2013 Great Lakes International Film Festival Call for Entries

Considered among the top 100 most popular film festivals in the world, the 12th annual Great Lakes International Film Festival has officially opened its Call for Entries for the 2013 Festival which will be showcasing the best works of emerging and veteran filmmakers.

From the feature narrative genre to documentary to animation; experimental; horror and Spiritual films, the Great Lakes International Film Festival celebrates the film arts in dynamic transition. As emerging technologies continue to redefine the form, filmmakers from the Great Lakes region, across the country and around the world express the common and the diverse through the age-old tradition. -- The art of the story.

For our 2013 season, we shall accept submissions internationally of feature length and short length films in the genres of Documentary, Horror, Experimental, Religious/Spiritual, Animation, Comedy, and all genres of Music Videos and GLBT films for the 2013 festival.

Showcasing the best films of the 2013 season, the Great Lakes International Film Festival will be held LIVE in the great city of Erie Pennsylvania in September 2013, with our online festival taking place September 19th thru September 30th, 2013.

The Great Lakes International Film Festival recognizes music videos as an extension of the film making art and as an art form in itself and does not overlook the very talented people who with the strongest of dedication and conviction create these productions.

We shall accept all ranges of music videos.

If there is anything as universal as the ageless storytelling of motion pictures, it’s the music that makes up life’s soundtrack.

The 2013 Great Lakes International Film Festival shall accept Music Videos from around the world of cross-continent and cross-genre productions. We shall accept Music Videos of all genres from Pop, Punk, Rock, Alt-Country, Country-Western, Folk, Reggae, Hip-Hop to Electronica, Jazz, Blues, Zydeco, Industrial, Metal, Hardcore, Gothic, Karaoke, Avant-Garde, World Music, and Experimental.

The 2013 Great Lakes International Film Festival will accept all forms of Religious, Christian, and Spiritual films including African, African American, GLBT, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino, Native/Aboriginal and student films from the United States and around the world.

The Great Lakes International Film Festival Horror categories for films will include Horror, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Suspense, Supernatural, Horror Documentary, Horror Animation, and student films.

For more information, rules, deadlines and fees please visit www.greatlakesfilmfest.com

2012 Great Lakes International Film Festival Call for Entries

Considered among the top 100 most popular film festivals in the world, the 11th annual Great Lakes International Film Festival has officially opened its Call for Entries for the 2012 Festival.

We shall accept submissions internationally of independently produced feature length and short length films and scripts in the genres of documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation, and all genre of music videos and Gay/Lesbian films for the 2012 festival.

Showcasing the best films of the 2012 season, the Great Lakes International Film Festival will be held LIVE in the great city of Erie Pennsylvania in September 2012, with our online festival taking place September 20th thru September 30th, 2012.

We shall accept all ranges of music videos, along with entries of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches.

The 2012 Great Lakes International Film Festival shall accept Music Videos from around the world of cross-continent and cross-genre productions. We shall accept Music Videos of all Ranges from Pop, Punk, Rock, Alt-Country, Country-Western, Folk, Reggae, Hip-Hop to Electronica, Jazz, Blues, Zydeco, Industrial, Metal, Hardcore, Gothic, Karaoke, Avant-Garde, World Music, and Experimental.

The 2012 Great Lakes International Film Festival will accept all forms of Religious, Christian, and Spiritual films including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino, Native/Aboriginal and student films from the United States and around the world.

The Great Lakes International Film Festival Horror categories for scripts and films will include Horror, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Suspense, Supernatural, Grindhouse Horror, Horror Documentary, Horror Animation, and student films and scripts.

The annual screenwriting competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need.

The Great Lakes International Film Festival, having produced one successful film festival after another while showcasing more than a thousand films has paid out thousands of dollars in awards and prizes for our scriptwriting competition, not to mention the countless films and filmmakers who have gone on to bigger and better things after screening at our festival.

The Great Lakes Film Festival Scriptwriting Competition offers a $1,500.00 cash award to our first place winner of the 2012 competition among other prizes. The winning script will be forwarded to agents and industry professionals for consideration.

