Ryan Chartrand
As Internet viral media continues to grow and consume every bit of our leisure time, Flux TV aims to provide a unique avenue and a twist for those in pursuit of the next line of short film sensations with the coming of the second iPod Film Festival.
Breaking out of the mold of yet another “viral video” forum, the annual festival aims to promote and reward creators of comical shorts, indie flicks and student films, strictly produced for downloading and viewing on the latest iPods.
In its second year, the iPod Film Festival, which begins March 18, is the brainchild of Flux TV (www.theflux.tv) founder Ryan Ritchey. For Ritchey, the idea to host a contest that would reward submitters for producing short films (five to ten minutes) made strictly for viewing on iPods, originated with the introduction of the latest model from Apple.
When launched in October of 2005, the fifth generation iPod, different from its predecessors in that it was the first to play downloadable videos, made quite a first impression on Ritchey and members of the Flux.
“We knew right away that this new iPod would have a strong effect on the way people downloaded and viewed videos,” Ritchey said. “So we came up with the idea of hosting a contest in an attempt to attract people making videos as well as viewers to this new medium and ran with it.”
Since its inception in 2001, Flux TV has catered to small-time filmmakers-those without big studio budgets or Hollywood connections-and originally promoted short films for viewing on cell phones when the technology became available.
Following in the tradition of supplying various media to attract both creators and viewers, Ritchey said it was only natural that Flux TV became one of the forerunners for promoting the works of filmmakers on the new iPod portable video medium.
Thus, the iPod Film Festival was created in March of 2005, in which a panel of judges and viewers would view submissions hosted on Flux TV’s Web site and vote on the best submissions for three separate categories.
The categories included “Indie Film,” for any film produced independently without the assistance of a studio, “Student Film,” for any film made for class credit at any high school or college, and the “Kitchen Sink,” for any music videos, funny skits, etc. Winners in each category received a brand new iPod.
In the festival’s first year, filmmakers were required to pay a $15 submission fee to have Flux TV host their videos.
“We probably could have had many more submissions last year, but we couldn’t hook up a sponsor so unfortunately we had to ask for a small fee,” Ritchey said.
Regardless of the fee, Ritchey said he was very impressed by the amount of submissions in last year’s festival, especially from the international community.
“We had no idea what kind of impact last year’s festival would have, but we were very surprised to see submissions in every category from 11 different countries, especially from Australia, Japan, and Germany,” Ritchey said.
Of the videos that were submitted in last year’s festival, Ritchey said the films that had the most impact on him were the animated films.
“We had animated features in all categories and it struck me as to what length people went to on their own to create amazing animated films.”
Aside from the enormous variety of films submitted, an additional factor that Ritchey said makes the iPod Film Festival so fascinating to both filmmakers and viewers is the overall experience.
“The most appealing thing about playing short films on iPods versus the Internet or your TV is the how involved you become with the video,” Ritchey said. “You watch the small screen intently and listen to it with your head phones. Singling you and the film out, the experience becomes very intimate.”
This year, with the aid of Small Dog Electronics as the main sponsor (www.smalldog.com), the submission fee has been excluded, and Ritchey expects the submissions for this year’s festival to increase exponentially.
Throw in the addition of a group of celebrity judges including Apple Computers Inc. Co-founder Steve Wozniak, Michael Nelson of “Science Fiction Theatre 3000” fame, and “Call for Help” host Amber MacArthur of G4TV, just to name a few, plus the addition of an Apple Mac Mini for the grand prize “Best of Fest” reward, and Ritchey anticipates this year’s iPod Film Festival to be a popular one indeed.
For more information about the iPod Film Festival visit www.theflux.tv or www.smalldog.com for rules and regulations. If you would like to enter a short film, it must be submitted before the March 18 deadline.