Kick Off Event and Call for Entries!

GETTING STARTED: WHERE DO GOOD IDEAS, GREAT SCRIPTS & TALENTED FILMMAKERS COME FROM?

The competition kicks off at 10:30 AM on Saturday, November 7, 2009 with a filmmakers' brunch and panel discussion at the Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Avenue, Oakland, in conjunction with the opening weekend of the Three Rivers Film Festival presented by Pittsburgh Filmmakers! Please arrive early to get a seat as tickets are first come, first served.

Tickets for the November 7th FILM FACTORY panel event are $10.00 adults, $5.00 for students with valid ID, and can be purchased at the door.

Saturday morning's FILM FACTORY kickoff event is entitled, "Getting Started: Where Do Good Ideas, Great Scripts, and Talented Filmmakers Come From?" The distinguished panel, to be moderated by Steeltown's co-founder and local screenwriter Carl Kurlander ("St. Elmo's Fire," "Saved By the Bell," "My Tale of Two Cities"), will focus on the various stages of script development and filmmaking, a theme that will be carried on throughout the Steeltown Film Factory.

Panelists for this event include Geoffrey Fletcher the screenwriter for the Festival's opening night film "Precious," and Pittsburgh natives such as screenwriter Rob Lieber, who as written screenplays for Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, New Line Cinema, Walden Media, MGM and is currently developing the screenplay of "Septimus Heap: Magyk" for Warner Brothers; "Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting" Academy Award winner Stephanie Lord; and Lauren Elmer, Sony Pictures Classics Acquisitions and Post-Production Supervisor for "Gracie."

In combination with the series of panel discussions throughout the winter and spring of 2010, the FILM FACTORY invites students (aged 16 and up) and amateur filmmakers to submit original film ideas for the competition. The FILM FACTORY will start accepting submissions on November 7th with the deadline closing on December 31, 2009. Submissions must include a 10-12 page script along with a logline, a one-page synopsis and an optional sample of prior work, and may be made via the FILM FACTORY website at www.SteeltownFilmFactory.org/register.

A committee consisting of local and expatriate entertainment professionals serving as judges will choose the most promising screenplays, and the winning film or films will be developed into full-fledged productions during the summer of 2010 and screened at the 2010 Three Rivers Film Festival. Esteemed judges/advisers both locally and nationally include:

Lionsgate's John Dellaverson (producer, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman") "300" producer Bernie Goldmann, writer/producer David Hollander ("The Cleaner", "The Guardian"), Pitt screenwriting professor David Dellesandro ("Snakes On A Plane"), writer/director Melissa Martin ("The Bread, My Sweet"), and many others.

The total prize package is worth $25,000. The prize of $25,000 is available to be used to produce the winning film or films. One to three short films wills be chosen and the funds will be divided and awarded at the discretion of the judges. For submission guidelines and more information, please visit www.SteeltownFilmFactory.org/register.

The FILM FACTORY is made possible through the generous support of grants, sponsorships and in-kind donations from such organizations as the R.K. Mellon Foundation, the Colcom Foundation, the Laurel Foundation, Comcast, Readers Unlimited, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Point Park University, and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.