For more information, rules, deadlines and fees please visit www.greatlakesfilmfest.com

2011 Great Lakes International Film Festival Call For Entries

Considered among the top 100 most popular film festivals in the world and a 501c(3) non-profit organization, the 10th annual Great Lakes International Film Festival has officially opened its Call for Entries and will accept submissions internationally of independently produced feature length and short length films and scripts in the genres of documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation, and all genre of music videos and Gay/Lesbian for the 2011 festival, September 22nd thru September 29th, 2011.

Our film festival has reached a global echelon launching our festival interactively online allowing independent filmmakers and fans to watch and enjoy the films world wide on the go, from work and from the comfort of their own homes. In this technologically advanced world we live in, where communication and convenience MUST be at the tips of our fingers, we knew this was the next evolution in film festivals.

Since launching our fest online we have gained even more popularity among the film viewing public and filmmakers, not to mention production houses and distributors because they no longer have to travel to find the next film that will make Hollywood sit up and take notice. In this day and age, convenience is the name of the game, especially for the independent film industry.

Much like most other festivals, ours was limited by time in how many films we could screen at the fest. Simply put, if a film is good, it will be accepted and screened without time constraints. Films will not be available for download, but shall be presented in a video on demand system that will allow users to watch the films. The V.O.D. system will be secured and can be viewed from any computer.

Unlike other festivals streaming films online, films in this festival cannot be downloaded, the films HAVE NO EMBEDDING CODE and our HTML code if copied and pasted, the films will not play, therefore they CANNOT be placed on other websites.

The only time and place they can be viewed is in our festival. In short, we have gone to great lengths to set this system up to protect the safety and security of each filmmaker's film always keeping the filmmaker in mind. Basically, it is just as secure as a brick and mortar theater screening, only much better.

You hear so much about the environment and global warming it got us thinking. When you realize how much power is used during the film fest – electricity for the building, natural gas for heat and the gasoline the people use to get to the fest it left one hell of a carbon footprint. By doing the whole festival on line, it actually helps cut down on greenhouse gases.

We shall accept all ranges of music videos, along with entries of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches.

The 2011 Great Lakes International Film Festival will accept all forms of religious, Christian, and spiritual films including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino, Native/Aboriginal and student films from the United States and around the world.

The Great Lakes International Film Festival horror categories for scripts and films will include Horror, Thrillers, Science
Fiction, Suspense, Grindhouse Horror, Horror Documentary, Horror Animation, and student films and scripts.
The annual screenwriting competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need.

If there is anything as universal as the ageless storytelling of motion pictures, it’s the music that makes up life’s soundtrack.

The 2011 Great Lakes International Film Festival shall accept music videos from around the world of cross-continent and cross-genre productions. We shall accept music videos of all ranges from pop, punk, rock, alt-country, country-western, folk, reggae, hip-hop to electronica, jazz, blues, Zydeco, industrial, gothic, karaoke, avant-garde, world music, and experimental.

The Great Lakes Film Festival Scriptwriting Competition offers a $1,000.00 cash award to our first place winner of the 2011 competition among other prizes. The winning script will be forwarded to agents and industry professionals for consideration.

www.greatlakesfilmfest.com

2009 Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition

The annual Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition has officially opened its Call for Entries and will accept submissions internationally of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches including documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation and Gay/Lesbian for the 2009 competition.

The Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition has achieved such great success in past years that we now are able to offer a $5,000.00 cash award to our first place winner of the 2009 competition among other prizes. The winning script will also be forwarded to agents and industry professionals for consideration.

The annual Scriptwriting Competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need. Each year we are contacted by many agents and production companies and have launched the careers of many budding scriptwriters while giving new exposure to veteran scriptwriters.

The 2009 Great Lakes Scriptwriting Competition will accept all forms of religious, Christian, and spiritual scripts including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino and Native/Aboriginal from the United States and around the world.

