The First (and hopefully last) Corman Quarantine Film Festival
The 94-year-old Corman has shouted a call on social media to A-list filmmakers and wannabe filmmakers (and anyone) to make short films for what he’s calling “the first (and hopefully last) Corman Quarantine Film Festival.”
“We’re looking for the next great film director,” Corman explained in a video filmed in his backyard in Los Angeles, noting that “a surprising number of Academy Award-winning film directors have started with me.”
It’s true.
Corman, who earned an honorary Oscar in 2009, is credited with helping launch the careers of such acclaimed directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme and John Sayles.
acclaimed directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme and John Sayles
They all began working on low-budget sci-fi and horror films, biker movies and other cult fare — from “Caged Heat” and “Boxcar Bertha” to “Battle Beyond the Stars” and “Piranha” — for Corman’s production company.
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The criteria for submissions, as outlined by Corman, are simple:
The films, which can be about “anything you can imagine,” must run less than two minutes. They must be shot in or around your home. (“The cast can be your family or whoever is in your house with you.”) Lastly, the only equipment allowed is “your cellphone and the lights and lamps you have at your house.”
Corman will accept submissions via social media for the next two weeks with the hashtag #CormanChallenge.
Once a winner is selected, Corman will produce a trailer for the film and its director will receive “a signed certificate from me as well as a best picture award for the first and last Corman Quarantine Film Festival.”
nominated horror directors Eli Roth, Andy Muschietti, Leigh Whannell, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Bogdanovich and Ron Howard
It has already launched! Corman nominated a series of filmmakers to take on the challenge, including horror directors Eli Roth, Andy Muschietti, Leigh Whannell and Guillermo del Toro, as well as Peter Bogdanovich and Ron Howard, who started working with him in the 1970s.
