Represent Shesha: VUKA! call for entries
We urged you last year and we urge you again in the rapidly disappearing 007. If you want a chance to show your work as a director to the industry at large, the Vuka’s certainly give you a platform to do that. Now we’re not going to nag you, you know who you are, all Representah’s who are already directing or still dream of directing, make it happen! Find your charity partner and make that public service announcement. We look forward to seeing your name on the finalist’s list. You know you can do it! You got about 7 weeks – entries close the 20 Oct so get a move on brothers and sisters with vision, determination and talent. Represent! Every year, without fail, South African film makers dare to make PSA’s about important issues to enter into the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards. This year we dare you to do it again. Entries for the 9th annual MultiChoice VUKA! Awards have just opened. You don’t have to try hard to avoid reality. We live behind high walls, electric fences. Our car windows are up, doors locked. The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards dare you to open your eyes. We dare you to see, to hear and to feel. We dare you to make a commercial that encourages viewers to buy into humanity and not a product. We dare you to put your heart on your sleeve and move people. Come on, we dare you. If you cast your eyes over a list of the people who have dared to make MultiChoice VUKA! Awards it reads like a South African filmmakers guide to Who’s who. Luminaries like Keith Rose, Miles Goodall, Sunu Gonera, Cindy Lee, Kevin Fitzgerald, Mike Middleton, Werner Maritz, Sergio and Lizelle Mes pop out at you. Whether they initially entered as newcomers in the hope of launching their careers, or as professionals flexing their muscles; they all hold some things in common; the daring, the drive and the determination to be successful in this industry. “The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards aims to encourage South Africans to focus beyond the lens, creating empathy, inspiring action, building national pride and, ultimately, generating income and awareness for the charities”, says Marilyn Watson, corporate communications manager, MultiChoice. You can hear the same note of daring in the voices of last year’s winners. Best Overall Newcomer winner, Leon Von Solms says that participating in the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards gave him the confidence and the affirmation he needed to continue following his dream. Best Newcomer Director Matthew Bilton says creating a MultiChoice VUKA! is a rite of passage for any young filmmaker because it gives you a strong understanding of the production...
MOVE FAST! Young Guns looking for directors
We have been meaning to put this on since earlier this week – apologies. Aspirant filmmakers Levi’s are looking to team you up with one of the muso’s in their Young Guns stable to create a music video! Calling your name? Hurry – you need to drop your showreel in Pretoria by the 12 July. Check out below: Levi’s Young Guns gives filmmakers a chance to put themselves on the map!! Levi’s Young Guns have been turning the music world around, forcing people to stand up and take notice of the incredible non-conformist talent that exists under the radar. These musical trailblazers are proving that you don’t need to play according to the rules to be heard. And now Levi’s Original Music is extending this opportunity to South Africa’s next generation of SA”s best filmmakers, giving them the chance to put themselves on the celluloid map and make the same sort of impact as their loud brothers and sisters. So all you talented up-and-coming directors listen up. Here’s the chance to work with the equally gifted Levi’s Young Guns artists or bands. You could get work with two of these musicians and turn one track of each into a music video. Send through your showreel and a short resume of the most exciting work that you’ve done so far, and if your movie-making skills are impressive enough, Levi’s Original Music will fund the production of these videos. It’s your chance to be seen and become famous. The whole idea is that these young directors attend one of the five Levi’s Young Guns events around the country. Here they’ll shoot the two acts performing on the night and use this footage in the final cut of the two different music videos. The remainder of the content for each music video can be created at the director’s discretion – think animation, stop-motion, studio shoot, exotic locations or even entirely from footage shot onstage. These Levi’ Young Guns filmmakers will get to work closely with their musical counterparts to develop the storyboards for the music videos. It’s a partnership made in underground heaven – a chance for the ears and eyes of the young underground to get out there and get noticed. So you’re an aspirant filmmaker and you’ve got an eye – a unique way of seeing the world – and you have a shared passion for the rebellious nature that underscored the whole Levi’s Young Guns philosophy, then send in some clips and you may soon have your work being seen by fellow young upstarts all over Africa. Showreels can be dropped off at: (deadline 12th July) Oppikoppi Offices Nicholson...
