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Hollywood Casting and Film (HCF) launches the Filmmaker Final Four, a national contest designed to provide exposure for emerging filmmakers and actors, in an effort to advance their careers.  The format of the film contest is similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, where teams across the nation will be placed in brackets.  Audiences and jurors will vote on films from each region, with the Finalists eventually advancing to a Final Four event in Hollywood where prizewinners will be announced. 

In addition to providing significant exposure to professionals in the film and television industries, all Final Four project submissions will have the opportunity to screen in a local movie theater in or near their hometown. The program will be led by Jon Fitzgerald, a seasoned industry veteran who co-founded the Slamdance Film Festival, before serving as Festival Director for AFI, Santa Barbara and many others.  “We wanted to develop a new program that would provide unique filmmaking opportunities, while combining the assurance of live screenings and industry exposure for the best of emerging talent,” said Executive Director Jon Fitzgerald. 

Seen as a hybrid, combining elements of film festivals and juried film contests, this new program assures contestants of a public screening (in partnership with Tugg), without having to be selected by a traditional programming committee.  However, the stronger projects will garner more screenings and exposure, based on industry juries and audience voting along the way.

Additionally, the contest is being designed as a career launching pad for experienced filmmakers that have already been behind the camera, or have recently graduated from film school, and are looking to take the next steps in their career development.  “Every year thousands of very talented film school students graduate, but often, these students aren’t presented with a clear path to pursue future career opportunities.  We were inspired to create this contest as a conduit between hometown filmmakers and Hollywood industry talent.”  Said Sunny Vachher, Co-Founder of HCF. 

In addition to filmmaker career development, the contest will also be geared towards providing more audition opportunities for actors in cities and towns located all across the US.  “For years, HCF has been providing audition opportunities in the greater LA market, and we perceive this contest as a natural extension of our casting services,” said Vinay Bhagat, HCF Co-Founder. 

Filmmakers looking to submit to the Filmmaker Final Four can visit filmfinalfour.com, and actors looking to audition for contest projects can visit hollywoodcastingandfilm.com to submit digital submissions, as well as browse local audition opportunities within their region.

The call for entries for the Western Regional was just announced, with the first deadline being January 25, 2019 and the second is February 22, 2019.  Participating filmmakers will have 16 days to write, produce and edit their projects, with the clock starting on the date each respective filmmaker applies. 

About Hollywood Casting and Film

Hollywood Casting and Film (HCF) is an organization that helps foster emerging talent among actors and filmmakers, and help facilitate the creation of independent film.  Through our production and casting facility located in the heart of Hollywood CA, HCF provides critical resources to artists in front of, and behind the camera to help bring an artists’ creative vision to fruition.  The organization has established a strong Advisory Board of industry professionals, which includes award winning writer Leilani Downer and  festival veteran Jon Fitzgerald.