Download the laurel or laurels for which you are eligible in the above link.
If you are a 2018 winner & would like to receive a Moondance Star Award, please go HERE to order it.
If you are a 2018 winner, finalist or semi-finalist & would like to receive a Moondance certificate e-mailed to you, go HERE to order it.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: As first announced in March, then again in July & August, and due to circumstances beyond our control, the 2018 Moondance will not have a theatrical venue this season. All winning & selected films will be screened at our private viewing room site.
SPECIAL PRIZE FOR 2018 SELECTED SCREENWRITERS:
Our long-time partner, InkTip.com, offers each year to give a prize of a free listing to a few selected Moondance winning screenplays. You will receive an email from InkTip.com, if your script is selected, about how to list your work on their site for producers to see.
HAPPY MOONDANCERS WRITE US:
“I am very happy to have received a finalist and semi-finalist award for my short stories. Thank you!” ~ Sharon Burtner
“Thank you so much for the film score award! I was wondering, would it be possible to change my country from USA to Brunei? When I submitted my piece for the film scoring competition, I used my US address because I currently work and live in Los Angeles. I am a citizen of Brunei and would love to be able to represent my country!” ~ Aisyah Zulkarnain
“I’m so excited to see that “Crisis Center” is one of TV Pilot Winners. THANK YOU! Please let me know if anyone requests the script. Thanks again for being so supportive of my work!” ~ Jan Stanton
“I saw on the festival site that THIS CLOSE had been selected as a winner in the feature script contest for 2018. Thank you for the honor. Thanks again for appreciation of this story…” ~Randy Steinberg
“I was thrilled to see we made it to finalist with “The Millionaire Monk”. Awesome! Anyway, glad you and your team liked it enough and we are pushing forward marketing the script.Thank you again and many blessings.” ~ Sky Canyon
“Thank you so much for selecting our feature film “1 1/2 Days” as a finalist for the 2018 Moondance Festival. If selected to be screened, this will be our world premiere! Cheers from Juneau, Alaska,” ~ Greg Chaney
“My huge thanks and appreciation; to you and to Moondance for placing my script Mooncurser as one of the winners for the feature script competition! I’m so excited, happy and proud to have done well, especially in a festival that has such an uplifting ethos and spiritual message.” ~ Leia Vogelle
“We would love for our film to be hosted by Moondance online. Again, we are all so thrilled to win Best Short Film, The Great Escape. Many thanks from all of us!” ~ Shelagh McLeod
“I want to thank you so much for including my film, The Sleeping Beauty, in last year’s line up and for all your support. It’s just been such a pleasure to have people watch it and get in touch saying that they’ve enjoyed it. I’ve been making some more in the series and would love to enter them into next year’s festival once they are finished!” ~ Fabio D’Andrea
“I wanted to write to say how exciting it is to be a winner for my screenplay The Electric Virgin. I very much admire the mission of your festival and your passion.” ~ Bethany Jacobson
“Thank you for the great news. I do appreciate it.It would be a great honor to participate at the festival.” ~ Ali Ghiasvand
“Thanks so much for including Polly! That’s so exciting – I always aimed for the film to be a part of your festival, so thanks so much.” ~ Cassiah Joski-Jethi
“I’m honored and excited that my screenplay, The Superb Lyrebird and Other Creatures has been chosen to receive the Spirit of Moondance screenplay award!” ~ Wendy Young* A FREQUENT NOTE FROM VIMEO: Hi, Moondance Film Festival!In the past 24 hours, your videos received 77 plays!
Moondancers are part of an amazing worldwide community; a unique collaboration of multi-talented writers, film score composers and filmmakers. The Moondance mission is to entertain, inform, inspire, encourage and educate. We honor those artists who, through their creative work, actively increase awareness, provide multiple viewpoints, address complex social issues, and strengthen ties between international audiences.
In our continuing success of promoting top-quality original filmmaking, writing and music composition by talented artists from around the world, the Moondance International Film Festival is very pleased to announce that our annual festival competitions have brought in great submissions, in all genres and categories, from Argentina,Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Dubai, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Réunion,Russia, Serbia/Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tasmania, Turkey, UAR, Ukraine, the UK, the US, Venezuela, Wales, and more!Please do join us!
* Thanks a million to all the talented people from around the world who submitted their best work to the 2018 Moondance International Film Festival!
