The 11th annual STIFF is the 1st annual Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival, and filmmakers and storytellers of all persuasions are invited to submit their work for consideration. Early submission is now open for entries in all 18 categories, including the relatively conventional (short, feature, documentary, animation), the wonderfully wacky (fan fiction, experimental), and the entirely new (emerging technology, new media, video game).
Students are especially encouraged to apply, and will be assessed a reduced entry fee. In addition, all submitting filmmakers and artists will be granted a Festival passregardless of whether their work is selected.
Seattle’s longtime underdog film festival – until 2014 Seattle True Independent Film Festival – will re-emerge next spring as one of a new breed of film festival. The question“What is Transmedia?” has been asked seriously and in jest increasingly over the past few years, and STIFF is making its move to become one of very few festivals to display a curated selection of responses to that question. Always a champion of independent, local, underground, experimental, and zero-budget films and filmmakers, this beloved Festival opens its arms wider still to encompass alternate and emerging forms of storytelling that often lack a forum for display.
“We are looking for artists and storytellers who are pushing the boundaries of their medium and working across multiple platforms to create memorable experiences for our audience,” says STIFF’s executive director, Tim Vernor.
Throughout the Festival, in addition to the sit-down cinema presentations of features, documentaries, and shorts packages that STIFF-goers love and expect, STIFF will showcase transmedia projects in gallery space, at interactive play centers, and during Festival parties and networking events.
This year, STIFF offers over $3,000 in total cash prizes to jury winners in ten categories, along with a custom-made trophy from a local artist for each jury winner. The STIFF 2015 jury will comprise respected members of the filmmaking and film criticism community, including Seattle-based actor Paul Eenhoorn (Land Ho!, This is Martin Bonner). In addition to contending for jury prizes, each official selection receives a unique “STIFFY” award in the Festival’s print and online catalog. Past “STIFFY”s have included Best Existential Crisis, Best Pick-Up Line, and Best Use of Tomato Paste.
STIFF emphasises community and networking to provide a unique forum for filmmakers to meet and greet, mix and mingle, share ideas, and make connections. The Festival is renowned for its events and parties, offering unparalleled opportunities for transmedia creators and filmmakers to enjoy and benefit from the community STIFF brings together.
Interviews available upon request with the executives of Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Fesival.
For further information or to submit a film, webisode, app, or multi-platform interactive narrative to STIFF 2015, visit http://trueindependent.org/stiff/submit/.
