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The second annual Friars Club Comedy Film Festival
will take place September 23rd - 26th in New York
City.

Submissions are now open for film-makers at www.friarsclub.com/filmfestival
and the deadline is July 30th.

This year's film festival will again be a four day
celebration of comedy movies presented by the legendary Friars Club - whose
iconic membership includes the world's funniest actors and comedians. Proceeds
from the festival will benefit the Friars Foundation.

Events will include premieres of the very best new
comedy films, panel discussions with comedians and filmmakers, as well as
curated screenings of classic comedy movies, many featuring legendary Friars
such as W.C. Fields, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

In addition to conventional submissions, this year the
festival is inviting sketch and improv teams to take part in the FrISC
(Friars Club Improv + Sketch Competition), and the winning submission
from each of those categories will be awarded a $10,000 prize to create a short
film to debut at the film festival.

According to festival's Executive Director Charlie
Prince, it is a way to encourage the next generation of comedy filmmakers:
"We know that there is incredible talent among sketch and improv troupes and by
offering them this $10,000 prize, we hope it will encourage them to continue
bringing their comedic work to the big and small screen."

To enter, sketch and improv teams must send in a demo
of their show postmarked by May 1st. The top 5 from each category
will be invited to battle it out for the prize money on June 25th
and 26th at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, in Manhattan. The
two winning teams will then have 3 months to prepare their film to premiere in
September's festival.

Following the success of the inaugural festival in
2009 - in which the Academy Award nominated "A Serious Man" kicked off the
proceedings, this year's event will also see the launch of the Friars Film
Society.

The society is open to the general public and has four
levels of membership ranging from $35 to $500. Further information on the Film
Society is available at filmfestival@friarsclub.com.

There will be three general categories of movies being
screened during the festival:

Spotlight Films - the best and brightest comedies from top film festivals around the
world

Submission Based Films - giving new filmmakers a platform to screen their work - the
submission process will begin shortly

Selected Screenings of Classics - a small number of special screenings, in which luminaries from the
world of comedy will introduce their favorite classic comedy films and host a
discussion

Welcoming the festival, Friars Club executive director
Michael Gyure said it was a logical extension of the club's comedic history.

"Many of our Friars have starred in some of the
world's classic comedy movies from the days of Sinatra and the Rat Pack to
Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. This festival will showcase both classic
comedies and give new comedy films an arena to find an audience," says Gyure.