MOONDANCE ~ ON WHY FILM FESTIVALS ROCK ON!… News & more…
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“In the old fairy tales, it is the strength of the wish that transforms life. The wish itself is the magic wand.” ~ Sena Jeter Nashlund, American author, “Ahab’s Wife”
https://moondancefilmfestival.com
SCROLL ON DOWN TO READ ABOUT:
• WHY FILM FESTIVALS ROCK ON!
• INTRODUCING OUR 2014 MOONDANCE EVENTS COORDINATOR
• MOONDANCERS WRITE US
• MOONDANCE SUCCESSES
• SEEKING VOLUNTEERS & INTERNS
• PETITION TO SAVE OUR VANISHING FORESTS
• INFO ON COMPETITION SUBMISSIONS & DEADLINE
• THE MOONDANCE E-ZINE
• INSIDER TIPS AT THE MOONDANCE E-ZINE
• SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
• EVENTS AT THE 2014 MOONDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
WHY FILM FESTIVALS ROCK ON!
image: www.dreamstime.com
Yes, getting one’s indie film accepted and screened at a film festival is often very difficult, and can certainly be a costly procedure. Some think that only films by known directors, and/or with A-List actors, will be selected by the judges. And that attending a film festival is not worth the costs or time, unless one is a celebrity. Nothing could be farther from the facts, in my opinion, but perhaps they are only referring to the biggies, like Cannes and Sundance, and only for filmmakers who made their films merely for fame and fortune. In my experience, and at the Moondance International Film Festival, judges select films to screen for the quality of the film, for the story and concept, and for the relevance to their particular mission and audiences.
The primary objective for any film festival should be to inspire, promote and encourage screenwriters composers and independent filmmakers. Film festivals provide an entertaining public forum in which those creative, talented and dedicated artists can have the opportunity for their work to be viewed by other filmmakers, indie film buff audiences, and the international entertainment community. A film festival’s mission is, or should be, to entertain, to inform, to inspire, to encourage and to educate its audiences. Films, scripts and music can contribute to a healthier society, and these works should encourage the active involvement of audiences to connect and act collectively to address social challenges.
Films that are innovative, distinctive, compelling, entertaining, and engaging are always relevant to varied audiences, and encourage active participation. Film festivals must strive to be innovative, risk-taking, and open to new thinking, new concepts, new talent, and new ways of telling stories. They are actively reaching out toward filmmakers everywhere in the world, as a primary and ongoing goal. Filmmakers from a wide diversity of ethnic and linguistic groups are an integral and creative part of our global society.
We seek to inspire and invigorate this creative potential to perceive, conceptualize, and produce their works for the benefit of the world society. We are dedicated to preserving their accumulated accomplishments and visions as expressed through the art of film Filmmakers, composers and writers are vocal and active participants in the social forces that shape our culture.
Film festivals can entertain, increase awareness, provide multiple viewpoints, address complex social issues, provide forums for deliberation, and strengthen ties between a large variety of international audiences. These works provide a vibrant and growing collection of films, which is an ideal means for communication across perceived boundaries of race, culture, place, age and gender, and document the complexity and depth of men’s and women’s experiences that will become widely accessible within the world film industry and to the public, and will encourage and inspire others to write, compose music and to make films.
Sure, we’d all like to have our films screened at Cannes, Sundance, or Moondance, and/or go into theatrical distribution, or picked up by television broadcasters, and have our scripts sold and produced as films, our original music as a film score, and even make some money! But indie filmmaking is not always just about gaining fame and fortune, and walking the red carpet. Sometimes, it’s about telling one’s story, cinematically, and having it viewed and appreciated by as many others as possible.
That may only happen via film festivals, which are spending a lot of money, talent, time and effort to screen your film, and to make the film festival experience the best it can be. Any filmmaker whose film is being screened should make it a point to attend that film festival, to avail themselves of all the networking opportunities, attend the awards ceremony, and be available for the Q&A after his or her film is screened, simply to show respect for the film festival, and to support the other writers, composers, and filmmakers whose work is being recognized, and whose films are being screened.
My Very Best Regards,
Elizabeth
Festival Founder & Executive Director
Artistic Director & Programming Director
Executive Producer
Moondance International Film Festival Boulder, Colorado USA
INTRODUCING OUR 2014 MOONDANCE EVENTS COORDINATOR!
PAMELA CLIFTON MALZBENDER
Pam has been a leader in customer service, marketing and project management for over 30 years, specializing in cable television, e-commerce and other new media industries. She is the founder and president of RPM Frontline Solutions (www.rpmfrontline.com) providing her expertise to companies including HBO, Time Warner, Comcast and The Denver Broncos. Pam has also worked extensively with non-profits, and events coordination She is past-president and currently an active member of the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County (www.zontafoothills.org), an international organization dedicated to advancing the status of women and girls. She is the chair of the Boulder Valley School’s Teen Parent Program and Co-Founder and Chairperson of Zonta EducateZ a program to focus on the education of at-risk women and girls. Confident, expert and thorough, Pam is always highly interactive, energetic, innovative, and engaging. Pam earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. She looks forward to being on the Moondance team, meeting all the Moondancers at the event, and contributing to the film festival’s continuing success.
MOONDANCERS WRITE US:
• “I would definitely be interested in participating in Moondance this year. It’s a cool, relevant festival; and I really like its emphasis on diversity, multi-culturalism, and non-violence.” ~ Mitchell Peck, Hollywood producer
• “Elizabeth is a dreamer, an activist for inspiring others. She respects the creativity of each individual artist and believes that we all have something wonderful to share with the world. I encourage everyone to share your talents in her upcoming film festival.” ~ CJ Machado (posted at LinkedIn.com)
• “My first documentary film was accepted and won at your festival several years ago. It went on to win several other awards, also. It was such a surprise, and meant so much to me at the time. It gave me the courage to continue to produce documentaries, and helped me define my career in filmmaking.” ~ Becky McMillen
• “Elizabeth is an amazingly creative and energetic individual! The Moondance Festival exists because of her initiative and continued enthusiasm. I was an award-winner at Moondance twice for my screenplays and another time for a short story. I attended two festivals, once in Boulder and once in Hollywood! Unforgetable!” ~ Bonnie Maffei, award-winning screenwriter (recommendation posted on LinkedIn.com)
“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If, one-by-one, all go silent, then all that will be left are the soloists. Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” ~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration
MOONDANCE SUCCESSES:
• Top film studios, producers & agents in L. A., NY and worldwide request Moondance winners’ and finalists’ screenplays, films & music.
• Many of the Moondance winning and finalist films have been purchased and distributed world-wide, for television and theatrical release.
• Three Moondance film winners have been subsequently nominated for the Academy Awards®, one of which was “Tanghi Argentina” which had its US premiere at Moondance 2007, and was nominated for best short foreign film at the 2008 Oscars®,.
• A 2001 Moondance winner was invited to screen her film “The Unique Oneness of Christian Savage” at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, after its US premiere at Moondance.
• Francis Ford Coppola optioned a finalist Moondancer’s screenplay, and his literary magazine, “Zoetrope: All-Story” is a Moondance sponsor.
• Sesame Street, Oxygen Media, Sundance Channel, Lifetime TV, National Geographic TV, the BBC, Canal+, and Starz Encore are just a few of the television companies requesting winning Moondance films and scripts.
• Cirque du Soleil, Montreal, Canada, generously sponsored Moondance in 2005 & 2007.
Being fearless, Moondance is where monotonous conformity is considered mediocrity, and extravagant individualism, innovation, uniqueness and experimentation is encouraged, awarded and applauded!
“Freedom” by Zenos Frudakis
“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and public opinion.” ~ Jack Kerouac
MOONDANCE IS SEEKING VOLUNTEERS & INTERNS FOR THE 2014 FILM FESTIVAL!
Please e-mail us at: [email protected], with FESTIVAL VOLUNTEER in the subject line, and let us know in what area(s) you’d like to offer your services. We will be needing dedicated volunteers & interns for the following positions:
• TICKET SALES @ THE DOORS
• NETWORKING PARTIES COORDINATOR
• EMCEES AT FILM SCREENINGS
• TICKET TAKERS
• SIGNAGE COORDINATOR
• GENERAL, AS-NEEDED, ASSISTANTS
All volunteers & interns can earn free festival tickets to films, parties, and workshops, and/or Moondance logo T-shirts or totes, based on their position and hours worked! Interns can also earn school credits. The festival will take place in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, USA, September 26, 27, 28, 2014. Some positions require pre- and post-festival time.
MOONDANCE SPECIAL OFFER:
SUBMIT TWO ENTRIES FOR A SINGLE ENTRY FEE! *
FROM NOW THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2014 POSTMARK SUBMISSION DEADLINE!
You may submit 2 films, 2 written works, 2 film scores or original music, or a film & script, a film & music, and so on…*PLEASE NOTE: This offer is only available via the OFFICIAL MOONDANCE WEBSITE ENTRY FORM! http://moondancefilmfestival.com/moondance-entry-form If you wish to submit via WAB or FilmFreeway, please select the fee waiver option on both entries (Code: MIFF2014), and send a check for the $75 entry fee to Moondance. This offer expires on June 3o, 2014
DIGITAL SUBMISSIONS IN ALL MEDIA ARE WELCOMED & ACCEPTED!
