Calling All Filmmakers—New London Wants You!

And Action! If you've always dreamed of being a filmmaker, now's your chance to prove it. The fifth annual Whaling City Film Project, a filmmaking competition based in New London and sponsored by Neff Productions in association with SECT Film, and the New London Film Commission, gets underway on October 4. 

Film teams have four days to script, shoot, edit and score a short film with a running time between 4 to 7 minutes. Just to make it that much more challenging, each film must meet certain criteria.    

On Friday, October 4, at 6:30 p.m. all teams will met at Neff Productions' office, located at 2 State Street, at which time they'll be assigned a genre at random, and given a prop, a character's name, and a line of dialogue, all of which must be used in the film they produce. 

Film team members all must be volunteers. Teams will be allowed to assemble a crew and actors, scout locations, and obtain equipment ahead of time but all creative work has to take place within the four days allotted for the project and at least some footage has to be shot in New London. The City of New London will issue a blanket permit for filmmakers to shoot in town—although film teams are kindly requested to be as cooperative, respectful, and unobtrusive as possible.

The films will be screened publicly at the El ‘N’ Gee, located at 86 Golden Street in New London, on Thursday, October 10 at 6 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door and the event will include a reception. Cash awards will be given out after the screening.

"New London has always been a multi-disciplined town regarding its artistic pursuits. Its art, music, poetry and theater scenes have had their share in the limelight, and have thrived," writes Barbara Neff of Neff Productions. "Filmmaking is a relatively new wave of creative expression, and for those filmmakers in the area, and those outside of it, here's an opportunity to show everyone what you've got."

For more information email bj@neffproductions.com.