The Crazy8s Selection Process So Far...

It has already been a Crazy and successful year for Crazy8s, and things are really only just getting started!

Crazy8s 2012 kicked off in December when aspiring filmmakers were invited to come down to the Vancity Theatre to register for this year's event - and out they came in droves!

118 teams signed up to submit a video pitch, and they also had the opportunity to learn more about the program and what makes for a successful short film in our annual Crazy8s Info Session. Registrants also benefited from an hour long pitch workshop from pitching guru Mickey Rogers, and many participants left the session expressing that the information they gained was well worth the entry fee for the competition.

Almost everyone managed to get their 5-minute video pitch completed and submitted by the deadline, and so in early January the first jury spent many hours watching and making notes on the 108 five-minute video pitches before coming together to tussle over which would be making it on to the next round. Many thanks to jurors Bill Hurst (from Telefilm Canada), Christine Larsen (from BC Film), Zac Rothman (writer and director of last year's Crazy8s winner "Alchemy and Other Imperfections") and Erica Landrock (last year's Crazy8s Associate Producer), who joined Crazy8s Producers Erik Paulsson and Diana Wilson to make up the video pitch jury.

The quality and diversity of the pitches submitted this year was impressive, and the jury had a tough time narrowing it down, but eventually 40 semi-finalists were selected and invited to come back and present their pitch in person to a new jury of industry professionals. You can see the names of all 40 semi-finalists here...

January 27 and 28 saw the new jury come together to hear the in-person pitches, comprised of Sally Catto (former Creative Head, TV Drama at CBC), Rob Labelle (executive in charge of television at Foundation Features), Dylan Akio Smith (filmmaker and former Crazy8s winner, juror and story editor), Peg Campbell (filmmaker, ECUAD professor and former Crazy8s juror and story editor), and Sharon McGowan (filmmaker and Chair of the UBC Film Production Program) and Marc Stephenson (filmmaker and former Crazy8s producer.)

The jury laughed, cried, and sometimes scratched their heads at the 40 wacky, moving, funny, scary and sometimes profound stories they heard over two intense days of presentations.  After much deliberation, they were eventually able to narrow it down to 13 finalists teams, which will now move on to the next round of the competition.  Many thanks to the jury for their time and efforts.You can see the names and descriptions of the finalists projects here.

What happens next???

Each finalist will now be paired with a story editor and workshop their script at the CBC Story Edit Day on Saturday, February 4th.  They will then polish their final scripts before submitting them to the jury, and you can look for the announcement of the 6 winners on Feb. 20th!

The winners will be receiving $1000 and a production package worth tens of thousands of dollars (donated by our generous sponsors) with everything they need to make their film in just 8 Crazy days.  This not only includes equipment and insurance and permits and an online edit and sound mix, etc. etc, but also a casting session with a professional casting agent and access to the entire UBCP pool of talent, producer and director workshops for all the teams, as well as directing mentors for any directors who could use a little extra guidance.  Production then takes place between March 16 – 23, 2012.

So mark your calendars now, because the finished films will be screened at a gala event March 30, 2012 at the Centre for Performing Arts and you won't want to miss it, or the fabulous afterparty which will once again be rocking the dome at Science World!