Women In Film, ReFrame & IMDbPro Launch Two-Minute Film Contest Amid Lockdown

Women in Film, ReFrame and IMDbPro have teamed on a short-film contest for the coronavirus era. They have launched the Curbside Shorts Filmmaking Challenge, in which women and non-binary filmmakers from North America create a brief movie inspired by life while sheltering in place.

All genres are welcome, and filmmakers can employ smartphones and/or DSLR cameras, animation, lighting, camera equipment and editing tools as available “at home” to create a two-minute film — give or take 20 seconds.

Among the potential subjects mentioned by the organizers:  What have you discovered about yourself, home or neighborhood? How do you envision the future coming out of this pandemic? Have you imagined a new character or superhero or perhaps been inspired by a real-life hero working on the front lines?

Submissions are being accepted through May 26, and the contest will be judged in two rounds. Audience voting will be done May 26-June 2, and the 10 pics with the most votes, along with 10 films selected by the preliminary jury, will advance to the finals. The grand-prize winner announced June 9 will receive $5,000, the runner-up gets $2,000, and three honorable mentions will take home $1,000 each; all five winning teams will be featured on the IMDb homepage and receive a one-year free subscription to IMDbPro.

Judges Maria Bello, Cara Buono, Marta Cunningham, Nisha Ganatra, Catherine Hardwicke, Barbara Kopple, Col Needham, Tanya Saracho and Kim Yutani will be looking at creativity, technical merit and adherence to the assignment.

There is no entry fee, but the contest will be capped at 200 entries. Filmmakers can find details and submit their projects here.