“Awesome” Film Fest Nixes Submission Fees, Showcases Films Globally on Multiple Platforms, Returns Revenue to Filmmakers

New York, NY, February 22, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Forget everything you know about film festivals. The concept is being stood on its head by From Here to Awesome - a discovery and distribution film festival. Founded by DIY filmmaker sensations Lance Weiler ("The Last Broadcast", "Head Trauma"), Arin Crumley ("Four Eyed Monsters") and M dot Strange ("We Are The Strange"); and in partnership with some of the biggest film and entertainment sites on the Web (Amazon, MySpace, Withoutabox, IFP, and YouTube, among others), From Here to Awesome is a new type of festival with innovations like:

· No submission fees and open to all filmmakers

· All completed submissions are accepted

· Filmmakers retain all rights

· A global online and off-line festival

· Audiences vote with "this film seems awesome", and determine winners for cash awards, sponsorship, further distribution opportunities and other prizes

· The audience demand for each film is made public to empower movie theaters to book screenings

· Top 10 films announced in May and loaded by the filmmakers into a variety of distribution platforms

· June world wide showcase brings top films to theaters, living rooms, mobile devices and the internet

· Filmmakers receive revenue directly from the various distribution platforms

· Expert Filmmakers and industry leaders contribute tutorials and discussions to a collective pool of knowledge called the 2008 Awesome Workbook, a free virtual conference running concurrently with the festival

Filmmakers can submit films through March 31st. Audience voting has already begun so filmmakers should post their submission videos to the site ASAP.

Weiler explains his reasons for the new festival model: “From Here to Awesome is an experiment to connect filmmakers and audiences directly. The tools to make movies have become democratized but the struggle for those stories to reach an audience is the largest obstacle filmmakers face. There is a permission based culture around filmmaking and From Here to Awesome is a step toward letting filmmakers know they have options - that not getting into a major festival is not the end of their movie’s life but just the beginning.”

Indie filmmakers are quickly embracing the concept. Since the recent launch of From Here to Awesome, over 100 of them from around the world have registered to submit films.

Crumley says this is just the beginning: “I see this making a big impact on the industry. I think From Here to Awesome can demonstrate the industry's huge potential for an awesome future where the creative doesn't have to get screwed. Simultaneously, we can also demonstrate the value of empowering movie theaters and other distributors by giving them a measuring stick to determine interest in a project and then allow the distributors to monetize the film and give the revenue directly to the filmmakers without unnecessary middle men.”

FHTA's new promotional video will be featured this week on YouTube and MySpace, and is available for download.

Festival site: http://fromheretoawesome.com

Press kit: http://fromheretoawesome.com/presskit

Media Contact:
Jane Green
jane @ janegreenpublicity dot com
202-425-7567

Contact directly for interview requests:

Lance Weiler
Lance @ lanceweiler dot com

Arin Crumley
Arincrumley @ gmail dot com

Awesome Partners: Indieflix; Breakthrough Distribution; Blip.tv; Wonderland; YouTube; Independent Film Project; Miro; Withoutabox; MySpace; OurStage; Current; B-side; Heretic; PlaceVine; Spout; The Workbook Project; Indiegogo; Vudu; Tubemogul; Amazon Unbox; Power to the Pixel; DogWoof

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