FYI/ Film Your Issue, an unprecedented "issue film" competition targeting 7 million-plus college students launches this week on 1200+ campuses nationally, with partners Microsoft, mtvU, Rock the Vote, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Seen as a potent way to engage young adults in public dialogue on contemporary issues, undergraduate students will be invited to submit 30-to-60 second films - live action or animated - on any issue. The competition deadline is March 7, 2005.
At the same time as this year's competition launches, MSNBC.com is hosting the internet public voting platform ofthe Spring 2004 competition. Five winners will be offered internships at Miramax, New Line's ChickFlicks, Rhino Films, and Film Society at Lincoln Center.
The FYI Advisory Team includes leaders from Newsweek, Oprah Magazine, Dreamworks, Disney, Miramax, New Line, and leading film schools like NYU, Columbia, UCLA, and AFI. The VIP Jury includes directors Wes Craven, Dan Myrick, and Peter Gallagher.
For the 2004-5 competition mtvU, MTV's 24-hour University network - will broadcast the winner's film to over 700 colleges across the country with a combined enrollment of 6 million. Rock the Vote will work with FYI to engage college campuses and encourage participation in the contest through its Community Street Teams.
FYI Film Your Issue was conceived in late 2003, and partnered first with The American Democracy Project, an ambitious three-year initiative by the Associatioin of State Colleges and Universities - which represents 56% of all college students in the U.S. -- to engage young people in public life and social dialogue. Major educational partners include The American Democracy Project, Campus Compact, and Imagining America.
"Visual and film are the language of this generation," says FYI Film Your Issue Founder Heathcliff Rothman. "Film is a natural way for young people to express their ideas, indignations, and irritations with elements of society. We want to encourage and invite young people to process how they feel, and articulate it, via film. It's a way to encourage democracy -- that their voices matter, which it does, more than they know." Mr. Rothman also co-founded the NGO Global Vision for Peace / Artists for the UN, two years ago.
