For those of you who don't know me, my name is Aaron Howland, and I'm the co-founder of both 7 Fluid Oz. Productions LLP and the Boston Motion Picture Awards.  For those of you who do know me...well...these things are still true.

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:

BMPA Web Site: www.BostonAwards.com 

BMPA Categories:

• International Short-Film Competition
• International Spoof-Writing Competition

Opens for Entries: June 15th

Earlybird Deadline: July 2nd
Standard Deadline: August 1st
Late Deadline: September 1st
WAB Extended Deadline: September 15th

This Year's Prizes:

International Short-Film Competition:

• 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.