Lakedance Film Festival Information: How to Join the Lakedance Film Festival

Lakedance Film Festival Information: How to Join the Lakedance Film Festival
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Overview

The Lakedance Film Festival is an annual competition of short length films and feature films from independent filmmakers held in Sandpoint, Idaho. This yearly competition is held during the autumn began in 2006 and within a short span has become one of the biggest film competitions in the North Western side of the United States. It was started by Trevor and Fred Greenfield, a father-and-son tandem who hoped to boost the film making industry in Idaho. They also hoped to give the proper exposure on quality independent films while supporting the people behind these films - from the directors, producers, stars, and crew.

Photo Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net / by Marino Frances

History

The first corporate sponsor of the film festival is Laughing Dog Brewing Company based on Ponderay, Idaho. Other sponsors which took part in the first festival were Horizon Credit Union, Schweitzer Resort and the Floral & Sandpoint Realty. The first festival took place in 2006 with over a thousand people attended and participated in by 20 filmmakers and movie stars. In the following year, top honors went to the nominated Academy Awards, Binta Y La Gran Idea for the Best Live Action category.

The next year had several modifications such as the change of the festival name from Idaho Panhandle International Film Festival into its current moniker. New sponsors came in while the logo was modified. Two events were also included to the calendar of activities, an outdoor screening held at the beach park of Sandpoint City and VIP cruise on board the Shawnodese.

Categories

The 4th edition of the Lakedance International Film festival featured categories such as features, shorts, comedy, drama, mystery, and horror. There were 54 films that competed in the most recent film festival held from October 31 to November 8, 2009. The short and feature films were from various countries like the United States, Canada, France, Australia, United Kingdom, and the Neatherlands. In 2009, 16 awards were given away with the movie “My Movie Girl” grabbing the most honors including best comedy and best soundtrack.

Commitment to Filmmakers

Lakedance International Film festival features one of the best acceptance to non-acceptance ratios anywhere in the world with its 1:6 ratio. This means that the film festival is committed to accepting good quality films and short features, while giving accommodations to filmmakers and their stars. Filmmakers will be happy to learn that the film festival offers an early bird rate discount of about 50% to those who pass their works early. In 2009, the early bird deadline filling was set on August 1, with late entries having a deadline of September 10.

Entry Payment

In 2009, the Lakedance film festival charged as much as $45 for a feature length film of 45-120 minutes, with the cheapest entry fee of $15 for a very short film of under 3 minutes. Short films of 3-15 minutes were charged with $25, while the intermediate films of 15-45 minutes were charged $35. Entry forms and payments are processed online through the Lakedance Film Festival’s official website.