MOONDANCE COMPETITION CATEGORIES:
• FILMS (SHORTS & FEATURES, DOCUMENTARIES, NARRATIVE, ANIMATION, MUSIC VIDEOS)
• SCREENPLAYS (SHORT & FEATURE LENGTH)
• FILM SCORES & ORIGINAL MUSIC
• STAGEPLAYS
• SHORT STORIES
• FILM TRAILERS
• KID’S FILMS
• TV PILOTS
• RADIO PLAYS
• REALITY TV CONCEPTS (NEW FOR 2014!)
• and more!
~ Click here for more MOONDANCE INFO, GUIDELINES & ENTRY FORM
THE MOONDANCE E-ZINE IS HERE!
Don’t miss reading all of the great filmmaking & writing articles written by the pros exclusively for Moondancers: https://moondancefilmfestival.com/category/moondance-magazine/
SCREENWRITING: INSIDER INFO:
Write, prepare, edit, rewrite, and polish your screenplay so it’s perfect, before you send it out to directors, producers, agents, managers, distributors, actors, film festivals &/or writing competitions, and for potential funding, as well as for others who may have requested your film or screenplay.
SCREENWRITERS NEED TO ADDRESS ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:
• Action • Audience Appeal • Budget • Castability • Characterizations • Concept • Conflict • Dialogue • Evaluation • Exposition • Flow • Formatting • Genre • Humor • Interest • Is it Cinematic? • Logline • Marketability • Pace • Plot-line • POV • Premise • Principal Characters • Production • Relatability • Relationships • Scenes • Story • Subplots • Subtext • Synopsis • Syntax • Theme • Title • Transitions • Visualization
SUGGESTED MOONDANCE E-ZINE ARTICLES ON SCREENWRITING:
• 21 Suggestions to Better Your Chances of Winning Screenplay Competitions
• 23 Ways to Get Your Screenplay Rejected
• Titles & Loglines: 25 Words Open the Door
• Character & Characterization In Screenplays
• The Field of Dreams: Conflict as Metaphor
• SUBTLETIES OF SUBTEXT: The True Art Of The Writer
• How To Get An Agent
SAVE OUR VANISHING FORESTS!
“How many beautiful, ancient trees gave their lives that today’s news and scandals should, without delay, reach millions of readers?” ~ Edwin Way Teale
Photo: http://www.lostpine.com
When pioneers first came to this country, the pine was the monarch of the forests. White pines with trunks six feet in diameter, soaring to a height of 250 feet, were easily found. Thanks to longer and warmer summers, pine beetles are destroying most of America’s trees at an alarming rate. I urge you to take action and save our nation’s beautiful and historic forests. Over 70% of Yellowstone’s whitebark pine trees are already gone — and it’s not just Yellowstone. As of 2011, we had already lost millions of acres of forests across the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills.
The breathtaking Pacific Northwest is likely next, and maybe even New Jersey. A runaway outbreak of pine beetles has laid waste to millions upon millions of acres of gorgeous western pine forests. The beetles feed, lay eggs, and spread fungus in the trees, ultimately killing them. This is devastating news for the forests’ wildlife — especially grizzly bear cubs. If nothing changes, we’ll have to tell our children and grandchildren stories of a vast pine forest full of wildlife that they’ll never get to hike, smell, or even see.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has ruled that the whitebark pine trees should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, but they don’t have the budget to do so. That means it’s “warranted but precluded” from an official listing, and the fight against the pine beetle goes underfunded. These forests are a national treasure. Future generations deserve to experience them too! I call on you to make sure FWS and other agencies have the funds they need to save our forests from the pine beetles! SIGN THE SIERRA CLUB PETITION NOW:
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
Colorado mountains range & columbines, state flower
“Now I see the secret of growing the best person: it is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the Earth.” ~ Walt Whitman
“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” ~ J. K. Rowling
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill
2014 Moondance Film Festival dates:
September 26, 27, 28, in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, USA!
EVENTS AT THE 2014 MOONDANCE FILM FESTIVAL:
• INDIE FILM SCREENINGS! (Features, shorts, documentaries, animation, trailers & music videos)
• PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS!
• PITCH-PANELS FOR WRITERS, FILMMAKERS & COMPOSERS!
• PRODUCTIVE FREE NETWORKING PARTIES & EVENTS!
• PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS WITH THE PROS!
• DINNER & A MOVIE EVENT!
• MINGLE WITH CELEBRITY ATTENDEES!
• SPECIAL VIP CELEBRITY FILM, Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR + PRIVATE RECEPTION
• GALA AWARDS CEREMONY & RECEPTION!
• & much more!
Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, & join our networking connections at the MOONDANCE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GROUP on LinkedIn.com & at Stage32.com!
~~ Thanks for reading & subscribing to the Moondance news blog!
~~ Please forward this news-blog on to your friends & colleagues!
EMAIL: [email protected]
