Insomnia Film Festival Postponed

Young filmmakers were disappointed to find that the annual Insomnia Film Festival was postponed a mere 36 hours before the contest was set to begin. Apple hosts the competition every year to allow student filmmakers to prove their mettle in a guerilla-style environment.

The competition webpage seems to be the heart of the problem. Hopeful participants had trouble logging in and signing up for a team in the competition. The Apple-hosted site kept sending them back to the main log-in page instead of the contest page.

The Insomnia Film Festival was founded in 2006. All participants in the competition have to complete a three-minute short film in 24 hours. The site posts several requirements for the films at the beginning of the day of the competition to keep cheating to a minimum as to the time requirements. Winners are chosen by popular demand and a panel of celebrity judges, this year including Paul Haggis, Oscar-winning screenwriter and director.

Prizes for the winners include:

• 5 MacBook Pro notebook computers
• 5 Final Cut Studio 2 box sets
• 5 copies of Shake
• 5 Logic Studio box sets
• 5 One to One personal training cards

Competitors are encouraged to enlist any ‘free’ help they can and to plan in advance. However, on the Thursday before the Saturday competition, the site posted the following statement:

Dear Insomnia Participants,

Due to unexpected challenges we are postponing the 2008 Insomnia Film Festival. We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this change of schedule brings to those of you who have been preparing to participate.

Our plan is to reschedule the festival for after the holidays. If you have already registered on the Insomnia Gallery we will automatically contact you when the new festival dates are scheduled.

This comes as a major hit for participants who had already begun preparations. University of North Texas Senior Richard Stevens had been planning for the speedy filming of his team’s short, “Delivery”, for weeks in advance.

“I had already finished scripting and had come up with a shot list when I found out,” Stevens said. “This just kinda sucks.”

Stevens’ team, Frost Features, were going to film the story of a group of friends who come to the aid of their friend who is having a baby. “We had over ten people already involved and we were ready to go.”

Stevens says he was very disappointed at the idea of his group not being able to follow through on their film. “There’s no guarantee we will ever get that kind of support from everybody ever again.”

Brandon Tate, who was set to assist Stevens in the competition, said he is unsure whether he could help out anymore. “I have no idea what my schedule will be after the holidays,” Tate said. “It’s so odd that this happened to Apple.”

Indeed, Tate was not the only one to bring up the irony of the computer company-sponsored  website failing. Elizabeth Ramey, hopeful actress in the short film, also mentioned it. “I mean, how hilarious is it that Apple couldn’t keep their own site up?,” she said. “It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.”

Last Year’s Winners

Posted below are last year’s Insomnia Film Festival winners. The first, My Suburban Tea, is the classic story of a man who seeks to cross an obstacle to reach his lady fair. This selection won the Slingjam Creative award for last year’s contest.

The second short, Imagine, is the Celebrity Judge Panel’s Pick for the best in the competition. It’s an action-packed story with a witty surprise ending.

This third selection,Hobopus, was the winner of the popular vote on Apple.com. It’s a story about the magical powers of one musician’s art.

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