Courtesy of CMF Facebook
By Savannah Carr
The fifth annual Campus Movie Fest will return to USF St. Petersburg with a launch at noon on Wednesday in The Reef.
Campus Movie Fest is a film festival that gives college students the opportunity to shoot and produce a five-minute short movie over a week’s period at no cost.
No film experience is needed; the only requirement is that applicants be USF students.
According to a press release, each team of students will be given professional equipment, including cameras, sound equipment, and a laptop with editing software, along with training. Supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
After production ends on Feb. 11, the top 16 movies chosen by judges will be shown at the premiere on Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Student Center ballrooms.
The top four films chosen by a panel of judges during the screening will be awarded the Jury Award and move on to the national competition, “CMF Terminus: Conference + Film Festival” in Hollywood, California. Jury Award winners will also have the opportunity to apply for the CMF Cannes program in France, where they can network with industry professionals and other creative minds.
Silver tripod trophies will also be awarded to winners in specific categories, including directing, editing and performance. Students can also compete in special categories, such as The Walt Disney Company’s Women in Film category, Elfenworks Foundation’s Hope in Social Justice category and Ideas United’s Pitch This category.
When Student Government leaders initially proposed the 2019-2020 student fee budget, the $10,000 allocation for CMF had been eliminated.
After SG faced backlash for not taking “as much of a reduction as everyone else,” then-Student Body President Daniel “Kaeden” Kelso restored CMF’s funding and allocated an additional $722 for the festival. The additional funding came from an account used to take students to USF football games in Tampa.
