The independent-film and screenwriting competition, which was founded with the purpose of providing funding, distribution, exposure, and other resources to indie filmmakers, is off to its most successful start yet. This year, we've assembled a panel of judges that range from Boston-area film professionals to Hollywood writers and actors, and the panel is still growing. Here's a rundown of judges who are participating in this year's event:
Judges:International Short-Film Competition From left to right: Stephen Root (actor: Dodgeball, actor: Office Space); Keiko Agena (actress: Gilmore Girls, actress: Kim Possible); Cirroc Lofton (actor: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, actor: The Hoop Life); Sayed Badreya (filmmaker: AmericanEast, actor: The Insider); Ty Burr (author, critic for The Boston Globe), and our very own Safa Sadeghpour -- more judges coming soon!
Judges: International Spoof-Writing Competition From left to right: Siu Ta (actress: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, filmmaker: Kata Practice); Jane Bussmann (writer: South Park, writer: So Graham Norton), and Toddy Walters (actress/musician: South Park, actress: South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut) -- more judges coming soon!
This year, the BMPAs are giving away 1,000s of dollars in cash and prizes, including a distribution agreement, the opportunity to have your script produced, and other assorted prizes from Cineaste Magazine, Showreel Magazine, and MovieMaker Magazine.
To learn more about the Boston Motion Picture Awards, please visit www.BostonAwards.com.
To apply using Withoutabox.com, simply click the link below:
This is an exclusive Beanywood Announcement. The following information will not be released elsewhere for at least 48 hours.
The Boston Motion Picture Awards is happy to announce that Stephen Root (Dodgeball; Office Space; From the Earth to the Moon) has joined this year's panel of judges. The BMPAs thank Mr. Root for volunteering his time to this year's event.
So, I decided to start a blog for the Boston Motion Picture Awards for two reasons: first, I have delusions of grandeur, so I'm just assuming that people are going to want to read this. (Okay, fine, I'm actually very insecure, but I'm hoping for at least one reader.) Second, this blog gives me the opportunity to make certain information available to the Beanywood community before we release it to the general public.
So, what are the Boston Motion Picture Awards, you ask? Well, even if you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you:
In 2003, my brother Seth and I attended our first film festival, the Boston International. At the opening-night party, we met filmmakers from all across the country. We figured this would be our big chance to make valuable connections and to ask industry experts some important questions.
We did, in fact, make some great connections, but when it came to those important questions, we found that despite the many years of experience that a lot of these filmmakers had, they all seemed to ask each other the same questions we were going to ask -- namely the following one:
"So...how did you get your funding?"
After this bucket of cold water in the face, Seth and I decided to create a film-related project that would help indie filmmakers raise money. The result was the Boston Motion Picture Awards, a film competition that provides up-and-coming film students and professionals with money, exposure, distribution, and other resources.
One of the most important aspects of the BMPAs, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's designed to benefit the entrants first and us second. As a matter of fact, in the first two years of the competition, we gave away thousands of dollars (and thousands of dollars worth of prizes) to the competition's winners, and just managed to break even. In other words, Seth and I haven't taken any money for ourselves. Does this make us stupid? Perhaps. Does this make us selfless humanitarians? Let's not get carried away. After all, we're still hoping for the BMPAs to become successful enough that Seth and I can be compensated for the time we put into the project every year.
So, here are some basic facts about this year's Boston Motion Picture Awards:
1st Place: $1,000 + $500 for every 250 entries in this category; DVD distribution opportunity; free subscriptions to Cineaste Magazine, Showreel Magazine, and MovieMaker Magazine; a prize TBD from Final Draft; a BMPA trophy; a BMPA award certificate; a web page dedicated to your film on the BMPA web site; a review of your film for use in your press kits and other publicity materials
International Spoof-Writing Competition:
1st Place: the opportunity to have your script made into a short film; a free subscription to Showreel Magazine; a prize TBD from Final Draft; a BMPA trophy; a BMPA award certificate; a web page dedicated to you on the BMPA web site
So, there you have it. I'll be posting more information soon. In the mean time, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know by messaging me. You can also try telepathy, but that service is currently in beta testing, so I can't guarantee positive results.
The 3rd Annual 
