Next 50 Film Project Seeks Video Stories on Seattle Neighborhoods

Next 50 Civic Action month seeks video submissions for a new filmmaking initiative. A Story Runs Through It Film Project and Festival invites residents of all ages to create visual tales featuring Seattle's neighborhoods and communities. Free workshops are available to train participants on film making techniques. Films will be accepted through Aug. 31. 

A Story Runs Through It aims to capture Seattle's civic fabric, engage and train communities in the art of filmmaking as a means to develop their own future narratives, and establish closer ties between Seattle neighborhoods. Participants will develop short videos of up to three minutes, with minimum running time of at least 60 seconds.  Filmmakers may approach their topics through a variety of techniques including interviews with subjects, histories of events or locations, mythologies, fictions, examples of good works or local agents of change, and neighborhood needs or improvements. Filmmakers may also feature any region of the city, regardless of their residential address. 

The first phase of the project encompasses the theme "Know Thyself," in which stories focus on the filmmakers' own Seattle-area neighborhoods. Participating films are eligible to move on to the second phase, "Know Thy Neighbor," in which films are shared and created between neighborhoods.  Selected participants will receive modest cash awards and the opportunity to screen their videos at a festival during The Next Fifty's Civic Action month in October and at other Next 50 events in 2012. Some filmmakers will also be invited to collaborate on projects with other participating filmmakers.

Citizens of all ages from the greater Seattle area are invited to participate in A Story Runs Through It.  For those new to making films, free workshops will be offered at Seattle Center on June 16 and July 14, taught by Scott Macklin, Associate Director of the University of Washington Masters of Communication in Digital Media program.  Workshops are free but registration is required.

A Story Runs Through It is organized by the Civic Action committee of The Next Fifty, with support from Seattle International Film Festival, the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Swedish, and MSN Postbox. Submission requirements, rules, resources, workshop registration information and more are available at the project's web site, www.thenextfifty.org /filmproject. For more information on the project, contact Karin Butler (Karin.butler@seattle.gov).

The Next Fifty continues through Oct. 21, 2012 with events, attractions and family activities focusing on Arts, Culture and Design, History, Sustainable Futures, Science and Technology, Global Health, Learning, Commerce and the Innovation Economy, and Civic Action. Seattle Center Foundation heads up the 50^th anniversary celebration.  For more information on The Next Fifty and Seattle Center, visit www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200.