SAfrican has a shot at Spielberg’s “ON THE LOT”
Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett (Godfather of reality tv – Survivors, Apprentice etc) have just announced the list of 50 contenders for their new collaboration “ON THE LOT”, the search for the next big film director. Over 12000 entries were submitted to the call for entry for a 5 minute short film. One South African has made the list of 50 semi-finalists – “Shira-Lee S., 38, acting teacher, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, now living in New York ” See the full list of contestants here. You go girl! We’ll be watching you! The winners get to make a movie with Spielberg at the Dreamwork studio and win a 1 million dollar development deal for their film – now that’s what we call a prize. Here’s more from Rotten Tomatoes: “On the Lot,” executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, will give aspiring filmmakers from around the world the chance to earn a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks. Premiering [this] spring on Fox, this unscripted series will feature a cast of 16 undiscovered filmmakers competing to win the support of the show’s viewers, who will decide their fate in a weekly audience vote. The competition will air over two nights weekly, with a one-hour “Film Premiere” episode followed the next night by a half-hour “Box Office” results show. After a global search already underway, applicants will be winnowed to a group of 16 talented filmmakers. These finalists will be brought to Hollywood, where they will be divided into teams and will begin the journey toward their “big break.” Every week, the hopeful filmmakers will produce short films from a chosen genre, running the gamut from comedies to thrillers, personal dramas to romance, sci-fi to horror. They’ll have access to the best resources the industry has to offer — professional writers, cast and crew, and possibly even Hollywood celebrities. After the teams have battled time frames, budgets and all the usual chaos that goes along with filmmaking, their films will debut and be critiqued in front of a live audience during the “Film Premiere” episode. Judges will include a high-ranking motion picture executive, a prominent film critic and a succession of well-respected guests, such as directors who are experts in the week’s featured genre. But the filmmakers ultimately will be judged by the harshest critics of all: the public. It will be Fox viewers whose votes determine which films should be left on the cutting-room floor. On each “Box Office” results show, the director whose feature garners the fewest votes will be sent home. The competition continues and directors are eliminated until only the most talented filmmaker is anointed the winner and heads...
Make your film for Pangea Day
Thanks to Jimi for the hook up. Check out this cool project that has just launched called Pangea. Started by TED documentary award winner Jehane Noujaim, it’s a call to film makers around the world to make and submit short films about their lives that can “bring the world closer together.” 10 films will be chosen and then shown on one day around the world in May 2008 encouraging peace-building and conflict resolution. The TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is an awesome conference focusing on GREAT IDEAS that brings people together from the three genres to share their visions… read more here. It’s a great site to visit and spend some time on. Jehane won the award in 2006: “Two weeks before the US invasion in Iraq, Jehane went to Qatar, gained access to both Al Jazeera and the US military’s Central Command offices, and caught the onset and outbreak of the Iraqi war on film. The result: Control Room, her controversial, gutsy documentary that lays out the divergent ways the war was reported by the Arabs and the West. Being raised between Egypt and the US, the exploration of culture is one of Jehane’s driving forces. Her reason for making the film: “It’s important for everyone, simply as individuals, to try to understand different people and different cultures, but it’s especially important for people in the United States because we affect so much of the world beyond our borders.” Each winner gets to make a WISH and bring it to life post the conference, be a part of Jehane’s wish and submit your films for Pangea...
firstwednesdayfilmclub@atlasstudios.do.come
Ye old faithful Representer’s may remember the early days of Represent where we regularly profiled the free Wednesday Film Club events organised by John Barker and Ziggy Hofmeyer through 2005 at Atlas Studios (see here). Well they haven’t stopped and there’s one happening next week. Entitled FRESH DIRECTIONS, join a whole bunch of film lovers on Wednesday the 2 May and catch 3 short films at Atlas. Contact Rachel with any queries on info@atlasstudios.co.za. FRESH DIRECTIONS 2 May 2007 Join us as we screen 3 fresh short films from recent graduates: VUURDOOP – Baptism of Fire Running Time: 15 mins Afrikaans with Subtitles Genre: Comedy Format: 35mm Vuurdoop (Baptism of Fire) is a uniquely South African comedy about braai culture – about the coming of age ceremony that all South African boys go through. Today is Boytjie’s (Wehmeyer Deas) day – except for one problem… he’s a Goth and he can’t braai. Click here for more… Pinky Pinky Shot on Super 16mm (Oct 2005) Delivery format – DVD (PAL) / BETA SP Pinky Pinky is a teen horror film with comedic elements set in a private girls’ boarding school. The election for prefects and head girl is approaching and two rivals, Precious and Caitlin, have cutthroat campaigns. Click here for more… Escudo Director – Wolfgang Muller Producer – Lucia Meyer Cast – Tema Sebopedi, Yule Mabhena Fransisca, a Mocambican girl, is tired of her simple life. She doesn’t want to be like her mom: working everyday picking and selling clams for minimal wage. She knows she is different and that she is destined for greater things. She finally decides to take the leap and leave Mocambique for Johannesburg – a place she believes will help her to be great. Click here for more… DIRECTIONS: If you are coming from Pretoria, take the M1 towards Joburg, take the Empire Rd Offramp. turn right into Empire road. I think it’s the second robots, take a left into OWL rd (you go under Barry Hertzog flyover), Atlas Studios comes up on your left hand side, it’s the old Bakery building… you turn left into Frost avenue and you can’t miss the entrance. ITS FREE – only R10 for...
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