SRS Cinema, in partnership with The Scare-A-Con Horror, Sci-Fi & Fan Convention, is looking for short motion pictures 8-10 mins long that are set and shot in New York State for the “Empire State of Dead” short subject contest. Not only will there be prize money for the top 10 finalists, but those winning shorts will also be grouped together into a feature length anthology called, you guessed it, “Empire State of Dead”, which will receive a world-wide release on DVD and other formats.
And it gets better… the filmmaker with the top short, as picked by the judges, will also get the chance at a development deal for a feature length horror project to be produced by SRS/Scare-A-Con.
Submissions start immediately and the cut-off date for submission is June 30th, 2014. There is no cost to submit. Prize money for the winners is as follows:
1st Place: $500 and a chance to develop a feature length horror film with our combined studios.
2nd – 10th Place: $100 each.
Each of the top 10 filmmakers will get a cut of any profits generated from a release of the feature length anthology. The top ten finalists will be announced mid-August. The $500 winner will be announced at this year’s Scare-A-Con event, Sept 12th-14th, at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY.
The rules: Stories should be set & shot on HD (other formats allowed pending prior approval, delivery for nominated shorts must be HD, but standard def is acceptable for screening submissions) within NY state, in a time period near the beginning of a worldwide zombie outbreak through first six months of fallout. All shorts should be new productions, shot in 2014, and directed by current or former residents of NYS. Stories must not define the cause of the zombie outbreak, and follow the rules of the living dead as established by George Romero’s classic zombie movies as far as the behavior of the living dead (which is pretty much the same rules as “The Walking Dead” TV Series) – ie. Slow moving zombies, except faster once close; much more dangerous when in packs; destroying the brain is the only way to stop the dead; their bite will infect a person and eventually turn them into a zombie; etc. Need more clarification, or need your plot points approved ahead of time? Then email us.
The shorts not picked for the motion picture will still have an opportunity to screen at the next annual Scare-A-Con Convention during a daytime shorts block.
Judging will be conducted by Ron Bonk of SRS Cinema and JV Johnson of The Scare-A-Con Convention. Details on the short contest as well as submission forms can be found at srscinema.com and scareacon.com, as well as their respective Facebook pages. PRIOR to submitting, and for any additional information, please email Ron @ webmaster@b-movie.com for a copy of the agreement – the distribution agreement must accompany your entry.