Last night’s script contest turned out to be a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking test of wills. The result is a testament to the power of the written word to change people’s minds and we hope, their lives.

Three contestants, each with their own distinctive styles took their turn trying to convince, seduce and reason with their peers that their script was the one which the AAFilmLab will have the pleasure of co-producing. In the end, after two dead-heat ties and some further deliberation, the democratic process, and the power of the Asian American filmmaking people prevailed.

As such, without further ado, and with unfettered pleasure, the AAFilmLab would like to announce the winner of the FALL 2005 script competition:

Jane Valentine

Congratulations goes to Jane and to the other contestants, Nelson Wang and Lawrence Wong for conceiving and completing their scripts. Finally and most of all, the AAFilmLab would like to thank everyone for letting us read their work. We hope to see everyone back at the Lab soon, because the work has only just begun.

We’re please to announced the AAFL Script Contest for Fall 2005. If you’ve got a 10 page screenplay you’ve been working on, or just need an excuse to write one here you go. We’ve made up some guidelines to help you contain that explosive talent into an actionable short film. There’s a small submission fee, and the winner gets to take it all for their budget. On top of that, the AAFilmLab will put up some funding for the film as well.

The AAFilmLab will help produce three short films this upcoming season. The script contests are designed to help us find that all too important content for the films. The point of the films is to give hands on experience to workshop members as well to create a showcase product for your work.

Contact us with any questions or come to the next meeting (8/24). The Guidelines are below:

AAFL Screenplay Contest Guidelines – Fall 2005

[IN PDF - 34MB]
Contest Overview

The Asian American Film Lab (AAFL) is producing short films to accomplish the dual purposes of providing valuable training for their members and to generate content for festival and media submissions. AAFL expects to begin preproduction on their first film in Fall 2005.

All films start with a script. AAFL has determined that to develop competitive films is to obtain the best scripts available. To that end, the AAFL is conducting a screenplay contest whereby the winning script will be produced by AAFL members.

Contest Guidelines

1. The Fall 2005 Deadline is: September 7, 2005. Bring your script into the workshop on this day. There is a submission fee of $15 per entry (one entry per person). The submission money will be added to the winning script’s production budget. Scripts should be no longer than 10 pages. Scripts must be formatted in standard screenplay format.
2. Writers may only have one winning script per season (annual).
3. Submitted scripts will be read by everyone in attendance at the workshop meeting. Writers will also be asked to present a 1 minute pitch for their script or sing a song of the president’s choosing (the 1 minute pitch is highly recommended). The winner will be selected through a democratic peer election process. The writer of the selected script has the option to direct or to choose a director.
4. Keep the budget within the range of $300 - $700. The AAFL will provide some initial funding for the winning script. We don’t expect you to know how to decipher production values for your script. However, some things to keep in mind are that period scripts, special effects laden scripts, and epic scripts (think Pearl Harbor, Titanic, Lord of the Rings or any later Spielberg film) represent high production values which means lots of money. Try to stay with New York-based locations and simple present-day stories with smaller casts.
5. Along the lines of budget considerations, please keep the production contained within one or two weekends.
6. Scripts should adhere to MPAA guidelines for PG-13 or below ratings (PG, G). We’re not trying to enforce moral standards here. However, explicit sexual content may limit our talent choices when we’re casting and explicit violence starts to affect budget – see Guideline 4. The MPAA Ratings guidelines can be found at the mpaa website: http://www.mpaa.org/movieratings/about/index.htm
7. Absolutely no scripts requiring live firearms (or firearms in public), squibs, stunts, fire marshals, explosives and other potentially dangerous safety-intensive plot devices. The legal and safety requirements associated with firearms, stunts, explosions, etc. increases the budget beyond our range. Even if we somehow stayed within budget, we cannot afford the administrative overhead.
8. No scripts requiring children. Again, the legal requirements associated with children exceed our budgetary and administrative capabilities.
9. Stay clear of animal characters and the associated headaches.
10. No copyrighted intellectual property (film, newsreels, TV shows, music, soundtrack or lyrics). Exceptions granted to those screenwriters who have obtained at MINIMUM festival rights for the intellectual property. Evidence of your rights ownership MUST BE SUBMITTED with your script.
11. No exotic locations. Public safety offices (police and fire stations), penal facilities, transit infrastructure, landmarks and public parks are all exotic locations from the budgetary and administrative perspective. Given the security requirements of our terror-inflicted world, even “free” locations such as a subway station is much more difficult to get permission to film in. But if you have the location in your pocket, then by all means use it.
12. AAFL members will be given first priority for cast and crew. Once cast and crew are selected, they are expected to attend workshop meetings to update the AAFL about the progress of the film and most importantly, to share their experiences.

