Produced by Hypnotic and Universal Pictures, Ten Filmmakers Compete for Million Dollar Production Deal to Make Short Films Featuring Chrysler Automobiles in Cannes, Using Avid Xpress DV v3 Editing & Effects Software and Support From Avid Technology

Cannes, France (May 16, 2002) – Ten filmmakers will compete in Cannes for a one million dollar feature film production deal at the annual Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival, a year-long competition produced by entertainment production company Hypnotic in association with Universal Pictures and Chrysler. During this Extreme Filmmaking Competition, filmmakers must cast, shoot, edit and premiere a five-minute Chrysler-branded short film featuring the two American Dream Machines from the Chrysler brand; the PT Cruiser or the Crossfire, Chrysler’s new sports coupe slated to go on sale in summer 2003. The Extreme Filmmakers will use Avid Xpress(R) DV editing and effects software from Avid Technology (Nasdaq: AVID), the recognized standard for professional filmmakers around the globe — for everything from DV to HD.

Upon arrival in Cannes, with screenplay in hand, the ten competing filmmakers select the stars of their films from a pool of local actors, pre-screened by a leading cast agent, to star in their films. A casting call was held at the Chrysler Villa, where the actors had an opportunity to meet and audition for the filmmakers and U.S. based talent attending the festival will be welcome.
“The casting of the PT Cruiser and Crossfire provides the Extreme Filmmakers the opportunity to embrace and reflect the Chrysler brand’s dedication to design, romance and innovation into their films,” said Jeff Bell, Vice President of Marketing Communications, DaimlerChrysler.

“The people behind the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival are committed to discovering aspiring filmmakers, and Avid is equally committed to delivering technology to help future editors, directors and producers like these succeed as they build careers,” said Chas Smith, Avid’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. “In Cannes, Avid is putting professional-quality tools at the fingertips of the Extreme Filmmakers and we expect great things. Later this year we look forward to supporting the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival winner as they create their million-dollar film.”

Once the films are cast and locations scouted, the filmmakers will have only a few days to shoot footage in Cannes, Antibes and Juan-les-Pins. Each filmmaker will be equipped with a Chrysler Voyager minivan as a production vehicle and will be able to schedule time to film either the PT Cruiser or the Crossfire. Limited resources and tight deadlines will challenge the filmmakers to produce their branded short films with only a small team assisting with production and editing. From Avid, each Extreme filmmaker receives a Dell laptop loaded with Avid Xpress DV 3 software, portable Avid storage, and 24-hour, on-the-ground support by technical staff from Avid to help create their films.

Once shot and edited, the Extreme Films will premiere for a blue ribbon panel of industry professionals during an invitation-only event. The five finalists will be selected to proceed to the Feature Film Packaging phase in Los Angeles during the summer of 2002. While living at the Chrysler Summer House and working on the Universal lot, the finalists will develop a million dollar film production package while working in partnership with an industry mentor. Then in September 2002, at the Toronto Film Festival, the five finalists will present their feature film pitch as well as the film’s promotional poster and trailer and ultimately, one filmmaker will be selected as the 2002 winner of the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival.

The ten filmmakers selected to compete in the Extreme Filmmaking Competition in Cannes, France, and their qualifying films, are:

— Will Canon, Arlington, TX — “Roslyn”
— Patrick Daughters, New York, NY — “In Life We Soar”
— Richard Dougherty, Los Angeles — “My Chorus”
— Maurice A. Dwyer, New York, NY — “Whoa”
— Matthew Ehlers, Rochester, NY — “Lunch”
— Geoffrey Haley, North Hollywood, CA — “The Parlor”
— Catherine Tingey, New York, NY — “Girl’s Guide to the Galaxy”
— Jeff Wadlow, Los Angeles, CA — “The Tower of Babble”
— Seth Wiley, Los Angeles, CA — “The Good Things”
— Ivan Zivkovic, Los Angeles, CA — “Remote Control”

The Chrysler Villa, located at the Hotel Martinez in the heart of Cannes, will serve as the Cannes headquarters for the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival and host numerous industry events, including the international press junket for Woody Allen’s “Hollywood Ending” on May 16th and 17th.

Author: MOSAEC