Insomnia 2008
I’m going to be one of the judges for the 2008 Insomnia Film Festival, an Apple-sponsored competition for U.S. high school and college students. Entrants get 24 hours to write, produce, edit, score and deliver a three-minute short film incorporating specific elements they only announce on the day.
The competition begins at 9:00 a.m. on November 15th, so you have just two weeks to get your team together.
Last year, I wrote up ten suggestions for participants, which is certainly worth a re-link.
9 Responses to “Insomnia 2008”
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October 29th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Hey John,
I’m interested in doing this, but I don’t start college again until January… I was previously enrolled but stopped going for about a year and a half now.. Im probably still on the schools roster but what requirements does the competition have in order to be accepted as a student?
Also, the website says that you need 4 college/high school friends to compete with on the team… does this mean you can ONLY use those 4 people or can you organize a group of 10-20 people to shoot it if need be?
October 29th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I’d love to do this, but sadly it’s only for American students. Come on Apple, the world is global. What about the rest of us?
October 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I wish the prize was meeting the judges.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
@Tyler:
I have no idea. But in general, in filmmaking, you’re better off trying than asking permission.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
In Response to Tyler,
You can have as many people help you as you want, but only the 5 on your team are eligible for prizes.
I am entering in this contest this year and hope to do well. Thank you Mr. August for the tips, it’s good to have a knowledgeable source to turn to.
October 30th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’ll be entering the competition this year. I just got done recently with the Campus MovieFest — My short made the Top 16 (UCLA Division) and I’m waiting for them to announce the VIEWERS CHOICE and WILD CARD award winners — so there’s still a chance my short won an award and will move on to regional finals.
For those wondering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HLCTczQGFM&fmt=18
I’ve never competed in a 24hr competition so it should be exciting.
And just knowing that you watched my short John is enough for me! :)
Any thoughts on my above video would be great too!
Thanks, Hector
November 11th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
We entered the 48h Film Festival here in Athens, Greece, which came for the first time. It was a fantastic experience!
Our 7min short, which I co-wrote and Assistant Directed, won 3 awards (best script, best female actress, best use of line of dialogue)!
I can only imagine the fun and madness when limited to 24hours…
November 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Hey im glad your a judge unfortunately they postponed it because of the issues people had with registration i appreciate your ten suggestions…those totally will help i cant wait for my film to be made and judged
November 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Apple decided to delay the start-day. Does anyone have any update on the delay? I hope the delay won’t be too long because my team might be out of town for the hollidays.
This delay is a huge disappointment and I am eager to find out what’s going on. Please email me if anyone has any in-side news. phongtran@hotmail.com
Thank you so much!
Phong Tran