China Film Makers Blog

By Richard Trombly
“Wei films” or micro films are all the rage in China these days. In the rest of the world , short film contests are common and we might not see anything new in this trend. But in China, the film and media industry has been tightly controlled by the government STATE ADMINISTRATION OF RADIO, FILM AND TELEVISION (SARFT) since a feature film requires big investments even with so-called low budget films.

But video-recorded HD short films can operate on a different budget scale with people often donating much of the time, effort, equipment, locations, props and acting talents– often even donating money as can be seen by the sites like http://www.indiegogo.com/ based in USA or the Chinese demo hour.

These websites allow for widely distributed publicity and fund-raising opportunities that allow “micro” film makers to gain community support rather than rely on investors and government or institutional grants alone says DEMOHOUR CEO and founder He Feng.

“And crowd funding allows projects to get visibility,” said He. “Projects not only get the funds they need to be made, they get exposure to audiences they otherwise might never have found.”

This micro-film trend has allowed there to be a flowering of new creativity and expression through film on the part of film students, professional film makers and amateurs within China.

Richard Trombly is a film director and founder of www.obscure-productions.com he is corwdfunding his own micro-film. learn more at http://www.indiegogo.com/analysis.

HK e-Film contest call for entires
http://www.efilm.hk/en/Default.aspx
Event schedule:
Call for entries: Feb 1st, 2012 – Jul 1st, 2012

First round: Jul 10th, 2012 – Aug 10th, 2012

Final round: Aug 11th, 2012 – Sep 11th, 2012

Announcement of awards: Sep 20th, 2012

Eligibility:
1. Students enrolled in any colleges or graduate schools around the world, no restriction on their fields of study;
2. Must be completed after Feb 1st, 2011;
3. Length of film: less than 30 minutes;
4. Language of films: no restriction on the dialogues, however either Chinese or English subtitles should be provided;
5. Film genres: no restriction

How to participate:
Individual participants: please send your work and documents to the address of the Festival Committee
Address: FlatC,7F, Anho House, No.26 Nullah Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong Attn: Ms Zheng Post code:999077
Please include the following in your mail:
1. A hard copy of your film (DVD or video-tapes)
2. A signed application form Download Word Download Pdf
3. A Data CD-ROM (includes：the electronic version of the filled application form; a poster in high-pixel at least 200dpi JPG format; 3 stills from the film; Biography of main crew)

About Copyrights and Other Terms & Conditions:
1.Participants are required to own the full copyright of their entries, including copyright licenses of the music script in the films and the implanted cuts from other films. The contestants are responsible for all the legal disputes caused by copyright issues. We reserve the rights to disqualify any participants and withdraw the prizes.
2.Once the entries are received, the Film Festival deem it an consent from the contestants to release relevant information such as the introduction, stills, photos of the creators of the film through television, Internet, mobile phone and other media.
3.Once the film enters the second round, the contestants are deemed to have authorized the Film Festival to broadcast the complete film through television, Internet, mobile phone and other media for non-profit purposes. The period of authorization is deemed to be one year acquiescently.
4.The Festival Committee is not responsible for any payment caused by mailing or insuring the films and documents, cost of loss or damage during post, or any other cost of loss or damage caused by irresistible factors. We will not return the documents, application forms, or hardcopies received. Please keep a copy of your works in advance.
5.The contestants who send their entries are deemed to agree to the provisions of this prospectus. Entries once received are not allowed to be withdrawn for any reason without permission.