KIDS FIRST! Challenges all Short Filmmakers to
Show Us "How Orlando Makes YOU Smile”
Unique Short Film Competition Launched to Showcase Family Togetherness in Orlando
Two Winners to be Announced at the Florida Film Festival and
Include Best Indie Short and Best Student Short
Santa Fe, NM Sept 29, 2009 – In a unique partnership, KIDS FIRST!, The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB), and the 19th Annual Florida Film Festival are hosting a very special call for entries - a short film competition with just one theme and two winners. The theme, "Orlando Makes Me Smile," is all about fostering family relationships and the joyful experiences that can be found in Orlando. The filmmaker should depict how the Orlando experience proves the axiom, "smile and the whole world smiles with you" or show how Orlando makes you smile.
Two winning short films will be selected by a panel of judges from the three organizations in the categories of Best Indie Short and Best Student Short. The student competition is open to all elementary, middle school and high school students.
This is a short film competition, live action or animation, 3 minutes or under and the winners will be included as an official selection of the Florida Film Festival and the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. Both winners receive a family vacation for 4 in Orlando, complete with airfare, lodging, theme park tickets and all access filmmaker passes for the Florida Film Festival, April 9 through 18, 2010.
The competition opens October 2009 and all entries must be postmarked by January 11, 2010. Winners will be selected February 2010 and the winning films will premiere at the Florida Film Festival.
Contest rules and forms can be downloaded at www.kidsfirst.org/orlando.
KIDS FIRST! is a program of the 18-year-old, national, nonprofit organization, Coalition for Quality Children's Media, whose mission is to teach children critical viewing skills and to increase the visibility and availability of quality children's media. The Coalition is a voluntary collaboration comprising more than 10,000 media professionals, lobbyists, policymakers, child advocates, educators, parents and families nationwide. For more information visit
www.kidsfirst.org.
The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB) has launched a new marketing campaign designed to encourage the memorable moments in Orlando that lead to deepened relationships for all who visit the destination -- “Orlando Makes Me Smile.” Research commissioned by the Orlando CVB showed the need to create an overall positioning for Orlando that focuses on the personal connections and emotions resulting from the destination’s distinct offerings. “Orlando Makes Me Smile” is a campaign that is all about the fostering of these relationships and the joyful experiences that can be found in Orlando. The popular destination’s many attractions and entertainment options bring about the most endearing and universal sign of happiness, the smile, which is the focal point of the campaign. From the first moment of planning an Orlando vacation to the lasting memories that follow, visitors are brought closer to one another. It is just this shared experience with Orlando's world-class theme parks and attractions that is really at the heart of the Orlando vacation experience. And, as one of the top vacation destinations in the world entertaining visitors from around the globe, the smile is an international symbol that translates in any language.
The Florida Film Festival is the premier showcase in Central Florida for American independent and international film. The Festival, which debuted in 1992, is a core program of ENZIAN, a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1985. ENZIAN and the Florida Film Festival have served more than 1.5 million guests and hosted Academy Award winning celebrities including Paul Newman, Oliver Stone, Christopher Walken, Jon Voight, Cliff Robertson, Rod Steiger, and Haskell Wexler.
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