November 2nd, 2010, London – Today Pepsi and MOFILM announced the launch of a truly ambitious project, Pepsi Films, which will shine a spotlight on the next generation of young film talent and through Pepsi’s connections, help their careers take flight!
One year, seven global competitions, 21 refreshing themes – Pepsi is not looking for everyday entrants, they are searching for groundbreaking short films by the most sensational, up and coming young talent. These bright young film makers will become part of the Pepsi family of the future; collaborating and working with Pepsi on creative content and storytelling, whilst Pepsi ensures this new generation of film talent flourish and thrive as part of an enduring and unique partnership.
Pepsi Films winners will become part of an exclusive virtual production house with highly sought-after access to mentoring, creative tools and priceless career opportunities. This pioneering digital hub plays a central role in Pepsi’s vision to establish a next generation creative production resource, with young film makers who show their raw talent and refreshing attitude at the forefront. Pepsi’s mission is to fuel and elevate the creativity of youth, helping the stars of the future tell their stories, show their spirit and demonstrate their passions – in a fun way!
Thomas Moradpour, Global Marketing Director commented: “The Pepsi Films project is about giving young talent the chance to show what they can do and the most passionate the opportunity to join not only our online community but become part of Pepsi’s creative core for the future. This is the first step towards a unique and long lasting relationship between a global brand and fresh new talent.”
Committed to cultivating blossoming creativity, Pepsi has established strong links with aspiring film talent over recent years: this includes Brazil-based Colectivo Centro who since working with Pepsi have developed their most ambitious project to date, a new short film ‘Thom Sadly’ which is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011.
Cesar Neri, Colectivo Centro said: “We still have a great relationship with Pepsi since winning a Pepsi / MOFILM contest in 2009. Not only do we keep in touch about our projects, they have put us in contact with some amazing and creative people in New York and the UK. Being involved in the contest meant that we had the opportunity to submit a movie that had our script, look and feel and gave us that amazing feeling of being in charge of something great!”
Pepsi is the first ever global brand to collaborate with MOFILM on a year-long project. Jeffrey Merrihue, CEO of MOFILM commented: “We’re delighted that Pepsi has taken such a strong lead in recognizing that social media and online communities like MOFILM’s, are increasingly the best way to reach talent. Pepsi Films builds on our work with Pepsi over the past two years. It’s an incredible commitment to nurturing the next generation of leading filmmakers.”
The Pepsi Films initiative forms part of the brand’s worldwide Refresh Your World campaign, which centres on enabling youth to show their creativity and make a positive change in the world in which they live.
Pepsi: Will Cookson will.cookson@freud.com 00 44 203 003 6397
MOFILM: Ralph Cochrane press@mofilm.com 00 44 7940 123 455
Notes to editor:
Aspiring film makers from across the world can demonstrate their drive and vision by creating a short 60 second film which brings to life a fun and exciting theme in a refreshing way. During the year-long project, seven contests will be launched via a dedicated digital hub www.mofilms.com/pepsifilms . Each competition will culminate with three winners being given the opportunity to attend an international film festival, where their entries will be judged by a high profile jury and the overall winner announced. The first Pepsi Films / MOFILM competition for Barcelona is open now to anyone over 16 years old. The winners of this competition will be invited to a special awards ceremony at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona during February 2011. An additional six competitions will open throughout the year each culminating in a unique experience at one of the film festivals indicated below.
Film Festivals:
GSMA Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, February
Tribeca Film Festival, New York, April
International Shanghai Film Festival, Shanghai, June
New Horizons Poland, Wroclaw, July
Festival Do Rio Film Festival, Rio, September
International Film Festival Di Roma, Rome, October
International Film Festival of India, Goa, November
Pepsi plans to reward the film makers who take a refreshing approach and show their creative spirit with funding to produce fresh new content in response to a Pepsi advertising brief. This will see a life-changing $400,000 in cash and prizes awarded globally during 2011.
Follow Pepsi Films:
About PepsiCo:
PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo’s people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit
www.pepsico.com.
About MOFILM:
MOFILM is the leading video and film contest community for aspiring filmmakers, with members all over the world. MOFILM works with global brands to showcase talent and create innovative new ideas.
MOFILM filmmakers are valued by brands. Our competitions give our partners a chance to tap a huge reservoir of international filmmaking talent, as well as developing a wealth of content to be distributed online and via mobile devices. MOFILM contests also help brands engage with creative talent around the globe. For more information please visit www.mofilm.com or contact press@mofilm.com .
