- Slamdance Film Festival
The
Slamdance Film Festival takes place each year inUtah at the same time as theSundance Film Festival , competing with Sundance to provide what its supporters consider a truer representation of independent film-making. It champions beginning directors with no or limited budgets. The festival began in 1995. Other affiliated Slamdance film festivals have since been created internationally, in countries likeChina andPoland .Known as a festival "by filmmakers for filmmakers," Slamdance was launched to showcase undistributed films by emerging filmmakers. Festival discoveries have included directors such as
Christopher Nolan ("Memento"),Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball ") andJared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite "). The Slamdance Screenplay Competition has discovered a number of talented screenwriters, includingJoshua Marston ("Maria Full of Grace ") andNicole Kassell ("The Woodsman "). In the 2005 Festival, Slamdance screened the documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom ", which was immediately purchased byParamount Pictures for the largest amount ever for a feature-length documentary.The Festival has recently leveraged its brand-name recognition to launch Slamdance Media Group, a distribution, talent-management and production company.
In addition, the Festival has entered into a production deal with Angel Baby Entertainment and Maverick Films to produce one film per year from its Horror Screenplay Competition. Originally announced in November, 2006, by Festival head Peter Baxter and Angel Baby Entertainment's
Gregory Segal , the production deal's first selection as the winning script from the Horror Screenplay Competition is Slaughter, a screenplay by British writers Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby. One movie per year will be produced from the competition under this arrangement, with the movie screening at Slamdance the year after its production.lamdance Guerrilla Games Competition
The festival also hosts a
computer and video game competition called "Slamdance Guerrilla Games Competition."In
January 2007 the festival for the first time dropped a finalist. The game "Super Columbine Massacre RPG! " was announced as a finalist in lateNovember 2006 , but the controversial game was dropped by Slamdance founderPeter Baxter with no outside pressure as initially reported.cite web |url=http://gamepolitics.com/2007/01/06/more-details-reaction-emerge-on-slamdance-festival-super-columbine-game/ |title=More Details & Reaction Emerge on Slamdance Festival & Super Columbine Game |accessdate=2007-01-06 |last=McCauley |first=Dennis |authorlink=Dennis McCauley |coauthors= |date=2007-01-06 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=GamePolitics.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] In response to this 6 other finalists withdrew from the competition in protest,Jonathan Blow withdrew "Braid",cite web |url=http://gamepolitics.com/2007/01/07/developer-pulls-out-of-festival-competition-in-protest-over-super-columbine-decision/ |title=Developer Pulls Out of Festival Competition in Protest over Super Columbine Decision |accessdate=2007-01-09 |last=McCauley |first=Dennis |authorlink=Dennis McCauley |coauthors= |date=2007-01-07 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=GamePolitics.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]thatgamecompany withdrew "flOw ",walking games withdrew "Once Upon a Time", [ [http://onceuponatime.wakinggames.com/ Once Upon A Time ] ] the developers for "Toblo " withdrew their game (however, on January 16 the college which they attend, theDigiPen Institute of Technology against their wishes "overwrote our decision and readmitted Toblo to the Slamdance Festival", because the developers did not consult the college prior to their withdrawal decision) [ [http://toblo.csnation.net/slamdance.html An Open Letter to the Slamdance Festival ] ] ,Queasy Games withdrew "Everyday Shooter " [ [http://www.everydayshooter.com/ Everyday Shooter by Jonathan Mak ] ] ,Nick Montfort withdrew "Book and Volume " [ [http://grandtextauto.gatech.edu/2007/01/09/book-and-volume-withdrawn-from-slamdance/ Grand Text Auto » Book and Volume Withdrawn from Slamdance ] ] , andThe Behemoth withdrew "Castle Crashers " [ [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic.php?id=641434 NG BBS — Slamdance Update ] ] . TheUniversity of Southern California has also withdrawn its sponsorship of Slamdance over this controversy [ [http://interactive.usc.edu/members/tfullerton/archives/007203.html Ludicidal Tendencies: USC Interactive Media Division Withdraws Slamdance Sponsorship ] ] .On
2007-01-26 , the date the game awards were to be presented, a panel discussion with the remaining finalists resulted in the withdrawal of the "Official Jury Selection" for all finalists, and no awards were handed out. [http://www.watercoolergames.org/archives/000738.shtml Slamdance Game Competition Ends in Dissolution] On the same day, directorBrian Flemming convinced his fellow film jurors to nominate SCMRPG for a "Special Jury Prize" for Best Documentary, an unofficial award not endorsed by the competition itself. However just before the award ceremony, Baxter told Flemming that legal considerations prevented SCMRPG from receiving the award. [cite web |url=http://kingludic.blogspot.com/2007/01/is-breakthrough-i-wanted.html |title=The Breakthrough I Dreamed About |accessdate=2007-01-26 |last=Dugan |first=Patrick |authorlink=Patrick Dugan |coauthors= |date=2007-01-26 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]ee also
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2007 Slamdance Film Festival
*2008 Slamdance Film Festival References
External links
* [http://www.slamdance.com/ Slamdance Film Festival Official Page]
* [http://www.slamdancemedia.com/ Slamdance Media Group Official Page]
* [http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=253 GreenCine interview with Dan Mirvish, co-founder of Slamdance, conducted by Jonathan Marlow]
* [http://fargofilmmaking.wikia.com/wiki/Slamdance_Film_Festival Slamdance Film Festival] at the Fargo Filmmaking Wiki Project
* [http://www.lathrios.com/festival.php?festid=12 Lathrios Film Festival Database] - the Lathrios listing for the Slamdance Festival including a film list and analysis for the event.
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