HollywoodCheatSheet.com Awards Indy Production Package at Hollywood's First Wireless Film Festival

HollywoodCheatSheet.com recently participated in a first-of-its-kind film festival.  The Third Screen Film Festival (TSFF) took place on October 26, 2006 at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills, California and showcased films for the 'third screen', which includes mobile phones as well as WiFi and broadband-enabled hand-held devices.  It was open to student filmmakers, amateurs and professionals.

The inaugural Third Screen Film Festival was presented by Columbia College Chicago and its premiere Semester in L.A. program, in partnership with Nano, America's first short film channel available wirelessly on MobiTV service.

"The fusing of creativity with emerging technology makes this an exciting time to be involved in the entertainment industry," said Bryan Aamot, Hollywood Cheat Sheet Partner and CTO.  "We are thrilled to support Columbia and the winners in this new media first."

Nearly 1,000 short films, eight minutes and under in length, were submitted to TSFF from June through September.  The festival awarded its top prize -- a $10,000 filmmaker grant -- to the TSFF film that received the most votes overall --  "The Lost" by Todd Spence of Glendale, Calif.  Spence, originally from Farmington, Missouri, also won the honor of having his award-winning film air on the flagship GoTV Super Channel on Sprint. He completed his homage to the horror film genre as a student at Webster University in St. Louis and has spent the last two years working in film and television production in Los Angeles.  Spence plans to use his TSFF prize to fund his next indie film project.

More than 200 attendees cast their votes in real time via text messaging powered by Mozes.com to select the $3,000 Jury Prize winning film – a 90 second comedy entitled "Pumpkin" by Matt Paige of Sante Fe, New Mexico.

The Mobile Award was presented to the film that received the most votes via text messaging – "Slideshow" by Tim Saccardo of Hollywood, Calif., who received an Indy Production Package provided by The Hollywood Cheat Sheet (www.HollywoodCheatSheet.com), featuring a camera package rental from Big Vision Rentals, Burbank (www.BigVision.com); cast and crew refreshments courtesy of Kit & Kaboodle Craft Services (www.KnKCraftServices.com); production music from The Music Bakery (www.MusicBakery.com); and discounts on all production related products and services from pre-to-post production at HollywoodCheatSheet.com.  A Boston College grad originally from Middletown, RI who moved to Hollywood two years ago from New York City where he completed his winning six minute short film, Saccardo has several projects in development that he will now be able to put into production using his prize.

Student award winners – brothers Pedro and Ramiro Castro of Chicago, IL received a free session from Jeffrey Gordon's acclaimed WritersBootCamp.com, and their winning film "The Great Poker Chase" will also air on mtvU -- MTV's 24-hour college network broadcasted to more than 730 campuses and 6.8 million students nationwide – and the network's all access broadband channel, mtvU Über at mtvU.com, and mtvU Wireless. The brothers made this Keystone Cops chase film spoof at the University of Chicago.  Additionally, five filmmakers received "Avid Liquid" special effects packages and three filmmakers won props and costumes from PremiereProps.com.

All of the winning TSFF films will be shown throughout the year on Nano on Demand, which is available in more than 16 million households, and at www.thirdscreenfilmfestival.com, which will continue to accept short films in competition offering more chances for filmmakers to win prizes and recognition for their work.

The event featured a lively, hour-long panel discussion on "What will be the Killer App in Wireless Entertainment" covering the importance of viral, grassroots and partnership marketing, the success of Lonely Girl 15, convergence, user generated content and more.  Panelists included:  Jon Katzman, Director, TSFF and Semester in L.A., Columbia College Chicago who served as moderator; David Gale, Executive Vice President of New Media, MTV Networks (TSFF panelist and judge); Viginia Heffernan, Television Critic, New York Times; Chris Gore, Founder, FilmThreat.com (TSFF panelist and judge); Daniel Tibbets, Executive Vice President, GoTV Networks (TSFF panelist and judge); Rachel McClean, Vice President, Mobile Content, InfoSpace; Suzanne Zizzi, Senior Vice President, Lion Rock Productions (TSFF panelist and judge); and James Choi, Manager, Manager of Movies, IFILM.  

About TSFF

The Third Screen Film Festival (TSFF) will be the definitive cell phone film festival for the new millennium. Presented by Columbia College Chicago and its premiere Semester in L.A. film program, located at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, TSFF brings together Columbia, the nation's largest arts and media college, with America's largest film shorts channel, Nano. With the invaluable input of a stellar Hollywood judging panel, TSFF creates the biggest, most high profile and accessible film festival ever created for the "third screen."  For more information: www.thirdscreenfilmfestival.com

About HollywoodCheatSheet.com

The Hollywood Cheat Sheet is a directory of L.A.-based production vendors offering discounts on entertainment related products and services.  Producers save money on everything from pre-to-post production by using vendors listed at www.HollywoodCheatSheet.com.