DigiSPAA $50k digital film making competition

One of Australia and New Zealand’s most lucrative and prestigious digital film making competition has just upped the ante with the winner now walking away with over $50,000 worth of prizes, including $10,000 in equipment hire to turn their filmic dreams into a reality.

The winner will also get $15,000 in cash and $20,000 worth of post-production courtesy of Movie Network, a guaranteed screening of their film on the Movie Extra channel, plus a return airfare and free registration to the prestigious CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Thanks to the generous support of Camera Collective, the winner of the 2010 DigiSPAA competition, will have access to equipment and services including 35mm and 16mm Cameras, Red Camera Kits and Accessories, DSLR’s (Canon 7, 5 and 1D’s) High Speed Digital Cameras and Lenses with all the latest accessories.

Entries close at 5pm on Friday 17 September 2010. Eligible films are feature length, with a running time of at least 70mins, digitally produced and completed to advanced post-production stage no earlier than 31 August 2009, and independently funded.

About DigiSPAA

DigiSPAA is a creative project of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) an industry body that represents Australian independent film and television producers on all issues affecting the business and creative aspects of screen production.

The competition continues to draw entries from the best new cinematic talent in Australia and New Zealand, as acceptance of the digital medium becomes increasingly popular on a global scale. In 2009, Academy Award winning films such as Slumdog Millionaire (winner best cinematography) was shot half on digital. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, also an Academy Awards nominee, was also shot digitally.

Winners of the DigiSPAA grand prize, the ‘SPAARTAN Award’ include 2009 winner, writer / director / producer Khao Do, and his film Mother Fish (working title Missing Water) which opened nationally earlier this month. Little Deaths, winner in 2008, has since screened at the Dungog Film Festival (2009) and has recently been acquired by Odin’s Eye Entertainment for international release in 2010.