AGBO announced that its virtual short film competition No Sleep ‘til Film Festis returning to showcase another round of emerging filmmakers later this year. The annual film festival’s inaugural outing last year pulled in over 700 entries from 60 countries around the world, bringing some of the best and brightest up-and-coming international artists to the forefront and offering the opportunity to win prizes that will help them in their burgeoning film careers. The creative prompt will be released at 5 p.m. PT on April 29 with participants only getting 48 hours to put together their entry before submissions close on May 1. All winners will be unveiled on June 8.
No Sleep ‘til Film Fest is AGBO’s way of challenging and championing newer filmmakers on the scene in a free and fun virtual festival. Participants are tasked with creating short films of three minutes or less under a time crunch. Judging the entries this year are the independent studio’s co-foundersAnthony Russo,Joe Russo, andMike Larocca, co-presidents of storyChristopher MarkusandStephen McFeely, and president of creativeAngela Russo-Otstot. At the end of it all, three winners will be crowned and displayed across AGBO’s social channels.
The individual filmmakers will also leave kitted out in some sweet hardware and software with first prize earning a RED Komodo Starter Pack, an LS 1200d Pro and Nova P600c light from Aputure, the HERO10 Black Creator Edition camera from GoPro, a Surface Pro 8 from Microsoft, and a copy of Final Draft 12 Screenwriting software. Runners-up won’t be left empty-handed, with both taking home the GoPro, Surface Pro, and Final Draft 12 software along with an LS 600d Pro, F10 Fresnel, F10 Barn Doors, and Light Dome 150 from Aputure. All winners will also get a springboard for their career, earning membership in the AGBO Storytellers Collective which connects participants from AGBO’s fellowship programs.
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This year’s festival will also see one additional winner picked by the current Collective to join their ranks through the AGBO Storytellers Collective Award. Last year saw “Happy Day” byKali Davistake home top honors at the festival with “Pineapple” directed byStephen Ford, and “My House” byAdam Dumaguinas runners-up.
AGBO is about as high profile as independent studios come, with the Russo brothers co-directing multiple MCU projects including the blockbuster to end all blockbustersAvengers: Endgame. Their company helped produce A24’s recent smash hitEverything Everywhere All At Onceas well as theTom HollanddramaCherrywhich the Russo brothers directed. AGBO is also at the head of remakes of animated classicsHerculesandThe Secret of NIMH, though their next big project will be the highly anticipated Netflix thrillerThe Gray ManstarringRyan Gosling,Chris Evans,Billy Bob Thornton,Alfre Woodard, andRegé-Jean Pageamong others.
Details about the festival and how to participate can be found onAGBO’s website. It’s free to enter for anyone internationally with submissions opening on April 29.
