London, 16 February 2010: MOFILM, the competition site that helps aspiring film-makers create videos for big brands and social causes, has announced the Grand Prize Winners of its Barcelona Ad Competition and Pepsi Short Film Video Competition.

Both Grand Prizes were chosen from the five first-place winners of each competition, each of which had won an individual brief or category. The winner was selected by MOFILM friends and guests attending the competition award ceremony in Barcelona, via interactive voting.

And the winners are:

Barcelona Ad Competition

Brief: Samsung

Winner: Henry Scholfield, UK

Video: ‘Samsung changed my life’

Why it was chosen:
This ad has a great narrative – it’s a movie in miniature. We loved the way it spoofed American sitcoms and comedies while retaining a style and charm all of its own. The model of the party room is an inspired touch.

About Henry Scholfield:
Henry works as a producer for TV commercials specialising in animation and has been in the business for nearly three years. He started making short films as a student and found MOFILM through shootingpeople.com.

Henry said:
“We had no budget so we had to come up with something creative. We started out with the idea that someone would be exceptionally keen on the product and then built the central character from there. My inspiration in terms of style was films like Delicatessen, which has that wide-angle close-up style. The whole thing cost about £250. We borrowed a camera and friends chipped in and appeared for free.”

The Barcelona Ad winner has been awarded the chance to make an ad with Avatar producer Jon Landau.

Pepsi Short Film Video Competition

Brief: Tomorrow

Winner: Abe Forsythe, Australia

Video: ‘GPS’

Why it was chosen:
It’s really apparent from this short that Abe is a seasoned filmmaker. The production quality is first class, it’s perfectly paced and the idea is strong and uplifting.

About Abe Forsythe:
Abe is a director who has been making films since he was 16. He both directed and acted in the 2003 Australian production ‘Ned’. Last year he was a finalist in the ‘Tropfest’ short film festival, which had an audience of 120,000 people across Australia.

Abe said:
“I’m trying to move into commercials so I loved the challenge of making a short film to a specific brief. I really like the idea of cramming as much storytelling into a short amount of time as possible and still making you feel something. It was filmed in a day – I just wanted to see what would happen if I went out there with the camera and did it.”

The Pepsi Short Film winner has been awarded $10,000 and the chance to make an film with Avatar producer Jon Landau.

What is the Barcelona Ad Competition?

MOFILM offered video ad briefs from five brands: Yoplait, AT&T, Best Buy, Chevrolet and Samsung.

As well as cash prizes, filmmakers won all-expenses trips to our Barcelona event, a Chevrolet car and filmmaking equipment. Two winners will also get the chance to co-direct an ad / film with renowned producer Jon Landau.

The award ceremony is being held on 15 – 16 February 2010 at the Opium Cinema in Barcelona in tandem with the GSM Mobile World Conference. MOFILM uses its strong links with the mobile industry to help brands distribute winning competition entries online and via mobile devices.

Last year’s entries can be seen at www.mofilm.com/competitions/barcelona2009.

What is the Pepsi Short Film Video Competition?

MOFILM partner Pepsi is offering filmmakers a career-enhancing opportunity to submit a short film to be judged by Titanic and Avatar producer Jon Landau. The overall winner will be awarded $10,000 and a contract to shoot a commercial film for Pepsi with a budget of $20,000 and will also get the opportunity to work with Landau himself.

Pepsi is also offering a further 55 prizes to winners in five categories.

Winners will be invited to showcase their films and meet Jon Laudau at the MOFILM Barcelona event on 15 February.

More information at www.mofilm.com/competitions/pepsi2010.

What is MOFILM?

MOFILM believes that in the age of accessible, digital filmmaking, an independent filmmaker with just a camera and an idea can produce high-quality, commercial ideas. We want these ideas to be seen. Our competitions provide the platform for filmmakers to make ads for some the world’s leading brands, winning money and prestige in the process.

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 to online and via mobile devices. Our partners discover a whole new advertising model.

www.mofilm.com

To talk to anyone at MOFILM, or more information, please contact:

Anna Svensson
Porter Novelli
Direct line: +44 207 853 2246

Press@mofilm.com

 

Pepsi and MOFILM today announced the launch of the “60 seconds to Refresh Your World” Pepsi Short Film Competition… calling on aspiring movie makers from across the world to use their creativity, imagination and flair to create an original one minute film.  The winning film-maker will get the chance to work alongside the Academy Award winning producer of Titanic and Avatar, Jon Landau, on a specially commissioned Pepsi film.

The brief for the “60 seconds to Refresh Your World” global competition, which is aimed at championing the passion and creativity of youth, encourages would-be film makers to be as thought provoking, original and inventive as they like, just as long as their films bring to life one of the following themes:

• If Youth Ran The World…
• All You Can Do With 1 Euro, 1 Dollar or 1 Pound
• Paint Your World
• Tomorrow
• Here’s To The Crazy Ones.

The winning entrant from each of the above themes will win a trip to Barcelona for two, with $2500 cash to spend. Here, they will meet the Pepsi MOFILM Jury at the Global GSM congress before one of the five will be recognized as the overall winner. The congress held on February 15^th sees the world’s top mobile industry leaders come together in one city to collaborate ideas, conduct business and exhibit cutting-edge products and technology that will define the mobile future.

The budding young film maker will take home $10,000 spending money and a $20,000 production budget to co-produce a Pepsi commercial film alongside Jon Landau.

Jon Landau discussed his involvement with the Pepsi MOFILM Competition  saying:

“I’m really excited to have the chance to work with up and coming film making talent. The creative platforms in the brief are geared to inspire thought provoking scripts and film is one of the most expressive mediums for anyone to communicate their vision of the world.”

The Short Film Competition runs from now to until February and will culminate at a special awards ceremony in Spain. The Pepsi judges will rate the films according to their originality and how well the message is communicated.  Five Silver and five Bronze runners up will also be chosen, each receiving a Flip Mino HD camera.

Pepsi’s partnership with MOFILM is representative of the brand’s new ‘Refresh Your World’ theme set to be launched next year, which is based on enabling youth to create positive change and giving them a big stage on which to shine.

Thomas Moradpour, International Pepsi Marketing Director, commented on the competition :

“2010 is an exciting new decade for Pepsi. We are really excited about encouraging and celebrating the most creative young people from around the world, and the Refresh Your World film competition does exactly that. We’re hoping to help bring scale to their ideas and to enable them to reach a much broader audience. This competition is a once in a lifetime opportunity for any budding young filmmaker to gain exposure and skills by working with Jon Landau who will share his advice, guidance and wealth of experience.”

The Short Film Competition is the next step in the Pepsi’s partnership with MOFILM since its involvement in the “Make An Ad” competition earlier this year.

For more information on the competition and how to enter visit http://www.mofilm.com/competitions/pepsi2010/

For more information contact:

Ralph Cochrane at MOFILM  Ralph.cochrane@mofilm.com + 44 7940 123 455

or Will Cookson at Freud Communications will.cookson@freud.com + 44 203 003 6397

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Notes to editors:

PepsiCo:

PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2008 annual revenues of more than $43 billion. The company employs approximately 198,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods.

The PepsiCo portfolio includes 18 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales. PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainable growth, defined as Performance with Purpose, is focused on generating healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the company serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company’s impact on the environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains world-class talent.

PepsiCo is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.   For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

MOFILM:

MOFILM has a global community of filmmakers spanning over one hundred countries and is a pioneer in video competitions for major brands and creating tailor made content. MOFILM also works through its Labs program to promote creative talent and filmmakers with leading film festivals and universities.

For the latest information about MOFILM please visit www.mofilm.com.