Call for Entries: Local Filmmakers, The Northside DIY Film Festival Deadline Draws Near

Summer is just around the corner, and we're especially excited for The L Magazine's fourth annual Northside Festival, an extravaganza of music, film art and food that's happening June 14-21 at venues across Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

Part of that excitement is due to the fact that 3rd Ward's own Assistant Director, Minden Koopmans, will be serving as a judge in the Northside DIY Film Festival.

All of you local filmmakers still have time to submit your cinematic masterpiece to the festival. The deadline is April 15, and you can peruse the guidelines and other details in our previous post.

This year's winning feature will snag a $500 prize, while the winning short gets $250. A screening of both winning films will take place at Williamsburg's Nitehawk Cinema, followed by an awesome party for the filmmakers and their crew. The winners will also get credit redeemable at NYC's DCTV media arts center.

For an idea of what your competition could be like, here's the trailer for last year's winning feature film, Echotone:

-- John Ruscher

Call For Entries // Cinephiles: The Northside DIY Film Fest Beckons You

Following the success of last Summer's Northside Festival, L Magazine will once again be hosting their celebration of food, art, music and film--all going down June 14-21. Though today we're highlighting one specific elment of it: this year's Northside DIY Film Fest, a full-blown competition for the city's aspiring cinephiles and auteurs. This year, the feature and short film winners will receive a cash prize and a screening at Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg. They'll also win a credit at DCTV that can be redeemed for anything from equipment rentals to post-production facilities.

Of course, this is all great. But why are we especially excited this year? Because 3rd Ward's own Assistant Director, Minden Koopmans will be one of the competition's judges! We're mighty proud.

The deadline to submit is April 15th via standard mail or--praise to the gods--through Vimeo (anyone who's been making the submittal rounds knows what we mean). So get shooting, get editing and hit the jump now for all of the fest's guidelines:

Features must be longer than 50 minutes, but no more than 130. Budget must be $100,000 or less.

Shorts must be under 30 minutes and have a budget of $20,000 or less.

All films must be made after January 1, 2009.

We will only accept completed submissions.

We will accept submissions with distribution agreements.

For fees and a few more specifics, visit the fest's submissions page.

-- Perrin Drumm

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS // Hand-Typed, Letter-Pressed Journal Harlequin Creature Seeks All Kinds Of Print Media

 

There are tons of literary and cultural journals out there asking for submissions, but you won't find many that'll treat your work with the same level of hands-on care as Harlequin Creature. The journal's cover is crafted by letter press, and every page of every copy is hand-typed on a vintage typewriter. No photocopying or inkjets here. The Harlequin Creature crew produces each copy of their journals through "typing bees," where Smith Coronas, Underwoods and Royals bang away and carefully placed keystrokes forge every letter.

After selling out of their first issue, which came out back in the fall, Harlequin Creature is looking for submissions for the followup. They welcome "any printable media is welcome, i.e. prose, poetry, sheet music, collage work, etc.," and are asking for prose between 500 and 1,500 words and no more than 3 poems. The deadline is February 10, or January 13 if you'd like them to return your piece with suggested changes by January 27.

For a little more info on the spirit of Harlequin Creature, here's a quote from their website:

this is a journal sure to be unconventional in today's overwhelmingly digital age, and i think, at the same time, very much in touch with a nostalgia for an earlier era, when the factories of pittsburgh and detroit were still bumpin' and steel was in. with a circle of friends that spans from los angeles to new york, every single journal is hand typed on high quality paper, and the covers will all be set by a heavy, centuries old letter press in ann arbor, michigan. each copy is then hand bound, and a limited number include artwork by a featured artist.

Check out some more images of their first issue and army of typewriters after the jump.

-- John Ruscher