Subscribe now to the Moondance news-blog!Our very popular news-blog has festival info, announcements, updates, news, & insider articles.
Thank you for watching our winning films & supporting the Moondance!
THREE THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
“The first to apologize is the bravest; the first to forgive is the strongest; the first to forget is the happiest.” ~ Source Unknown
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“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it, and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes, as if it has nothing else in the universe to do.”~ Galileo
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“Forget your perfect offering; there’s a crack in everything…that’s how the light gets in!” ~ Leonard Cohen
Remember to refresh the Moondance Home Page when visiting!
“If what Proust says it true, that ‘happiness is the absence of fever’, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed of a fever for knowledge, experience, beauty and creation.” ~ Anais Nin
Andrew Wyeth
“It is neither wealth nor splendor but tranquility and occupation which give true happiness.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
“There are only two days of the year in which nothing can be done. One is called yesterday, and the other is called tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, to believe, to do and to live.” ~ The Dalai Lama
FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, MUSIC VIDEOS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, STAGE PLAYS, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, AND MORE!
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
…SUBMIT YOUR FILM, SCRIPT, MUSIC, & BEST WORK TO THE MOONDANCE NOW!
DON’T WAIT ANY LONGER!
WE HAVE EXTENDED THE SUBMISSIONS PERIOD TO JULY 31ST!
2018 CALL-FOR-ENTRIES!
FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, MUSIC VIDEOS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, STAGE PLAYS, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, AND MORE!
MOONDANCE WINNING AND SELECTED FILMS FOR 2018 WILL BE SCREENED, SEPTEMBER 21 & 22, IN A BEAUTIFUL THEATRICAL VENUE: THE MAIN SANCTUARY AND FRIENDSHIP HALL OF THE HISTORIC UNITY CHURCH OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS! Oak Park has the distinction of being the former homes of Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other well-known creative people, such as Richard Bach, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and John Sturges, filmmaker (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape), as well as the notorious Sam Giancana, mafia crime boss.
Oak Park is only 8 minutes by train to the great city of Chicago!
THE WINNING SUBMISSIONS IN ALL CATEGORIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MID-AUGUST AND WINNING & SELECTED FILMS WILL BE SCREENED ON SEPTEMBER 21st & 22nd.
PLAN TO ATTEND THE 2018 MOONDANCE TO SEE OUR WINNING FILMS!
Don’t delay! Send in your 2018 submissions to Moondance now! Beat the crowd!
THE REALLY BIG NEWS #1: MOONDANCE WINNING AND SELECTED FILMS FOR 2018 WILL BE SCREENED, SEPTEMBER 21 & 22, IN A BEAUTIFUL THEATRICAL VENUE: THE MAIN SANCTUARY OF THE HISTORIC UNITY CHURCH OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS! Oak Park has the distinction of being the former homes of Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other well-known creative people, such as Richard Bach, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and John Sturges, filmmaker (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape), as well as the notorious Sam Giancana, mafia crime boss.
Oak Park is only 8 minutes by train to the great city of Chicago!
BIG NEWS #2: WE HAVE EXTENDED THE SUBMISSIONS PERIOD TO JULY 31ST! THE WINNING SUBMISSIONS IN ALL CATEGORIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MID-AUGUST AND WINNING & SELECTED FILMS WILL BE SCREENED SEPTEMBER 21st & 22nd. PLAN TO ATTEND THE 2018 MOONDANCE TO SEE THE FILMS!
2018 CALL-FOR-ENTRIES!
Submissions closing date: July 31st
CATEGORIES: FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, MUSIC VIDEOS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, STAGE PLAYS, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, WORKS BY & FOR KIDS, AND MORE!
Thank you for watching our winning films & supporting the Moondance!
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER:
Photo by Atmo, Wildquest.com
Swimming with the wild dolphins underwater is an unforgettable experience. It’s a moment where past meets future. The moment of Now. Being a guest in their world is a humbling experience and when they choose to connect with us our hearts are filled with unconditional love. Its a moment of bliss. Dolphin Bliss.
The June Full Moon is called the Full Strawberry Moon. This Full Moon got its name from the Algonquin tribes who knew it as a signal to gather the delicious ripening fruit of wild strawberries.
2018 CALL-FOR-ENTRIES!
Extended submissions closing date: July 31st
FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, AND MORE!
Big Change #1: Moondance winning and selected films for 2018 will be screened in a local theatrical venue. (We just weren’t happy with the films being online on Vimeo in 2017.)
