Editor

In partnership with CSB School of Broadcasting, Christopher Coppola--filmmaker, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, brother of Nicolas Cage and renowned "DigiVangelist"--is bringing miniPAH FEST, his groundbreaking digital media festival, to Las Vegas June 6 to 8, 2008.
PAH stands for Project Accessible Hollywood and miniPAH is a three-day, free digital media festival that travels to cities throughout the U.S. and internationally.

People from all walks of life--ages 5 to 105--get the chance to tell their stories through video in four contests over three days. Participants are provided with digital equipment and a professional "helping hand" enabling them to create their own short digital film.

miniPAH offers participants the opportunity to build confidence using digital technology while discovering "the artist within." The finished work is posted in the online theatre at PAHNation.org, where the public and a pool of celebrity judges review it and cast their votes for the winners. All submissions will remain on PAHNation.org for sharing.

Coming from a storied Hollywood family, and having directed movies himself, Christopher Coppola has one foot in the studio filmmaking industry and the other on the frontier of new media storytelling. Dubbed the "pirate" of the Coppola family, Christopher says his main goal is to "bridge the gap between Hollywood and the heartland." He believes that great stories come from everyday people, and that with the advent of digital technology, those stories can be shared globally through digital films and the Internet.

Coppola created PAH FEST for this purpose. The concept is simple--put a digital video camera or a cell phone in the hands of someone with an idea and let them create art. Then put the finished project on the Internet to enable cross-cultural communication and understanding.

miniPAH:Vegas categories include:

1) Cell Phone Art: a 1-minute or less video created on a video-enabled cell phone

2) DigiPortraits: on a video-enabled cell phone, participants create a 2-minute portrait of themselves or another person

3) Cellular Tone Poem: musicians, songwriters and composers shoot a 2-minute video to portray their original music

4) Circus Vision Challenge: using a smart phone, children ages 14 and under embark on a visual treasure hunt to capture and gather a list of visual ingredients

Participants of miniPAH:Vegas can use their own video enabled cell phone or check one out on festival days from the festival headquarters at CSB School of Broadcasting (8983 South Eastern Ave.).

Cell Phone Art, DigiPortraits and Cellular Tone Poem competitions will be held Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Circus Vision will be held in downtown Las Vegas at Triple George Grill (201 North 3rd Street) from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 7. Children participating in Circus Vision should look for the balloons and Circus Vision banner displayed at the Triple George Grill.

The festival closing awards ceremony and screening will be held Sunday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at Green Valley United Methodist Church (2200 Robindale Rd., Henderson).

The Circus Vision entry judged to interpret the list of visual ingredients the most uniquely and accurately will win a $100 prize. Winners of the Cell Phone Art, DigiPortraits and Cellular Tone Poem contests will win $250 each.

Participation is free and open to the public. All prizes will be awarded at the closing ceremony screening on Sunday, June 8, which will be concurrently webcast on PAHNation.org.

Additional information is available by calling (323) 645-4353 or by visiting PAHNation.org.