Port Shorts Film Festival is making a comeback and now is the time to start filming. Returning from a 7 year hiatus after having a popular 7 year run, Port Shorts makes a comeback bigger than before. Is it any wonder the theme is 7 for the Local and Young Filmmakers categories?

After travel, family and business commitments lead the original founding festival organisers in different directions seven years ago, they have reunited and return with even more enthusiasm and support than what first fuelled Port Shorts inception over a couple of beers and a barbie in the early 2000s.

With the support of key industry players such as Matt Hearn and Stephen Curry as Ambassadors, Judges and MC, government organisations and commercial sponsors, the Port Shorts Film Festival aims to generate a new wave of filmmaking talent to unleash on the national stage.  And the talk of the town is that “the locals are happy to have it back” says Alison George Port Shorts Festival Producer and Director.  

“We decided to open it up to a wider audience to give the festival potential to grow on a national and even worldwide level while still retaining a grass roots local category” she says, advising that the reason for this is that avid filmmakers follow the short film circuit worldwide.

“There was no way we could have resurrected the festival without successfully winning a DSC Community Support Program grant of $10,000 and the Mayor Julia Leu is a great advocate” says Alison.  

There are several key commercial sponsors supporting the festival so far and Bec McLean has come on board dedicated to securing further sponsorships.

Douglas Shire has a rich history as a film and television location, with credits including The Thin Red Line, Fool’s Gold and The Pacific.  Boasting a diversity of locations, from the rainforest to the reef, from industrial to rural and streetscapes, the Douglas Shire proudly promotes itself as a film-friendly location.  It also includes support industries including catering, accommodation and services such as transport and logistics to manage small and large scale film productions as well as experienced film technicians capable of combining their local knowledge with their technical skills.

Alison stated that Port Shorts is a perfect opportunity to showcase local talent on a national scale so that the industry becomes aware of our creative resources in filmmaking.  Alison is confident that this will encourage studios filming in this region to utilise our local filmmaking resources that they may not have been necessarily aware of previously.

The festival runs over 2 nights on 23rd & 24th October and “all up we will have only 5 to 6 months to pull everything together in time for October. The Friday night session will be dedicated to the under 18 Young Filmmakers category so they actually have their own festival, it is their own night and it’s their creative outlet” said Alison.  

Elliot Davidson, Youth and Festival Director, is a high school teacher at Mossman and will be conducting workshops tailored around filmmaking and event planning leading up to the festival. His commitment to teaching young people the craft of filmmaking is the driving force behind the Port Shorts Young Filmmakers Awards. In fact a previous student has gone on to produce films in Brisbane stated Alison. “The Young Filmmakers category gives tangible ownership to the students” says Alison.

Last Sunday was the first of a number of planned workshops being conducted in the lead up to the event. All producers, directors, writers and budding actors and anyone interested in being involved in the filmmaking process were invited to attend the free informal workshop as well as being involved in the official Port Shorts promo which was shot with Benny and the Clones at Rex Smeal Park and will be launched soon.

Words of advice from Alison to anyone thinking about submitting a short film is “don’t be intimidated, it is about having fun with your friends. It is about locals making films. You don’t need fancy equipment, you can use your phone and there are editing apps you use as well” she says.

“One thing which is very important is about music. We cannot accept music you don’t have the copyright to - so you can’t just make a film to a Rihanna song. There are loads of royalty free music sites out there where you pay $18+ for music to use as much as you like. Just type “royalty free music” into Google.  Or go to www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music who’s music is free so long as you credit him at the end” advised Alison

Some creative tips from Alison

• Keep the concept/idea simple
• Think about your camera angles
• Add a twist or a joke
• Show don’t tell, don’t spell it out for the audience. Let them figure things out for themselves
• Less is more in terms of editing
• Have fun and don’t take it too seriously

For any further information and filmmaking tips and mentoring please visit:

• http://www.portshorts.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/portshorts
• Army men vimeo.com/131620015
• Resurrection https://vimeo.com/130401816
• Local Filmmakers call for entries vimeo.com/133415562