CINEWORKS PRESENTS: BACK DOWN THE HIGHWAY

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Bruce McDonald's "Highway 61", Cineworks is excited to announce our new programming initiative "Back Down the Highway". Using this seminal Canadian film as an inspiration and jumping off point for the creation of new work, filmmakers will be challenged to realize an entirely original short film from a section of dialogue excerpted from this indie classic. Judges will be looking for originality and distance from the source material, and the top five submissions will be selected for production. Cineworks will supply each team with a week's rental on the same package of production equipment as well as a week's time in one of our edit suites to complete their projects. In May 2012, the compilation of films will receive a theatrical presentation which will see each short shown back-to-back, followed by the original scene from "Highway 61" so that audiences can see from where
we drew our inspiration.

THE DIALOGUE
1: I brought you some coffee if you'd like some coffee. What do you think you're doing?
2: I know what I'm doing!
1: Naturally you're a little upset about this, Maybe you should just relax for a little bit, until
you're a little less bereaved.
2: I thought you had to go to work.
1: I do. Why don't you stay here today and I'll drive you home tonight, there's no hurry. I met a
friend of Jeffrey's last night
2: A friend?
1: Yeah, kind of a weird guy, he's going to come by this morning
2: There is a hurry, I'm going now

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Who is eligible to apply?

• Writers, Directors, or Producers of a project are eligible to apply for BDTH
• The Writer may also be the Director, or the Writer may also be the   Producer.   However, the roles of Producer and Director must be filled by different people
• Producers and directors must each have completed at least one short film
• Cineworks members and non-members are all invited to apply
• Applicants must live in the Metro Vancouver area

How do I apply?

• Completed applications must be received no later than 5pm Friday, February 10th, 2012 at the Cineworks offices (300-1131 Howe St.) Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• A completed application will consist of:
  • 3 copies of a script no longer than 10 pages (10 minutes running time) that  uses the assigned piece of dialogue in its entirety somewhere in the body
  • Submissions must include a title page that includes the title, the applicant’s name, address, phone number and Email address. The applicant’s name must not appear anywhere within the body of the screenplay to ensure anonymity in the judging process.
  • A completed application form
  • Short resume/bio for producer and director
  • One page “director’s vision” describing how the script will be brought to screen
  • $50 application fee
• The submitted script should be an original work created for this contest, all genres and styles accepted

What happens if my script is selected?

• The five winning scripts will be announced Monday, February 20th, 2012
• Successful applicants who are already Cineworks members will receive a free production membership for the following year, winners who are not presently members will receive a production membership for the current year
• Each successful team will receive a week’s rental time on the same package of production equipment from Cineworks valued at $3,000, and a week’s worth of editing time in one of our suites valued at $700.
• Production will begin on Monday, April 2, 2012. The shooting order amongst teams will be determined randomly, with each film being shot and edited one week after the next. Films must be entirely completed within the allotted two week production period
• The entire collection of films will receive a theatrical presentation in late May 2012 at the Pacific Cinematheque Theatre
• An Audience Award will be granted on the night of the screening to the most popular film, the prize will be 1600’ of 35mm film stock
• Filmmakers will retain copyright over the productions, but Cineworks will have public presentation rights that will not require the payment of royalties for the screening of any of the films. Each film must acknowledge Cineworks and all of our partners in their end credits

PDF Details and Application Form