Big Change #2: We have extended the submissions period a month to July 31st! The winning submissions in all categories will be announced in mid-August and winning & selected films will be screened in late September.
Don’t miss reading all the great filmmaking & writing articles written by the pros exclusively for Moondance. Read about: how to win a screenplay competition; how to win a film festival competition; winning titles & loglines for films & scripts; screenplay submissions; movie script writing; writing character, dialog & action; how to get an agent; what Hollywood wants to see; directing indie films, documentaries, short films, animation; film scores; stage plays; short stories; TV MOW; TV pilots; kids films; music videos; radio plays,and more!
MOONDANCE SUPPORTS:
GreenWave is an ocean farmer and fisherman-run organization dedicated to building a new blue-green economy that creates jobs, mitigates climate change and grows healthy food for local communities. GreenWave’s 3D Ocean Farming model was named as one of the 25 Best Inventions of 2017 by TIME Magazine, and GreenWave’s Founder, Bren Smith, was named one of 25 People Shaping the Future by Rolling Stone. “This is only the beginning. There are 10,000 edible plants in the ocean.” Underwater vertical farming may become the future of food, thanks to commercial fisherman Bren Smith, who invented a sustainable way to produce seafood. Learn more about the project in this VIDEO:
PANGOLINS ARE THE MOST ILLEGALLY TRADED MAMMAL IN THE WORLD. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
Pangolins are the only mammals that are covered in scales. Pangolin scales are made of keratin, just like our finger nails, and make up 20 % of their body weight. When it is threatened, a pangolin will curl itself into a tight ball, which is impenetrable to predators. This unique mammal can consume up to 20,000 ants a day. That’s about 73 million ants a year! Pangolins can close their ears and nostrils using strong muscles to protect them from ant attacks.
They have long, sticky tongues, which are often longer than their body and attached near its pelvis and last pair of ribs. If a pangolin fully extends its tongue, it is longer than the animal’s head and body! Pangolins are hunted for meat, for use in traditional medicine, as pets, and as fashion accessories.
The large-scale illegal trade in pangolins is drastically driving down their numbers. It is estimated that since 2000,more than 1 million pangolins have been traded illegally at the international level, which makes them the most trafficked wild mammal in the world. All 8 species of pangolins are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These protections will not stop the pangolin poaching crisis alone. Much more work needs to be done to stop the killing, trafficking, and demand for pangolins.
Pangolins are difficult to maintain without expert care and thus rarely survive in captivity. It is crucial that conservation efforts focus on the areas where pangolins are being hunted, to stop their removal from the wild.
DONATE!
Make a donation to help support pangolin conservation today.
Being fearless, Moondance is where monotonous conformity is considered mediocrity, and extravagant individualism, innovation, uniqueness and experimentation is encouraged, awarded and applauded!
We look forward to previewing your submissions!
RULES FOR THE BLUES
Most Blues begin, “Woke up this mornin’…”
Iconic blues musician, Howlin’ Wolf
Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs and broken down trucks. Blues don’t travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain’t even in the running. Walkin’ plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin’ to die.
Teenagers can’t sing the Blues. They ain’t fixin’ to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, adulthood means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. Chicago, St.Louis, and Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don’t get rain.
Breaking your leg ‘cuz you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg ‘cuz a’ alligator be chomping on it is. You cain’t have no Blues in a office or shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside in the back to sit by a dumpster.
Good places for the Blues: lonesome dirt road or highway, jailhouse, empty bed. Bad places: Ashrams, gallery openings, Ivy League institutions, golf courses
No one will believe it’s the Blues if you wear a suit, ‘less you happen to be a’ old black man, and you slept in it. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: you’re older than dirt, you’re blind, you shot a man in Memphis, you can’t be satisfied. NO if: you have all your teeth, you were once blind but now can see, the man in Memphis lived, you have a retirement plan or trust fund.
Acceptable Blues beverages are: bad wine, bad whiskey or bad bourbon, moonshine, swamp water, black coffee. The following are NOT Blues beverages: mixed drinks, wine coolers, Snapple, mimosas, sparkling water.
If it occurs in a cheap motel, behind a dumpster, in a shotgun shack, or next to the train tracks, it’s a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can’t have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match, in a spa or hot-tub, or while getting liposuction.
Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, and Rainbow can’t sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
I don’t care how tragic your life: if you own a computer or cell-phone, you cannot sing the blues. You best destroy it – with fire, a spilled bottle of Mad Dog, or get out a shotgun. Maybe your big woman just done sat on it.
Harry and Megan now have the titles of Duke of and Duchess of Sussex, a nod to the last Duke of Sussex, Prince Augustus Frederick, a son of King George III who supported the abolition of slavery and also backed civil rights for Jews and political dissidents.
“Barak and I have always believed in the power of storytelling to inspire us, to make us think differently about the world around us, and to help us open our minds and hearts to others.” ~ Michelle Obama
“Keep throwing those darts at the dartboard. Don’t listen to the critics…” ~ Will Ferrell
Seek beauty, truth, harmony…the promise of the future and the blessings of today. Live well, laugh often, love much, gain the respect & the love of children; fill your niche, accomplish your tasks; leave the world better than you found it. Appreciate Earth’s beauties & express it. Look for the best in others and give the best you have.
2018 CALL-FOR-ENTRIES!
FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, AND MORE!
Have a fabulous, unique idea for a movie? That’s wonderful, but you need to know how to turn your great story into a great logline. There is and always has been only one real secret to success in the entertainment industry: Tell a great story. Period. And you need to figure out how to tell that fabulous story in only 25 words or less! You need to learn how to get your script idea enthusiastically read by an agent and then a producer, director and actors. Learn what they look for in a title and logline. Your first impression to these movers and shakers is all about the fine art of pitching your film or screenplay, your TV series concept, your film, or story idea, via your eye-catching and memorable title and logline.
“SELL THE SIZZLE; NOT JUST THE STEAK!”
A great title for your film or screenplay is the first (and maybe only) introduction to an agent, a producer, director or studio. “You’ve got 3 minutes; pitch me what you’ve got,” is what you’ll hear from the entertainment industry movers & shakers who might buy your project. But you probably wouldn’t even get that meeting or a reply to your query letter, if you didn’t have an interesting title and logline that caught their eye.READ MORE HERE:
“I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become.” ~ Carl Jung
“Choose to live by choice, not by chance. Make changes, not excuses. Be motivated, not manipulated. Be useful, not used. Choose self-esteem and listen to your inner voice.”
IN MEMORIAM:
MARTY CUNY, MOONDANCER
MARTY CUNY was known for his stunt & crew work on the filmsThunderheart(1992) andCrazy Horse(1996). Marty, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation where he was delivered by his grandmother. Among his many accomplishments, Marty excelled in screenwriting. Focusing on both fiction and non-fiction, his screenplays have been featured at the Moondance International Film Festival, Boulder, Colorado. Marty also attended the film festival annually and always gave a traditional Lakota Blessing Ceremony, and one year, as he was finishing the blessing, a double rainbow suddenly appeared overhead, to the amazement of the festival-goers gathered there.
For the past 45 years Marty Cuny has been makingdolls and other traditional styled craftwork. With awards from the Red Cloud Indian Art Show and pieces in collections coast-to-coast – including the Smithsonian – Marty continued to use his art to tell the story that might otherwise be lost. He learned the craft from watching and learning the techniques of beading from his grandparents. They taught him the basics of how to use the leather, beads, feathers, rawhide and horsehair. His inspiration in creating his work is drawn from dreams and a desire to incorporate what had occurred in history, and the knowledge that he could share with the people who have come to appreciate the culture and history of the Lakota people. Marty Cuny, National award-winning artist, writer and actor. made his journey to the Spirit World on March 24, 2017.
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to stop and smell the flowers along the way.” ~ Walter Hagen
2018 CALL-FOR-ENTRIES!
FEATURE, SHORT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION & DRONE FILMS, FEATURE & SHORT SCREENPLAYS, STAGE PLAYS, FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC, SHORT STORIES, TV PILOTS, AND MORE!
“When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud, ether.” ~ Leo Burnett
Vincent Van Gogh “Wheatfield With Crows”“Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” ~ Scott Adams
Please be sure to check out our very popular Moondance magazine articles HERE! Don’t miss reading all the great filmmaking & writing articles written by the pros exclusively for Moondance. Read about: how to win a screenplay competition; how to win a film festival competition; winning titles & loglines for films & scripts; screenplay submissions; movie script writing; writing character, dialog & action; composing winning film scores; how to get an agent; what Hollywood wants to see; directing indie films…and more!
