at 7PM. There will be a brief Director's Q&A after the finalist screenings and after the winner is announced there are networking opportunities for local directors, actors, screenwriters and producers to gather in the lobby, sign up for the next round of competition and plot their own True North entry for over the Summer.

Your True North Finalists for the Spring edition are:

"The Light Fantastic" by Jim Dies
"The Box" by Drew Story
"Temperance & Tequila" by Jason Roth
"The Green Machine" by Philip Carrel

What's True North Film Festival?

You can check out more information here: www.findyourtruenorth.com but the long story short is that filmmakers throw money into a jackpot, draw a title and then make the best short movie they can based on said title. The winner is chosen by the audience in attendance by paper ballot. Don't you just wish everything in this country was so soundly democratic? ;)

This round's jackpot is $400 and Lowing Light and Grip is offering an addtional $200 coupon off equipment rental to the winner. http://www.lowinglight.com Thanks, Dave!

See you all tonight!

Ben Wilke and Jonathan Boes

www.deependfilms.com

A.E. Griffin

www.unsafefilmoffice.com

Thursday, January 10, 2008

True North Film Festival Screens First Entries 2008!

Howdy all!

True North Film Festival's first film festival short entries of 2008 will be screened this Friday evening, January 11 at the Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy SE, Grand Rapids, 49506. Doors open at 7PM with the competitive films screening at 7:30PM. Tickets are $5 a piece for general admission.

True North Film Festival is one of the more innovative film festivals out there today and it's located right here in Michigan. Filmmakers throw their film "entry fees" into a jackpot, draw a title from the festival organizers and make the best film they can in a short period of time. This past competition had filmmakers working in less than a seven week period AND over the holiday season no less.

In appreciation of all their hard work, we are foregoing the critical portion of the judging in favor of honoring the filmmakers who completed their films on time. One of these four filmmakers will walk away with $310 from this festival's jackpot while the runner up will take home $50. So this time around the audience alone decides who wins it all. So come on down and support our local filmmakers and practice exercising your voting muscles in an election year. T

he evenings approximately 90 minute program kicks off with four competitve entries from West Michigan filmmakers (in no certain order), Nick Lavelle's "Jack'd Up!", Drew Storey's "How long?", Scott Griner's "Lawnmower Frenzy" and Joe Kolean's "Fun Factory.

Then after a short break to tally votes, meet the competitive filmmakers and award the jackpot, we'll round out the evening with four more short films. Two True North entries that are screening out of competition, Walt Lodes', "Come on, Baby!" and Jason Roth's "Wait for the Wafers," and GVSU film student, Josh Lynn's "Imaginary Fears" and UnSAFE Film Office's latest film, "All You've Got."

Imaginary Fears" is an 18 minute short film about a young girl who thinks she sees frightening things in her apartment at night. She can't sleep and she can't think. All there is for her is the fear of something that might just be a figment of her imagination. And if she can ever hope for her life to return to normalcy, she must figure out whether or not these things she's seeing are real or imaginary."

"All You've Got" is an 8 minute short film about a battered wife who forms an emotional attachment to the cat burglar robbing her home.

So come on down and network with West Michigan Filmmakers and sign up for the next True North Film Festival competition. The next films will be due on March 26th and the screenings will be on April 4th, 2008.

See you all soon!!

FAQs

How do I contact you all? info [at] findyourtruenorth [dot] com or come on out and see us at any of the competitive screenings. Please come back and check this website for periodic updates.

What genre of film can I submit? Any genre although comedies tend to score better with audiences while the judges tend to lean towards dramas. Submitted films are reviewed before being screened and if the content is not appropriate with community standards then the film is not screened. There are no jackpot refunds if you make a film that can not be screened for any reason.

How long do I have to make the film? Anywhere from two to four months depending on the time of year.

How long does the film have to be? A TNFF film must be at least three minutes and at most ten minutes in length to qualify.

Can I screen my film outside of the competition? We'd love to talk to you about it more if that is your interest. Feel free to contact us with some details.

I just want to come and see the films. How much does that cost? Typically $5 at the door on the day of the screenings. Competing filmmakers and a guest are offered complimentary tickets to their own films.

Who are you guys? TNFF is currently organized and managed by Ben Wilke and Jon Boes of Deep End Films and A.E. Griffin of UnSAFE Film Office. We're Michigan filmmakers who are eager to meet, network and encourage our fellow filmmakers in their chosen craft. We know it's not easy, but hey, if it were easy everyone would do it, right? So you say you want to be a filmmaker, eh? Well, here's your chance to come out and prove it through a state of the art venue and with the support of our film community at large.

Be cool. Be true.

Disclaimer & Legal Notice

We do our very best to keep information topical and accurate, but mistakes will happen occasionally. Please contact us with any and all updates and notices and we'll do our best to correct inaccuracies right away. All contestants, filmmakers and the audience cooperate with True North Film Festival at their own risk and guarantees are neither offered nor should be implied by attending, competing or otherwise being associated with True North Film Festival. Sponsors and supporters are not liable for the operations and management of True North Film Festival.

All materials located within this website/blog are being utilized or linked with the kind permission of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All materials should be considered property of True North Film Festival and those of the respective copyright holders. If you're not sure or have questions about ownership and links, please feel free to contact us at info [at] findyourtruenorth [dot] com for clarification or correction. Thank you!