Four Directors. Four Weeks. One feature film.

The Feature Film Relay is the inaugural feature length film venture for the Asian American FilmLab (http://www.aafilmlab.org). At the end of four weeks, four Directors will complete shooting a feature length film employing an innovative method of filmmaking and will distribute the film using agile methods fit for the ever changing independent film market.

As an Asian American Film Lab production, one of the other important goals of the Film Relay will be to fulfill our mission as a non-profit organization by sharing the experiences and the knowledge that the filmmakers will gain from creating the film with the community. It isn't a film that belongs to one director, or to the AAFilmLab per se, but a film which the Asian American filmmaking community can in a sense be a part of as well.

As an actor, this project provides an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the life of a character through four different scripts and four different directors. If you've got the range, the vision and most importantly, the will to participate, you just might thank yourself with four short films and a feature under your belt at the end of the production.

Please not that although the main characters have been written, the motivation and interpretation of each character will be unique to each Director's vision and especially to the actors chosen to play them.

The filming is schedule tentatively for November.
There are audition slots available starting midday tomorrow, so please contact us with your availability and headshot as soon as possible. We don't mean to rush, we just want to get satrted already!

Email:

Characters

Ian
Male / 25-30 yrs. / Asian / Korean speaker a bonus

Dina (Ian's Mom)
Female / 41-50 yrs. / Asian / Korean speaker bonus

Jenny
Female / 25-30 yrs. / Any Ethnicity / Athletic

Anat
Male / 31-40 yrs. / Any Ethnicity

Jaewook (Ian's Uncle)
Male / 41-50 yrs. / Asian

Aunt (Jaewook's Wife)
Female / 31-40 yrs. / Asian

Dr. Rodriguez
Either gender / Any yrs. / Hispanic.

Hector
Male / Any yrs. / Any Ethnicity

AAFilmLab is proud to announce the world premiere of Myra Sito Velasquez’s “KUNG FU GRANNY” at the 12th Annual UrbanWorld Film Festival 2008 at the AMC Theater, 34th Street, NYC. Part of the SHORTS PROGRAM “Straight Comedy” starting at 2:15pm, Friday, Sept 12, and 4:15pm, Saturday, Sept 13. For more information:  http://urbanworld.com/ and http://www.myravee.com

NATURE, a division of Channel 13/WNET (http://www.thirteen.org/nature) seeks an intern for the Fall Semester 2008.

NATURE produces a weekly one-hour natural history/wildlife television program.

Responsibilities include:
* Assist the production staff with the day-to-day operations of the Department (screening DVD’s for edit sessions and podcasts, organizing tape library, logging footage, etc.);
* Research proposals and fact-check scripts (mainly natural history and environmental subjects);
* Administrative support—placing dub requests, photocopying, answering phones, etc.;
* Receive college credit, no pay, but stipend provided

Candidates should have:
* Educational Requirements/Special Skills:
* Strong interest in natural history and/or television;
* Some background in Biology and/or Zoology useful;
* Solid research and analytical skills—internet savvy;
* Willingness to work with all members of the Department;
* Detail-oriented and organized—accuracy is crucial!

When:
3 to 5 days/week per semester

Contact:
E-mail your resume w/ cover letter to Jayne Jun at
Mention you heard of this opportunity from the AAFilmLab.