Digital Rights Group Partners With Filmaka To Make Drama Out Of The Crisis

London-based multiplatform distributor Digital Rights Group has announced they have partnered with LA based online film making community Filmaka ( www.filmaka.com) to sponsor a short film competition around the theme of 'Hard Times'.
The winners win a cash prize plus the chance of being propelled to the movie making major league.
If their three minute short film submitted is selected, the distributor is offering the winners the opportunity to turn it into a long running TV series or movie or an ongoing internet series.
Entries to the Digital Rights Group competition, which opens today, are voted for by the community, a set of judges at Digital Rights Group and by Filmaka's internationally renowned jury of movie makers, which includes Colin Firth, Werner Herzog and John Madden. Membership to the Filmaka community is free and for an administrative fee of $10.00, users can upload their films.
Filmaka has a loyal community of talented film makers from all around the world. Through its work with major advertising agencies and brands such as Ford, SAB Miller and the FX Network, Filmaka has proved that there is a huge pool of untapped talent and creativity which can create and deliver astonishingly professional content at very short notice, working with very efficient budgets.
DRG's Justin Judd said: "Our purpose in working with Filmaka is to find and pilot a number of ideas that we can then develop into more traditional formats such as long running TV series which could be straight drama or comedy. Whilst other sites have run occasional online movie competitions, the beauty of working with Filmaka is that their community brings a wide range of perspectives and approaches to the idea. 'Hard Times' seems an appropriate theme in the current economic circumstances but we remain very excited to see how the budding creative forces of tomorrow will interpret this theme and we look forward to helping them make it THE next big, international hit."
Filmaka's Deepak Nayar (producer, 'Bend It Like Beckham', 'Lost Highway') said: "Filmaka looks forward to seeing the many ways our global community interprets the very topical 'Hard Times' theme. Our film makers have proven their versatility time and time again, from creating branded entertainment for SABMiller and Ford Mustang, to short comedy films for FX, to music videos for Lincoln which featured in this year's Grammy (R) Awards.
Filmaka's mission is to reward creativity so we thank Digital Rights Group for giving our community the opportunity to turn their short films into hits for multiple platforms, including television and film."
Entries for the competition close at midnight PST on April 19.
(KMcA/BMcC)