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

 

Should independent filmmakers be excited by the iPad? Making the Movie thinks it’s a step in the right direction rather than a revolution. That may be right, but nevertheless we think the iPad represents a major opening up of opportunities, both for independent filmmakers and for the advertisers that work with them.

First thing to say is that this isn’t just about the iPad – the tablet form factor’s been bubbling under for quite a while. Whether or not the iPad succeeds, these devices are coming, and in large numbers. What everyone agrees on is that the real winners are going to be the content creators. People are going to need stuff to do with the iPad, and although iPhones apps are compatible, they’re going to have to get bigger, better and more entertaining.

And that applies to video ads as well. The iPad and its future imitators will build on what TiVO, the iPod, multimedia phones, downloading and streaming and all those other ‘on demand’ entertainment technologies began: the tendency of consumers to pull entertainment to them rather than passively watch. At the moment TV ads are largely made as a ‘brand experience’ and they’re repeated frequently. We tolerate this on TV because we’re in a sit-back frame of mind – they wash over us.

This isn’t going to be tolerated on tablet devices. When we’re watching shows through streaming software such as the BBC’s iPlayer long, ‘brand experience’ ads repeated often are just going to jar. So what’s going to replace them? There is going to be a lot of ad space needing to be filled with original, regularly updated ads that are entertaining rather than a chore to watch.

Imagine, also, if you’re a web advertiser. The iPad can’t currently see Flash, so a lot of online advertising is going to be missed by iPad users. This is another great opportunity for video. We think that the iPad’s large, beautiful, glass screen and its ability to play high-quality video is going to give new life to film online. There will be an appetite for visually stunning video developed especially for devices such as the iPad and brands will be looking for people to supply it.

Where is all this content going to come from? No doubt there are types of content we can’t even conceive of already being developed for the iPad. Books will change, newspapers will change, video will change. The opportunities for filmmakers are going to multiply and no doubt the way films are made and distributed will change even more quickly than they are already. When brands need content quickly, they’re going to go straight to the source as much as possible.

At MOFILM we’ve built a business around the idea that original, independent film and big-brand advertising are a great match. The iPad just tells us that we’re right.