Scotland Gets Mobile Movieola!
StumbleUponMobile video-production and mobile viewing is poised to go mass market in the technical sense, but potential mobile film-makers lack funding and support. Pocket Shorts Scotland is aiming to turn the tide north of the border...
Mobile Phone Filmmaking Within Reach For Scottish-Based
Filmmakers and Content Providers
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With 2 billion mobile phone users worldwide and over half of all phones expected to have video capability by 2007, the audience for mobile video is huge.
This is the final stage in the digital filmmaking revolution, and certainly the most exciting. Chances are, you may already be carrying in your pocket the means to create, edit, screen and distribute your own short film.
Everyone from mobile phone network operators to major UK broadcasters seem convinced of the potential of mobile movies, but few are willing to put their money where we-the-prducers mouths are and fund new productions - until now!
Film-making tools finally go mass market
Scottish Screen, Scottish Enterprise and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) are bringing a new funding scheme to Scotland. Pocket Shorts is designed to encourage filmmakers to explore this exciting new medium.
Launching the scheme at a special event at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, project coordinator Jason Hall explained: "So much of the current video content for phones is re-purposed from existing TV footage, but this is an entirely different space with different audience expectations."
New talents & styles for the mobile space
"Making movies for mobiles is a specialised field, but without any specialists. We'd like to find, develop and support the filmmakers and content providers who can crack this new medium wide open and unleash its full potential."
With Scottish Screen's renowned strength in supporting great shorts and Scottish Enterprise's innovative approach to supporting the development of new and emerging technologies, it was a logical step for the two organisations to partner with NESTA - the original funders of the pilot scheme in North West England - to bring Pocket Shorts to Scotland.
Eight Scottish projects of up to sixty seconds will be commissioned with a maximum budget of £3000 each. It is expected that half of the films commissioned will be live action and half animated. To coincide with the call for entries, a series of free workshops will take place during September, as follows:
FREE WORKSHOPS
EDINBURGH: Saturday 17th September / Filmhouse / 11am
ABERDEEN: Sunday 18th September / Belmont / 11am
DUNDEE: Monday 19th September / DCA / 6:30pm
GLASGOW: Tuesday 20th September / CCA / 6pm ? 9pm
Anyone wishing to stay informed about the scheme and be first-in-line to hear about the workshops should sign up to the Pocket Shorts Scotland newsletter at www.pocketshorts.com/scotland
About NESTA:
NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) investing in innovators and working to improve the climate for creativity in the UK. Established in 1998 and set up with an endowment from the National Lottery (£200 million, raised in 2003 to £250 million), NESTA invests the interest to support UK innovation. Since May 2000, when the programmes first opened, NESTA has spent over £58m on programmes supporting 675 awards. Visit www.nesta.org.uk to find out more.
[Register and post your own comments on this article below...]
With 2 billion mobile phone users worldwide and over half of all phones expected to have video capability by 2007, the audience for mobile video is huge.
This is the final stage in the digital filmmaking revolution, and certainly the most exciting. Chances are, you may already be carrying in your pocket the means to create, edit, screen and distribute your own short film.
Everyone from mobile phone network operators to major UK broadcasters seem convinced of the potential of mobile movies, but few are willing to put their money where we-the-prducers mouths are and fund new productions - until now!
Film-making tools finally go mass market
Scottish Screen, Scottish Enterprise and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) are bringing a new funding scheme to Scotland. Pocket Shorts is designed to encourage filmmakers to explore this exciting new medium.
Launching the scheme at a special event at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, project coordinator Jason Hall explained: "So much of the current video content for phones is re-purposed from existing TV footage, but this is an entirely different space with different audience expectations."
New talents & styles for the mobile space
"Making movies for mobiles is a specialised field, but without any specialists. We'd like to find, develop and support the filmmakers and content providers who can crack this new medium wide open and unleash its full potential."
With Scottish Screen's renowned strength in supporting great shorts and Scottish Enterprise's innovative approach to supporting the development of new and emerging technologies, it was a logical step for the two organisations to partner with NESTA - the original funders of the pilot scheme in North West England - to bring Pocket Shorts to Scotland.
Eight Scottish projects of up to sixty seconds will be commissioned with a maximum budget of £3000 each. It is expected that half of the films commissioned will be live action and half animated. To coincide with the call for entries, a series of free workshops will take place during September, as follows:
FREE WORKSHOPS
EDINBURGH: Saturday 17th September / Filmhouse / 11am
ABERDEEN: Sunday 18th September / Belmont / 11am
DUNDEE: Monday 19th September / DCA / 6:30pm
GLASGOW: Tuesday 20th September / CCA / 6pm ? 9pm
Anyone wishing to stay informed about the scheme and be first-in-line to hear about the workshops should sign up to the Pocket Shorts Scotland newsletter at www.pocketshorts.com/scotland
About NESTA:
NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) investing in innovators and working to improve the climate for creativity in the UK. Established in 1998 and set up with an endowment from the National Lottery (£200 million, raised in 2003 to £250 million), NESTA invests the interest to support UK innovation. Since May 2000, when the programmes first opened, NESTA has spent over £58m on programmes supporting 675 awards. Visit www.nesta.org.uk to find out more.
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