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Are you a practicing artist who would like the opportunity to make a short film?

Arts Council England, East and BBC East are working together to offer practicing artists in our region the unique opportunity to expand their creative vision by making a short film to be shown on BBC East.

By practicing artist, we mean someone who engages with their chosen art form (i.e. performing arts, visual arts, literature) on a regular basis, with serious intent and ability, and who would value the opportunity to explore their creative ideas further through the medium of film, stretching them in new directions and building their skills and knowledge of digital media.

Up to five artists will receive support from Arts Council England, East and the expertise of BBC staff to produce a two-minute film ‘short’ which will be shown on BBC Look East in July 2008.

What’s on offer?

• We are offering practicing artists who may not have previously used this medium a full support package to create their own two-minute short film.
• Up to five artists will receive hands-on training over four weeks to develop and direct their film. They will be working with a team of BBC East producers, camera people and editors and support from Arts Council England, East.  
• Subject to approval, the film shorts will be shown as part of BBC Look East’s prime-time evening slot between 6.30 and 7pm on BBC1.

What kind of film?

We want to provide artists with the opportunity to create films which are original, creative, thought-provoking and inspiring. At this stage we want you to tell us what the film could be, rather than us trying to describe and define the direction you should go.

The selected artists will be free to create a piece which reflects and expands their artistic vision – how this works in practice will be up to the artist and the BBC producer.

It does not have to be narrative or documentary style though we are not discounting this approach. It must comply with BBC’s editorial guidelines and be suitable for broadcast.

Who can apply?

To be considered for our short films project, applicants should be:

1. Aged 18 or over.
2. Currently resident in the East of England – for the purposes of this project, the East of England is defined as Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and the unitary authorities of Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
3. A practicing artist – this can be in any art form and applicants do not need to be professional artists, but they should be regular practitioners.
4. Available between 9th June and 4th July 2008 for preparation, filming and editing. 5. Willing to comply with the competition rules and regulations.