After being delayed by a couple days, the voting for the 5th Annual 72 Hour Film Shootout has now started. The theme this year was “a first goodbye“. There are almost 40 shorts for viewing and voting for the audience awards, so cast your online ballots from July 2-July 11. You are allowed to vote ONCE, and ONLY ONCE. You must pick YOUR FAVORITE, and can ONLY VOTE FOR ONE FILM. You can watch and vote here.

We noticed the site keep going up and down, so be patient. (Maybe there is too much traffic for the site to handle!!)

Watch last year’s People’s Choice Shootout Awards “SECRET CHINESE SECRET”

72 Hour Film Shootout competition ended on Monday and has now entered the judging phase. The Judging Panel includes producer Karin Chien (The Motel), director Michael Kang (The Motel), editor/producer Jean Tsien (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), director/writer Alice Wu (Saving Face), Executive Director of Primetime Casting for ABC Entertainment Marci Phillips, director Benson Lee (Planet B-boy), actor Sung Kang (The Motel and Ninja Assassin), writer/film festival programmer Grady Hendrix (New York Asian Film Festival).

Here’s more information about the judging

The Round One Judging Panel will consist of AAFL 72 Hour Shootout staff. Entries will be judged based on filmmaking ability, production value, originality, successful incorporation of the theme, and overall creativity. Out of the original submission pool, the Top 15 films will be selected to advance to the final round of judging. In addition, the Round One Judging Panel will nominate up to five films or persons for each of the individual award categories.

The Final Judging Panel (Round Two) will select the Top 10 films, two (2) Finalist Prize Winners, and one (1) Grand Prize Winner. Entries will be judged based on filmmaking ability, production value, originality, successful incorporation of the theme, and overall creativity. All of Individual Awards will be determined by the Final Judging Panel.

72 Hour Film Shootout Entries are starting to pop up on YouTube. You can see one from Team Suprise Film and another from Team Stubborn Cat. The theme for this year was “A first goodbye“

“Foreign Exchange” – Team Suprise Films

“A Frist Goodbye” – Team Stubborn Cat

The 5th Annual 72 Hour Film Shootout which will take place this year from June 20-23, 2008. The Shootout is a nationwide competition where filmmaking teams are given a common theme at the start and have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit, and complete short films up to five minutes in length. Teams compete for cash and prizes and the chance to have their films screened at film festivals, both nationally and internationally.

The intention of this competition is to create opportunities for Asian Americans to demonstrate their talent, gain exposure in the entertainment industry, and impact the visibility of Asian American stories and characters in film and television. One of the Shootout requirements is that at least one key production member (e.g., director, producer, or writer) and a principal actor from each team must be of Asian descent.

The 5th Annual 72 Hour Film Shootout begins on Friday, June 20, 2008, at 8pm. The competition theme will be announced at the New York City launch party to be held at White Rabbit Lounge (145 East Houston Street, New York, NY) and simultaneously posted online at 72hourfilmshootout.com at 8pm. The Top 10 Shootout films will screen at the New York Asian American International Film Festival organized by Asian Cinevision (July 10-19, 2008), the First Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (October 24-30 2008), and a special screening event organized by NYC-based Aspire Asian Film Circle.

AND…

AAFilmLab together with the Museum of Chinese in America (MoCA) have added a special award category to this year’s Shootout: The Chinatown Award! Films that incorporate a Chinatown as a location or narrative device are entered into the “Chinatown Award” category. Selection of the winning film will be decided by both MoCA and AAFilmLab. The Chinatown Award will be comprised of in-kind services totaling $3000 from Deluxe New York. (The inclusion of the Chinatown element in a film has no bearing whatsoever on judging for other award categories.)

And what will this year’s Theme be? Find out June 20 at 8pm (EDT)…

Last year’s theme was “Elizabeth Ong is missing”. See some of the winners from last year. Here’s “You’ve Got Male” by Team 100% (Grand Prize Winner)

Here’s “Secret Chinese Secret” by Team Foreign Image (2nd Runner Up and People’s Choice Winner)