The Great Lakes Film Festival Scriptwriting Competition horror categories will include Horror, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Suspense, Grindhouse Horror, Horror Documentary, and Horror Animation.

FEES and DEADLINES:

Short Length Script:
· $15.00 if postmarked by March 7, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $25.00 if postmarked by May 30, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $35.00 if postmarked by July 25, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $55.00 if postmarked by Sept 26, 2009 (U.S. Currency only) Withoutabox entries ONLY

Feature Length Script:
· $25.00 if postmarked by March 7, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $35.00 if postmarked by May 30, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $45.00 if postmarked by July 25, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)
· $65.00 if postmarked by Sept 26, 2009 (U.S. Currency only) Withoutabox entries ONLY

Winner will be announced no later than October 17, 2009

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL BELOW INSTRUCTIONS
ABSOLUTELY NO INTERNATIONAL CHECKS, WIRETRANSFERS, OR MONEY GRAMS WILL BE ACCEPTED. For all entries submitted outside the United States, we will only accept payment for submission fees in the form of INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDERS

Scriptwriting Eligibility:
Must be 18 years of age or older
The entered script must not be or previously been optioned, sold, or produced

Scriptwriting Rules:
Any genre consideredScripts must be original work of the authorMultiple authorship is allowed. If the script wins, the writers will divide the prize.Multiple entries are allowed, but their own completed entry form and their own appropriate entry fee must accompany each entry.No corrected pages or additional pages will be accepted after the script has been entered.

Script Guidelines:
Submitted Scripts must be in English.Do not send originals, scripts will not be returned.Scripts must be in industry standard format and bound with 2 or 3 brads unless submitted electronically as an Adobe PDF or Word File.Body pages must be correctly numbered.Script title page should only contain name of screenplay.Must be on white paper.Covers must be card stock only

Teleplay Rules:
Teleplays must be original material. We will not accept spec scripts for existing shows, treatments or reality television pilots.
Teleplays must be hour or half-hour or one hour pilots. Additional material will not be read or considered.
Teleplays must not have been previously optioned, purchased or produced.

Script Length:Feature Length scripts 70 pages or moreShorts length scripts 69 pages or less
Teleplay Feature Length scripts no more than 60 pages
Teleplay Short Length Scripts no more than 30 pages

Stage Play Full Length scripts 50 pages or more
Stage Play Short Length Scripts 49 pages or less

All entries must be postmarked no later than the appropriate entry deadline they were submitted under. Additional entry fee will be required if not postmarked by the appropriate deadline. Entries received with uncompleted information will not be considered.

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL BELOW INSTRUCTIONS
ABSOLUTELY NO INTERNATIONAL CHECKS, WIRETRANSFERS, OR MONEY GRAMS WILL BE ACCEPTED. For all entries submitted outside the United States, we will only accept payment for submission fees in the form of INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDERS

Checks returned to us will incur a standard $25 fee that must be paid, even if you choose to pull your teleplay from the competition.

Please include a SASE for notifications if no email address is available.

Winner will be announced no later than October 17, 2009

www.greatlakesfilm.org

2008 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival

Among the top 100 most popular film festivals in the world, the 7th annual Great Lakes Independent Film Festival has officially opened its Call for Entries and will accept submissions internationally of independently produced feature length and short length films and scripts in the genres of documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation, and all genre of music videos and Gay/Lesbian for the 2008 festival, September 25th. Thru September 28th. We shall accept all ranges of music videos, along with entries of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches.

The 2008 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival will accept all forms of religious, Christian, and spiritual films including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino, Native/Aboriginal and student films from the United States and around the world.

With the advancements in digital technology, the ordinary movie viewing experience will change, and this is why we are brought the technology to our festival. The use of the DLP technology will enhance the audience’s experience by allowing them to observe the films as they are meant to be viewed. The technology allows most independent filmmakers to keep their exhibition formats as close to the original shooting format of their project, while reducing transfer costs.

The Great Lakes Independent Film Festival is the first film festival world wide to completely exploit the DLP projection technology by Texas Instruments.

