Toronto Film Challenge

The Toronto Film Challenge is excited to announce that our next competition will be a 48-Hour Film Challenge that will run from June 21 to June 23.  Teams will have exactly two days to write, shoot, edit, and submit a short film that includes elements of a provided challenge pack. In the past, challenge packs have included themes, props, lines of dialogue, and locations. The content of this years packs have yet been decided.

All films that are submitted within 48 hours will be eligible for awards. If you fail to meet the 48 hour deadline, you’ll have 2 more hours to submit your film for it still be eligible for our big-theatre screening. All films screened are eligible for our Audience Choice Award.

Rob Tosh of Garage Studios

New this year, some of our submissions will be features on a Toronto Film Challenge TV show that will air on RogersTV. Produced by Rob Tosh of Garage Studios, the show formerly included films from the Toronto Film Race, as well. This year, Rob has cut ties with the Film Race (for whom he was the Toronto event coordinator) and  is committed to making it exclusively a TFC show. He’s also going to join our team and help produce the Toronto Film Challenge events.

The Toronto Film Challenge remains the longest-running, locally organized, short film competition in the city. This will be our 17th event since 2005. Together with our filmmakers, we’ve produced hundreds of short films, given away several thousands of dollars worth of prizes, and helped all of our competitors realize their dreams of seeing their film on the big-screen.

Registration will open soon!!

Our friends over at filmarmy.org were kind enough to send Dain over to cover our screening and awards night. Here’s what they came up with!

Thanks to everybody who came out for the screenings at Toronto Underground Cinema. We had a great crowd, a great vibe, and there were a lot of laughs and applause for all the films. Congrats to Bias Productions for their Best Picture win with “Body Max.”

The rest of the winners were:
Best Picture – Body Max (Bias Productions)
Best Director – Ray Xue (Amphibian)
Best Actor – PJ Lazic (Trust Me)
Best Actress – Jennifer Langen (Amphibian)
Best Editor – Michael Henry (Body Max)
Best Cinematography – David Martirosyan (Amphibian)
Best Writer – Ara Sangherian (Amphibian)
Best Sound – David Fyfe (Body Max)
Audience Choice Award – Sum Fing Wong (Mad Lion Productions)

15 teams started. 14 turned something in. 10 were on time. Those 10 will be passed on to the judges for grading. All 14 will be screened at the Toronto Underground Cinema on May 6, at 7pm. Teams got their tickets in the challenge packs (and they will NOT be replaced!). Friends and family are invited to attend as well; extra tickets are $10.

There is an award for Audience Choice, so it’s wise to bring a lot of friends!!

Thank you to all who participated. I hope you’ve caught up on your sleep… we’ll see you May 6!

Registration is now open! Rules and dates appear on the registration page!

Our last challenge was in fall of 2011, and was horror themed. We screened at the Toronto Underground Cinema. The Best Picture winner was “Anamnesis” by The Dark Matter team.

Other winners were as follows:

Best Director: Damian Weston & Pete Williams (Anamnesis)

Best Cinematography: Pete Williams (Anamnesis)

Best Actor: Ryan Hollyman (The Killer Method)

Best Actress: Kelly Ames (Anamnesis)

Best Editing: Richard Rotter (The Killer Method)

Best Gore: Cleaver

Audience Choice: The Killer Method

The Toronto Film Challenge will be celebrating its SUPER SWEET 16th competition with a 48 Hour Film Challenge. Starting on April 20th, and running to the 22nd, competitors will have 48 hours to make a short film. We’ll screen the entries, judge them, and award prizes. More details will follow… but mark your calendars!!

Congrats to Miniature Donkey Productions for winning Best Actor and Audience Choice Awards!!

Fifteen teams started. Only nine finished before the 48 hour deadline. Three are still unaccounted for. A weekend of no sleep,  cheesy props, and horror film making will be on display on Tuesday, October 4th at 7pm. Tickets are available for $10.  Awards will be presented to the top films, directors, and actors… There will also be an audience choice award so bring your friends and family – ALL FILMS WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR AUDIENCE CHOICE.

So come on down to the Toronto Underground Cinema – 186 Spadina Ave. and see 12 short horror films…  the result of all your hard work. Some of these films will be pretty gorey, bloody, and scary so please be prepared!

We’re pleased to announce that this fall’s 48 Hour Horror Film Challenge will partner with the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The eight night festival features several screenings of Horror, Sci-Fi, Cult and Action films. The good news is, the winner of the Fall 48 Hour Toronto Film Challenge will be featured at one of the TADFF screenings at the Bloor Cinema, with a chance for the filmmakers to introduce and discuss their film.

Also, TADFF will be supplying us with an individual from their committee to act on our judges panel.

Finally, the dates for the fall challenge have been set. Mark your calendar for September 23-25. As usual, it will start on the Friday evening at 8pm, and the finish line will be 48 Hours at 8pm on Sunday. Registration is now open!!