NEW OFFICIAL FILMS PAGE

If you were a participant in 2006, you’ll be happy to see the new Official Films page, which now plays every one of your awesome films in one efficient player.  Equally cool, we are now linking to our filmmakers’ websites, so anyone can contact them with feedback on their fantastic films.  And if you weren’t able to attend the screenings last year, or are a newcomer to the Project Twenty1 mailing list, now’s your chance to check out the films!  Of course, our DVD contains all the films in their full-resolution glory, plus hours of bonus features from the filmmakers themselves, but for the internet, this page is a pretty good idea of what our films are and what you’re in for if you participate next time.  Check out which ones won, particularly, for an idea of what the judges are likely to be seeking, before entering our competition next time.

Look for more updates to the website in the near future as we add more features and content in preparation for the next competition. And feel free to hang out in our forum to scout for actors, find composers, and meet other filmmakers!

2006 FILMMAKERS: IMDB – ARE YOU IN YET?

While we wait to hear back from the various festivals we’ve sent your films to, we wanted to congratulate Team Screen Screams, Team With No Name, and Team Genesis on getting their 2006 Project Twenty1 films listed on the Internet Movie Database. Essentially, IMDB is an online resume for you (and your crew) to show the world what projects you have worked on.

Want to do it too?  Just follow the instructions on IMDB’s Title Add Page, and be exceedingly thorough in your description.  List your credits accurately. Generally, IMDB requires a decent amount of outside support (meaning, not your own company’s web site) to verify a film. Fortunately, we may have you covered here. When filling out their multi-page form, use the following links in the appropriate places (“external links”, usually) as proof of your film’s commercial distribution:

Project Twenty1 DVD on Amazon.com

Your film on Project Twenty1’s website

And when it comes to distributors, be aware, we’re listed on IMDB already. Listing us as a distributor of your film will no doubt help prove that your film is “legitimate”. Make sure you select Project Twenty1 [us]

If your film has screened in other festivals as well, be sure to use their pages as proof as well. We make no guarantees of success, nor (for legal purposes) do we officially endorse IMDB in any way, but we wish all our filmmakers who give it a shot the best of luck!  Keep in mind once you submit, it will take several weeks for any information to appear, particularly if very few of your cast and crew are already listed up there.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2006 TEAMS

We keep hearing and reading more great news from many of our Teams, and we’re thrilled to we have such motivated filmmakers in our midst:

We received a report via Myspace that Team 509’s Award-winning film “In Zakk’s Case” screened at the Bucks Fever Film Festival on June 10^th, and is currently available on Comcast OnDemand in the Delaware Valley region. Congratulations to Team leaders Kevin Lee and Drew Matyas, and the rest of Team 509!

Team Screen Screams made an appearance at Fangoria near NYC between June 29^th-July 1^st, using a brand-new trailer on DVD to help pitch the upcoming feature-length version of their Project Twenty1 film, “Thanksgiving.” We at Project Twenty1 wish them the best of luck and are happy to have inspired such a massive effort.  One of the things that makes this festival worthwhile for us is knowing that, in some small way, we are affecting people’s lives (hopefully for the better).

Our Michigan filmmakers for 2006, Team With No Name, have been busy! Their film, “Red Seven”, which took home the Project Twenty1 Award for Best Acting, was recently featured in two other film festivals, the Planet Ant Festival, which ran from June 13^th-16^th, and the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts which ran from June 1^st through the 3rd. Not only that, several of their other short films, “Shooters”, “Get the Picture”,”Nice Guy Blues”, and “The Tin God” were all selected for screenings as well! Congratulations to AEG and the entire Team With No Name.

To the rest of our filmmakers: working on something? Want us to mention it in our next newsletter? We’re happy to help spread the word about your work, but we won’t know unless you email us!

2007 EVENTS

In the last month, we’ve been doing a lot of work on the non-creative side of things as we expand our networking and solidify our plans for the upcoming years’ festivals. The number one question we are asked is still, “When’s the next one?” and right behind it, “How do I enter?” And we are delighted to see that once again, these questions are coming from all over the world! We have several judges already lined up (including a few people you may have heard of before), but it’s all still top secret confidential stuff for now until all the event dates are secured. We hope to make an official announcement about our next event in the next month.

JOIN US! – VOLUNTEERS WANTED

We also want to welcome the newest member of the Project Twenty1 Team: Tom Johnsen.  He will be handling some of the web responsibilities and helping make sure that we are prepared for the upcoming onslaught of traffic as we gear up for our next event.

In the meantime, help us spread the word! We are always looking for volunteers to join the Project Twenty1 Team.  This includes a need for writers and journalists, videographers and video editors, graphic designers, associate producers, sponsorship coordinators, and members for our Street Team to simply help get the word out about the festival!  We will be offering free DVDs, tickets to upcoming events, and listing on our website (with pictures!) to our Official Staff members. The three of us organized the entire festival on our own last time, but we see no reason to keep everybody else out of the party this time around, especially considering how many offers we’ve been receiving from people eager to lend a hand. As we say, we’re more than just a film festival. And with your help, we can prove just how true that is.

Hope everybody is having a great summer of filmmaking! Keep in touch, we promise to do the same.

Sincerely,

Quang, Stephanie, Matt, & Tom
Project Twenty1 Producers
www.projecttwenty1.com