Idaho Teen Film Festival returns for its 21st year
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IDAHO FALLS — Teenagers across Idaho are invited to submit original short films they’ve created for a chance to win money as part of the 21 Annual Idaho Teen Film Festival.
The festival, which is put on by the East Idaho Falls Rotary Club, is for those ages 13 to 19. The submission period is open, and the deadline to enter is midnight on April 13. There is a $20 entry fee per film submitted.
“The films in there are exclusively films made and produced by teenagers,” said Alex Purcell, president of the East Idaho Falls Rotary Club. “We’ve got a panel of real film industry professionals that judge and award for various categories.”
There are seven categories in the competition, including action/drama, comedy, sports, short subject, commercial, documentary and music video. There will be seven $300 category prizes and one $1,000 grand prize winner.
Over the past two decades of this event, 492 films have been submitted, and more than $50,000 worth of prizes have been awarded.
Purcell said some previous Idaho Teen Film Festival participants have gone on to work in Hollywood, being employed by companies like Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios, working on “The Chosen” TV show, or helping run and produce “Dry Bar Comedy” clips.
“The big thing is to show these kids that if this is what they love and enjoy, then it can be their future,” Purcell said. “And maybe even more so than showing the kids, it’s showing the parents there can be a future in media and visual storytelling.”
The film festival will be held on May 3 at Hillcrest High School. That morning at 10, there will be a workshop taught by professional filmmakers for the teenagers who entered the film festival. Prizes such as microphones and lights will be given away at the workshop.
There will be a red carpet event at 5:30 p.m., and a screening of the winning films will begin at 6:30 p.m. The films will be shown inside Hillcrest High School’s Performing Arts Center. The public is invited to attend the free showing.
“We really want to pack the auditorium at Hillcrest for these kids,” Purcell said. “It’s cool for them to see their movies on the big movie screen, but it’s cooler when we got hundreds of people seeing their film on the big movie screen. It’s pretty impactful for these kids.”
Sponsorship opportunities for the film festival are available. Contact Purcell at hello@idahoteenfilmfestival.org for more information.
For more details on the film festival itself, including how to submit films, click here.
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