Following on from last year’s successful Project Spark the competition returns with the continuing aim of supporting the next generation of filmmakers, not just with money, but also advice and assistance in origination, shooting and post-production.
This year the theme is ‘Shining through’, which can be interpreted however the creators wish. Submissions based on this theme can be either narrative or experimental. In the Global section (outside China) there will be four pitches selected in total for funding: two narrative shorts and two experimental shorts.
The contests in the Global section and Chinese section will run in parallel. Each of the four finalist teams in the Global section will receive a production budget of USD 15,000 and additional equipment rental support of up to USD 5,000 courtesy of NANLITE and NANLUX.
Selection for the project has several stages. The first stage is registration with a basic pitch outline. Once inspected by the Project Spark team, the submission progresses to the next stage where a proposal, full script, storyboard, budget and concept art must be submitted. From these submissions, 5 shortlists will be selected from each of the two categories of narrative shorts and experimental shorts. Each shortlisted entrant will then be interviewed online by the judges, who will select the two narrative and two experimental winners, who then have their chance to go on and make their funded project.
Each entrant needs to submit the following via the Project Spark webpage:
- 1) Completed registration form on the event page of the Nanlite website
- 2) Exposition for the submission (up to 200 words in English)
- 3) Story synopsis (up to 100 words in English)
- 4) Script outline (between 300 and 2000 words in English)
- 5) No less than 10 reference video clips
- 6) Examples of previous work
1) Complete Script
2) Storyboard
3) Project Proposal
4) Production Budget Sheet
5) Concept Poster
- The work should be an original project that has not been previously submitted, or derived from submissions for other events.
- Filming on any submission should not have commenced, nor should it have received any prior investment or lighting support.
- The solicited projects can be either narrative shorts or experimental shorts, with an expected duration of 3-20 minutes.
- There are no restrictions on age, country or region. This contest is open to creators all over the world.
For NANLITE and NANLUX, this competition exemplifies their commitment to helping filmmakers and lighting professionals excel, and spurring them onwards to realise their dreams. Their state-of-the-art solutions, tailored for the worlds of film, television and photography, have put them at the forefront of the industry. Standing at the forefront of the lighting industry, NANLITE and NANLUX have pushed boundaries and set new standards so that others can move forwards too.
Their parent company, Nanguang, was established in 1992 by Lin Biguang, a photographer turned entrepreneur. It remains a family-run business with nearly 1000 employees in total and its own factory in Shantou, China.
You can learn more and enter Project Spark via the competition webpage.