MIAMI GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL AND PLANETOUT.COM ANNOUNCE EXTENDED CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE AND CASH PRIZES FOR ENTRIES TO THE FIFTH ANNUAL PLANETOUT.COM SHORT MOVIE AWARDS 2004
If you are currently caught in the grip of winter, think about entering your film in the Fifth Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards, which is co-hosted by the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Our Sixth Annual event is scheduled to take place from April 23-May 2nd in the heart of South Beach and we have some sizzling cash prizes to give away which have been generously underwritten by PlanetOut Partners Inc. The competitive Awards ranging from a $2,500 cash prize for the Grand Prize Winner plus five awards of $500 cash to the First Prize winners in the categories of drama, comedy, documentary, experimental and animation, which will be judged for the first time by distinguished industry representatives in LA, New York and Miami. Members of this year's jury include MTV's Drew Tappon, IFC's Kelly DeVine, Here! TV's Mark Reinhart, Sundance Film Festival's Roberta Munroe, GLAAD's Scott Seomin, MGLFF's Carol Coombes, and Noah Cowan of the Toronto International Film Festival. There is still time to submit as we have extended our deadline for PlanetOut.com Short Movie entries only to Friday January 23rd. We greatly encourage animation and documentary filmmakers to submit their shorts as these two categories are currently under-represented.
The Award winners are chosen from all short films and videos submitted to the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival which meet the following criteria: 1) the film is no longer than twenty (20) minutes in length, and 2) due to limitations of current online exhibition formats, must be in English or have no significant dialogue. Filmmakers wishing to submit their film for the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards must complete the Festivals entry form, which can be downloaded at www.mglff.com Any questions regarding submissions must be made by email to Kareem Tabsch, Program Coordinator, at kareem?miamigaylesbianfilm.com.
PlanetOut.com?s national audience of 2 million registered members will have an opportunity to screen the winners online in May. Winners will be selected by the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards jury among 15 finalists, including one Grand Prize winner and five First Prize winners in the categories of drama, comedy, documentary, experimental and animation. The prizewinning films will be screened at a special program and awards presentation at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on Sunday April 25, 2004.
The deadline for all PlanetOut submissions is Friday January 23rd, 2004 with a $25 entry fee.
NOTE: Filmmakers attending the PlanetOut.com-Outfest Queer Brunch at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday January 18th, 2004 may hand deliver their submissions to Carol Coombes, Program Director of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
Tapes, press kits and other materials should be sent to the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, 1521 Alton Rd., #147, Miami Beach, FL 33139. We can be reached by fax at 305-535-2377 or by phone at 305-534-9924 and by email at kareem?miamigaylesbianfilm.com.
All submissions for the Festival must not have been already screened publicly or been broadcast on television in South Florida (including the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach areas), or released on home video in the United States prior to May 9, 2004. In any case all Festival submissions must be copyrighted no earlier than January 2001.
