Lack of MovieFest 2008 registrations

[graeme]

I have recently been advised of the number of registrations that have been received through our post office box and also those who have registered online. The combined number is insufficient for us to hold a competition that will give any degree of a representative collection of movies from which we can fairly judge.

If the number of registrations received does not increase significantly in the remaining week we have allowed for registrations, we will have no option but to cancel this years competition.

If we do need to cancel the competition, all those who have registered and sent money will have their registration fee refunded in full.

Graeme Moffatt
MovieFest Charitable Trust Trustee

[Mista Teas]

One issue maybe this on your registration page:

"Entries are $30, and you can enter at any stage before the hand-in date of 3rd October 2008. If you think you can make a movie, then grab the MovieFest Topic, and get filming!"

Elsewhere it mentions the August date, but if you go here first then it suggests that there is no hurry.

[graeme]

"Entries are $30, and you can enter at any stage before the hand-in date of 3rd October 2008. If you think you can make a movie, then grab the MovieFest Topic, and get filming!"

Elsewhere it mentions the August date, but if you go here first then it suggests that there is no hurry.

Thanks for raising this issue. It is true that you can register after the 4th August but this gives you less time to make your movie. We set the date of the end of July to give us an indication of how many entries we will receive and at this stage it is way below the number we need to ensure a good and fair competition.

We have done the same in the past years and the vast majority of entries have been registered by the due date. We may have to look at not accepting entries after the end of the registration period in future years.

We have publicised our competition widely by way of press releases to every NZ daily newspaper and letters to every school in the country along with advertising in the Education Gazette however it would appear that there is not much interest in entering competitions at the present. If the lack of entries is due to the fact that we have not announced the prizes yet, then we are running the competition for the wrong reasons.

There is always difficulty in getting sponsorship, especially when things are very tight as far as the economy is concerned and it is the number of registrations that prospective sponsors take notice of when deciding to donate prizes, they want to be sure that their effort is going to be rewarded with an awareness of their contribution.

Based on the current situation, I would be very reluctant to approach any additional prospective sponsors asking for more prizes over and above the ones that have already committed. We will only advise the prize list once we confirm that the competition will continue, if that does in fact occur.

Our competition is all about giving amateur New Zealand movie-makers an opportunity to showcase their efforts and we do not see ourselves as some form of lottery where you can win big prizes. There are other movie competitions around that go in for that kind of thing and we do not ever see our competition going down that road.

I truly hope that we receive a flood of entries this week but will accept whatever comes. The trustees will make a decision this weekend based on the total number of registrations and will either advise a topic or the cancellation of the competiton on Monday 4th August.

Graeme Moffatt
Trustee

[Mista Teas]

We have publicised our competition widely by way of press releases to every NZ daily newspaper and letters to every school in the country along with advertising in the Education Gazette however it would appear that there is not much interest in entering competitions at the present. If the lack of entries is due to the fact that we have not announced the prizes yet, then we are running the competition for the wrong reasons.

Our competition is all about giving amateur New Zealand movie-makers an opportunity to showcase their efforts and we do not see ourselves as some form of lottery where you can win big prizes. There are other movie competitions around that go in for that kind of thing and we do not ever see our competition going down that road.

I truly hope that we receive a flood of entries this week but will accept whatever comes. The trustees will make a decision this weekend based on the total number of registrations and will either advise a topic or the cancellation of the competiton on Monday 4th August.

Graeme Moffatt
Trustee

I hope that people aren't waiting for prizes. I've entered this again this year (x2) because it's a good opportunity to put my students through the film-making process. I don't know what else you can do. Must be frustrating. Personally I'll be gutted if it gets cancelled as opportunites such as this are rare. 

[graeme]

I hope that people aren't waiting for prizes. I've entered this again this year (x2) because it's a good opportunity to put my students through the film-making process. I don't know what else you can do. Must be frustrating. Personally I'll be gutted if it gets cancelled as opportunites such as this are rare. 

Thanks for your words of support. We had a meeting last night to investigate ways in which we can run the competition and have come up with a couple of ideas that we're looking into. That's not to say that we don't need more registrations.

Our only means of income are through the registration fees and if we don't get many registrations then there is not a lot of income to do any promoting. This is one of the main reasons we like to receive registrations early as it allows us to prepare a budget and work out how we can best put together a memorable screening and awards ceremony at the conclusion of the competition.

We have been wondering if the day of movie competitions is waning now that internet sites like YouTube allow budding moviemakers the opportunity to have their creations seen by the world.

Our feeling is that although anyone can get their movie seen by potentially millions of people, there are a lot of awful movies out there. We hope our competition gives the opportunity to those who are interested in producing movies with thought out storylines, good camera work and sound to match, will continue to enter competitions such as ours.

A few people have commented that they have been unable to download the pdf registration form from our website. Jo has looked into this and made sure it is working and I can confirm I have just downloaded a copy successfully. If you're having any trouble, please send us an email and we'll work something out for you.

We will be having another meeting during the weekend and will advise everyone on our decision on Monday morning.

Graeme

[Kingsford]

 
This is the first year my school has decided to allow an entry, our registration form is in the post and I'm sending good vibes that this is the case for others!
My class are super excited and are looking forward to using their animation skills. It will be a huge shame if this is cancelled.

Kingsford Primary

[Jo Booth]

Looking at the flood of entries and registrations we've got in the last three days, I'm sure we're all good to go. 
I'll process them in the next day or so, and should have registered teams acknowledged ready to rock before Monday.

Thanks!

[Mista Teas]

Looking at the flood of entries and registrations we've got in the last three days, I'm sure we're all good to go. 
I'll process them in the next day or so, and should have registered teams acknowledged ready to rock before Monday.

Thanks!

Fantastic news! Can't wait!