The Great Lakes Independent Film Festival horror categories for scripts and films will include Horror, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Suspense, Grindhouse Horror, Horror Documentary, Horror Animation, and student films and scripts.

The annual screenwriting competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need.

Prizes for the winning script will include cash award of $500.00. The winning script will be forwarded to agents and industry professionals for consideration.

If there is anything as universal as the ageless storytelling of motion pictures, it’s the music that makes up life’s soundtrack.

The 2008 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival shall accept music videos from around the world of cross continent and cross-genre productions. We shall accept music videos of all ranges from pop, punk, rock, alt-country, country-western, folk, reggae, hip-hop to electronica, jazz, blues, Zydeco, industrial, gothic, karaoke, avant-garde, world music, and experimental.

For More Information Visit www.greatlakesfilmfest.com

2008 Great Lakes Storyboard Competition

The Great Lakes Film Association is proud to announce its annual storyboard competition for 2008. All genres of storyboards will be accepted nationally and internationally for the 2008 competition.

A storyboard visually coveys the plot and action of a scene, shot, whole film or a commercial. Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing a motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity.

The competition judges will be looking for skills in the development and communication of a strong, innovative, well-realized idea and technique and less about beautifully rendered storyboards.

For More Information Visit www.greatlakesfilm.org

2008 Final Frontier ConFest

In cooperation with IKV Ice Dragon, the Great Lakes Film Association is proud to announce the first annual Star Trek Convention and Independent Star Trek Film Festival in Erie, Pennsylvania November 7th & 8th, 2008.

This is not the kind of Star Trek film festival you may be used to. It will NOT include showings of old episodes or running the Star Trek movies Paramount has released during the last few decades.

This is the first time that a film festival has been born with a convention that will feature a competition between Star Trek fans who have taken their passion for the genre to the next level by filming their own short films, feature length films, and episodes.

To that end, the Great Lakes Film Association officially opens it's call for entries internationally for the 2008 Star Trek confest. The stories are their own creations. The filmmakers produce them on their own without help from Paramount or Viacom. These films range from live action to animation (whether drawn or computer animated) to stop action.

There will be no limit as to how long or short a film can be as long as it has a story and some sort of characters involved. In other words, we do not want to see films featuring just a Federation communicator with music behind it. Just try to be creative!

For More Information Visit www.thefinalfrontierconfest.com

2008 Great Lakes Script Competition

The 7th annual Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition has officially opened its Call for Entries and will accept submissions internationally of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches including documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation and Gay/Lesbian for the 2008 competition.

The 2008 Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition will accept all forms of religious, Christian, and spiritual scripts including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino and Native/Aboriginal from the United States and around the world.

This industry-leading competition was created specifically for you - the scriptwriter.
The written word when combined with the visual power of media has the power to move us to tears, laughter, fear, exaltation, and countless other emotions all within the span of a few moments. The right words can literally change the world.

The annual Scriptwriting Competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need. Each year we are contacted by many agents and production companies and have launched the careers of many budding scriptwriters while giving new exposure to veteran scriptwriters.

For More Information Visit www.greatlakesfilm.org

2008 Great Lakes Video Competition

Pull out your video cameras, cell phones, animation tools and whatever inspires you. The Great Lakes Film Association is proud to announce the call for entries for our first annual Online Video Competition. We're looking for moments in time that capture “life” as you see it of all genres and any subject matter including music.

Videos on any subject will be accepted into the competition to be judged by an independent, professional panel. All you need is a video camera and your imagination.

The GLFA Online Video Competition was designed to encourage videographers, students and just the everyday person who picks up a video camera to take the first step in revealing their talent to the world, and giving them a chance to get the recognition they deserve.

The GLFA Online Video Competition is the only professional competition that gives both first time and veteran filmmakers and videographers a fair and equal opportunities to get their work looked at, and win great prizes and exposure.

We look forward to receiving works of creative expression and artistic imprint.

For More Information Visit www.greatlakesfilm.org