You Are A Star
It’s true that we only accept films shot with smartphone cameras and no other “mobile devices” and cameras. Yes, we do accept aerial drone footage, but even that is a minimal exception.
Since we launched our unique film festival for the big screen, in person with a very limited criteria, we’ve always kept our mission to be all inclusive of the humans behind the films, regardless of age, experience, and all the other criteria that keeps people from participating in film festivals.
We launched in the Spring of 2009 to showcase your films on a big screen regardless of who “you” happened to be. All you had to do was use a mobile phone camera and submit it.
While we’ve stayed up to date with the world around us online, we were among the first, February 17, 2014, on today’s popular submission platform FilmFreeway.
Films in our inaugural film festival had a duration limit of 1 to 3 minutes. Beginning with the second edition, we raised the limit to 1 to 5 minutes.
During IMFF 2016, we announced we would open a new separate competition for feature narrative films. In 2018, we announced we would allow 10% aerial drone footage.
A few years ago, we declared that due to the distribution potential of feature films on streaming services like Amazon Prime, we would raise the bar once again!
We launched The Rookie Award. A contest for novices, for films that were 1 to 5 minutes. The “rookie films” screen during our in-person festival in a dedicated session. Though they’re not included in the official short film competition, all “rookie” contestants receive the same Star treatment as other contenders.
When we created the rookie contest, we reset the bar for our official short film competition. We raised the time limits to 3 to 10 minutes and called for high quality films.
One thing we’ve never, ever, changed is our respect for the people who make the films. Yes, that you!
We’ve had an incredible amount of conversations with people in the industry since 2009. The IMFF has always been referred to as a “great” or “innovative” idea during conversations. Festival founder Susy Botello uses a different term based on what brought her to launch the festival, years before deliberating launching it between 2004-2005. It was a term she was a bit shy about using before the festival had been established.
“In 2001, during the September 11 catastrophe, I had a bit of an epiphany. I connected what I was seeing and listening to and realized cell phone manufacturers would eventually add video cameras on the phone. Then I “saw” the future of smartphones as a technology that everyone had access to with a camera so good that you could make movies.”
Due to that vision, and premise, the festival was designed to only accept films using mobile phone cameras. Accepting only films shot with mobile phones was above and beyond any other camera. It gave you a chance to compete with other filmmakers using the same cameras in a world where almost everyone had access to a phone, democratizing the concept of filmmaking for everyone who wanted to make films.
“It was important in 2009, to make the call internationally. I had personal connections to people in other countries growing up. I knew that they looked to California as a place where Hollywood dreams came true. When the iPhone 4 came out in later 2010, I did not change anything.”
We always accepted films shot with any brand. We had to be patient and waited three years to begin to receive film submissions.
Colleagues we shared our vision with told us we should open the call to include other mobile cameras like iPods and GoPros. We had our vision of the future. We believed in it. We knew you were there, and we knew you would take the challenge.
Sure enough, in 2011, we began to receive films shot with iPhone 4 and a couple other cell phone cameras.
Michael Koerbel, “Apple Of My Eye” and Conrad Mess “The Fixer” took the two top prizes. Both shot narrative films with the iPhone 4. You can watch their films on MobileFilmStories.com.
All 9 films in our first inaugural edition were screened on a large screen in a film festival setting in San Diego with attending filmmakers, including Dukagjin Borova, “Everything is Money,” who flew in from Macedonia to screen their short film.
Through the years, we’ve interviewed and written articles about the filmmakers in our film festival. They’ve stayed in touch with us, and participated in some local events. They’ve also participated during the San Diego Mobile Film School (non-accredited) workshops and master classes.
We spoke about mobile filmmakers during lectures and panels at in-person events from San Diego’s Comic-Con International to Indiana’s IndyShorts film festival. We also shared filmmakers in remote online events in the UK and the Netherlands.
We’ve stayed true to our mission since day one. We believe in you. We know how far you can go beyond what you can achieve today. We’ve seen you achieve masterpieces in the past, the present, and yes, in the future.
If you want to be learn more about mobile filmmaking and be inspired from people like you, making films with smartphone cameras, join Susy Botello as the host of the SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking with over 190 episodes in an exclusive podcast.
The podcast was created to share storytelling filmmakers like you, and inspire you. It’s the only podcast of its kind that has invested itself in sharing a diverse voice of filmmakers from around the world who made films using smartphone cameras.
Launched in October 2017, the podcast will be 7 years old and reach 200 episodes October 1st. It’s one of the best, and perhaps the only dedicated and established podcasts exclusive to indie mobile filmmaking. The best resource for mobile filmmakers.
It’s always been about you.
We invest in you because only you can inspire others to make movies using their own phones.
There may be a lot of experts, but the real experts are the ones who are doing it. When we promote filmmakers like you, we inspire others like you. It’s not about what we can do, it’s about what you can do.
We are, and have always been, here to help you realize your dream to make films.
We provide a “distribution” platform where the community comes together to watch your film.
We offer you an intimate space where you can make new, and reconnect with, filmmaking friends from the community world-wide, in person and online.
We take pride in what you’ve accomplished and enjoy giving you the Star treatment all throughout each year. As long as you choose to be a part of this incredible inspiring community of filmmakers from around the world, you have our attention. You are empowered to share stories through film using the most accessible camera in the world.
But let’s be honest. Even though we’ve been doing this since 2009, your support is needed. If you’re able to give back, we can keep providing our in-person film festival, so please contribute. Ask those around you to help, if you cannot.
Supporting those who support you and others like you is a win-win.
Another way to show your support is to share, follow, like our posts on social media, repost, and interact. Subscribe to our podcast newsletter and our festival newsletter.
Spread the word about our film festival and the podcast, and our support for what you do to help us grow our reach of contributors, participants, and contestants, so we can continue to support you!
Sponsors are welcome!
The red carpet is in your pocket™
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