If the making of movie magic is something that intrigues you, this is an opportunity you will not want to pass up.
The 30 Day Film Challenge is coming to Berks County, where individuals and groups are invited to produce a five to 12 minute film that is shot within the month of January.
The competition is open to Berks County; Films must be submitted by Dec. 14.
Former Hamburg and Leesport resident Joseph Lisa is instrumental in the challenge and has followed his passion for films and filmmaking out to Los Angeles, where he is attending The Los Angeles Film School.
While residing in Berks County, Lisa felt a lacking of exposure to the film industry. Now, Lisa is bringing film opportunities for students back home with the first 30 Day Film Competition for Berks County.
“There weren’t many way to show films, and wasn’t a way to expresses what I wanted to perfect,” Lisa said in a recent interview with Berks-Mont Newspapers.
Lisa graduated from Schuylkill Valley High School and then went on to attend Berks Careers and Technology Center.
“Many people, filmmakers and actors, don’t have the opportunity to see their films on a big screen,” Lisa said, which was true for the young filmmaker while living in Berks County.
Along with photographer Tricia Mundell, Lisa founded the competition and is excited to see what the entries will offer.
“We are looking for individuals and teams that are interested in digital filmmaking to join our competition and produce a short film,” he said. For Lisa, it was seeing the film “Inception” (2010) in an IMAX theatre that sparked the inspiration for him. “That really opened up my eyes to the possibilities.”
Lisa himself has run, directed and shot many projects.
“I want people to be able to show their work to judging professionals,” he said, hoping that the feedback given will be beneficial to improving their craft. The community is encouraged to get involved and showcase their talent, with an additional category for high school students.
“Films are becoming an extremely popular field,” Lisa said, adding that technologies today make filmmaking accessible to everyone. “Softwares available are making it more and more reachable to make films.”
The top films will be shown at the IMAX theater, 30 N. 2nd St., Reading, complete with a red carpet event. All films must be created within the time frame or they will be disqualified. Each team will have 30 days from Jan. 1 to Jan. 30 to write and produce a short film. All films will be viewed and judged by working professionals in Los Angeles.
Videos from filmmakers will be posted on the competition website with tips of how to run production, post-production, lighting and other filmmaking techniques.
For the complete list of rules and guidelines, as well as the entry form, visit www.30dayfc.com; tutorials will be available. There is no cost to enter.
