Netflix, Inc., the world’s largest online movie rental service, and Film Independent (FIND), the not-for-profit arts organization that produces the Independent Sprit Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival and over 250 hours of film education programming annually, today announced that they are joining forces to discover the next great independent filmmaker. The “Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition” will award one aspiring filmmaker the means, guidance and resources to make a full-length, narrative film. Actor and director Josh Brolin will serve as honorary chair and panel judge and the winner’s film will be given distribution online at Netflix.The winner of the competition, who will own all rights to his or her film, will be determined between now and July 2009. In addition to production resources needed to make the film, the winner will receive a $150,000 cash production grant funded by Netflix. Film Independent will provide advisement and mentorship to the winning filmmaker throughout the production of the film and will also screen the winner’s movie at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
“Netflix is all about connecting people with movies they’ll love, and a large part of that mission has been about finding just the right audience for films that otherwise would have had real challenges finding a market,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “The ‘Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition’ is a natural extension of what we do and the perfect platform to help budding filmmakers create compelling content through a supportive and educational process.”
“As an organization dedicated to supporting a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision, we are happy to provide such direct and tangible support for a new and original voice in filmmaking,” said Dawn Hudson, executive director, FIND. “We are proud to partner with Netflix, who support independent filmmakers in every way.”
The competition is a three-stage process:
· From today until February 9th, the competition will accept applications from aspiring filmmakers at www.netflix.com/findyourvoice.
· Film Independent will review and evaluate all submissions to select 10 semi-finalists, who will be asked to submit a two-to-three-minute video short related to the proposed program. The 10 semi-finalist video shorts will be uploaded to the competition Web site on June 5, 2009 and the videos will then be open to voting by the general public through July 5, 2009.
· Five finalists will be determined by the video shorts receiving the most online votes. The winner of “Netflix FIND Your Voice Competition” will be selected from among the five finalists by a panel of judges consisting of independent film professionals, chaired by Mr. Brolin.
As part of the grand prize, the winner will also receive a four-week camera package donated by Panavision, 25,000 feet of Kodak Color Negative Film or 10,000 feet of Kodak Color Intermediate Film donated by Eastman Kodak Company, up to $75,000 in dailies and prints donated by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, and a digital intermediate package with a maximum value of $150,000 provided by EFILM® Hollywood, a division of Deluxe.
First-time filmmakers who have not yet created and publicly screened a full-length narrative feature film of 70 minutes or more are eligible. There is no fee to apply to the competition, but a maximum of only 2,000 submissions will be accepted. Full eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria and an entry application can be found online at www.netflix.com/findyourvoice.
