Founded 2012 | Film titles 20 | |
Location Shreveport, Louisiana, United States Awards Louisiana Film Prize ($50,000), iTunes Distribution, Automatic Entry to Other Festivals, Filmmaking Grants, Best Actor/Actress, Cross/Cut Editing Award (2013 only) Festival date September 29 - October 2, 2016 | ||
Louisiana Film Prize is an annual film contest and festival started in 2012 by Gregory Kallenberg that is held in Shreveport, Louisiana. The contest invites filmmakers from across the country to shoot a short film in a predefined geography - centered in Shreveport and Bossier City - for the chance to win $50,000, one of the largest cash prizes for a short film in the world. Films may be no less than five minutes and no more than fifteen minutes total runtime. The prize winner is determined by both festival attendees and a judges panel, who are required to view all twenty shorts, separated into two slates of ten films each, and confirmed by punch card in order to place a vote. Each group accounts for 50% of the total vote. Filmmakers can also win grants for filmmaking for $3,000 through a separate voting process.
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2012 Festival: Inaugural Year
The 2012 festival was attended by 1,700 people and the prize was won by filmmakers Noah Scruggs, Thomas Woodruff, and Chris Armand for their film "The Legend of Luther Anderson."
2013 Festival
For the 2013 contest and festival, organizers are added additional prizes which can by won by filmmakers including five grants for $3,000, as opposed to three for the 2012 festival, for filmmakers to return and create a film for the 2014 festival. Prizes also included automatic admission to other film festivals around the country and distribution on iTunes and other avenues through Shorts International. The "Top 20" films competing in the 2013 contest were announced August 15, 2013 and the festival was held October 4–6, 2014. The New Orleans-based film "Silo" took home the grand prize in addition to a special state-sponsored "Cross/Cut" award.
2014 Festival
The 2014 Film Prize saw the addition of a best actor/actress prizes The Bradley and Alyce awards. Returning was the large cash prize, the Founders' Circle filmmaking grants, festival placement, and distribution opportunity via Shorts HD. The "Top 20" films who competed the 2014 contest were announced August 12, 2014. On October 12 at the Awards Brunch, it was announced that "True Heroes" by director Chris Ganucheau of New Orleans won the grand prize. The Alyce Best Actress and Bradley Best Actor awards were bestowed upon Chelsea Bryan of "Angel of Joy" and James Palmer of "Snip" respectively.
2015 Festival
The fourth Louisiana Film Prize was the largest by far in terms of attendance, filmmaker entries, and number of venues. Returning were the Bradley and Alyce actor/actress awards, Founders' Circle, festival placement, distribution, and the $50,000 cash prize. The Top 20 films were announced August 12, 2015. On October 4, it was announced that "The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy" by director Alexander Jeffrey of El Dorado, Arkansas won the grand prize. The Top Five were named as "American Virigin" by Tamzin Merchant, "Honey and the Hive" by Ausitn Alward, "Hut Hut" by Michael Almond and Courtney Sandifer, "Jackdaw" by Travis Champagne, and "The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy" by Andrew Jeffrey. The Alyce Best Actress was Georgia Rose Bell of "Two Roads" and the Bradley Best Actor awards was given to Stan Brown of "The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy".