Horror film competition comes to Carson City

The third annual Carson Creepy Short Horror Film Competition, hosted by the Wired Wednesday organization, is coming to Carson City for filmmakers of all ages to show off their scary skills.

Participants will have one week to write, film and edit a five to eight minute movie to present at the festival. There will be two category showings: an under 18 years old and an 18 and over.

Registration is still open for the festival until next Wednesday. Teams of one or more, who signed up will receive an email at noon Wednesday Oct. 19 that will include the prompt that must be in the film — including a sound, line of dialogue and a prop — and a choice of five horror subgenres to chose to use in the film.

“We made it a little more flexible and give them something to work with because chances are there is something they will want to do,” said Scott Young, one of the event coordinators. “You don’t have to stick completely to it though, so even if you choose a supernatural subgenre doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a vampire as a character.”

After teams are given the prompts, they will have one week to complete their film and they will be due by noon on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

“This is great for filmmakers,” Young said. “Making a short film is a challenge… you have five to eight minutes to tell a story. But it is a good way for any film-related competitors to practice or for people to keep their skills honed.”

Young said they wanted to emphasize the competition isn’t just for professional filmmakers; any person of any age or skill level is encouraged to participate.

“You don’t have to be a professional film maker you just need something as simple as a phone (to shoot on),” Young said. “You don’t have to have all this special equipment or graduate from film school. We want everyone to be involved and have fun, that’s the key.”

For those just starting in the film world, Young and the other coordinators are available to help, give advice or answer questions about making a movie.

They offer helpful resources on their website for help with screenwriting and sites for royalty-free elements such as graphics, sounds and music.

Young said they have submissions already from filmmakers around the country, even from as far as Ohio and California.

“This is open to anyone, it isn’t a local event because we can do the submissions electronically so everything can be done via the Internet,” Young said.

The filmmakers who are lacking, however, are the younger ones for the under 18 category. Young said they only have one submission so far and are really looking for more kids to produce films for the festival.

A change the organizers added this year is a forms requirement. Now all filmmakers are required to sign release forms for talent, music and location. Young said they’re incorporating this so the teams can use their films in other competitions, most of which will require that type of paperwork.

Registration is $15 per team.

The competition will be held at the King Street Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall; 3:30 p.m. for the under 18 year old competition and 6:30 for the 18 and over. Tickets to the screenings on Oct. 29 are $5 for both showings.

For registration, contest rules and helpful resources visit the competition website at www.makemovies511.com. For additional information visit the Wired Wednesday Digital Artists Facebook page or call or text 775-830-7939.