Zed Fest Film Festival & Screenplay Competition

Name of Contest:
Zed Fest Film Festival & Screenplay Competition

Sponsoring Organization:
Private Donations and Self Financing

Director:
Ed Stephens

Address:
Zed Fest
C/O Ed Stephens
P.O.Box 11293
Burbank, CA 91510-1293

E-Mail:
zedfest@gmail.com

Website:
http://sites.google.com/site/zedfest

Purpose of Contest:
The purpose of Zed Fest is to encourage and support low budget moviemaking. Many people are aware of the term B-Movie for low budget movies, but few have ever heard of Z-Movies. Considered far beneath even the worst B-Movie, Z-Movies are made with little to no money and are commonly considered “Bad”. Some are so bad, that they are actually kind of good. Since most Z-Movies (or, as we like to call them, Zed-Flicks) are Horror or Sci-Fi, we do have a particular affinity for Robots and Zombies. But we are open to any good story in any genre that is compelling, well told, and most importantly…low budget. With the advent of inexpensive high resolution digital video cameras and free editing software, anyone can become a moviemaker. Zed Fest would like to acknowledge the efforts of DIY/Backyard Filmmakers, Film Students, and Micro Budget Indies. We hope to empower them to take the next step up and continue their passions for visual storytelling.

Number of years this contest has been running:
0.25 Years – Zed Fest was established in April, 2010

Deadlines:
September 30th 2010

Entry Fees:
Free!

Kinds of scripts accepted (i.e. Teleplays, features, MOWs):
Short Features (90-110 pages)

Restrictions
Must be conceivably producible on very low budgets (between $0.00 - $60,000.00)
For 2010 our festival theme is “Zombies”, screenplays that feature zombies are preferred.

Description of Prizes:
All participants receive a unique Certificate of Participation.
Winners receive an award plaque, a custom Zed Fest T-Shirt and cash prizes.
1st - $100.00
2nd - $50.00
3rd - $25.00

Readers and Judges:
Our readers and judges are industry professionals. Final judging is done by festival founder, Ed Stephens

Please take a moment to describe why you feel your contest is best able to help writers break into the industry.
In all honesty, at the moment, I do not believe that participating in Zed Fest could actually help anyone “break into the industry” per se. Our goal really, is to support and encourage the kid in his back yard with his dad’s video camera, or the writer out in the middle of “B.F.Nowhere” with the quirky style who refuses to follow “The Hollywood Formula”. We just want to give them some recognition and validation of their art. If a submission does turn up that is particularly interesting we would certainly introduce it to our industry associates for consideration. But the most important thing Zed Fest hopes to accomplish is to acknowledge these creative people who would otherwise be dismissed by the more competitive established venues.