Today marks the official launch of YOMYOMF's Interpretations short film initiative, created by director Justin Lin and his fellow Offenders to encourage aspiring filmmakers to develop their own original and unique voice. All participants will create a short film using the same original script and basically doing whatever they want with it. The script:
It's not something I'd do.
Well?
It's not what I expected.
You sure?
And that's it! You have to use these four lines of dialogue in this exact order, and your film can't be any longer than three minutes. I saw a series of commissioned sample shorts today at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and they were absolutely amazing. What's cool is how totally different the films were. You can actually watch some of them here.
A distinguished panel of judges will review the submissions and pick the five "best" films, representing a variety of different genres and styles. The selected five finalists will receive a $3000 cash prize to go toward their next project. YOMYOMF will also make an attempt to introduce promising filmmakers to industry mentors for professional growth and networking.
In the end, this is just a fun effort to support emerging filmmakers and give people a chance to try something new. It's an awesome idea, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the kind of work that emerges from the challenge. For more information, including the full rules, guidelines and how/when to submit a film, go to the Interpretations website here.