Okay first, we define a returning member in this case as someone who has been an official member of MDFC for at least 1 semester and who has in the past participated on a short film crew or cast, worked on a production, or otherwise gotten their name out there as an active member. You do not have to have been a director, just active in some way or another. You know who you are, and if you think this applies to you, we probably agree :)
So, if you have an idea you want to pitch, here's the process: Simple email us and we'll schedule you a 15 minute block to meet with some combination of officers. That's all there is to it, but pay attention: there's a DEADLINE for pitches, which is Feb. 5th, the second meeting of the semester. Also, you MUST fill out a proposal sheet and bring it with you to our meeting. You can pitch your proposal as normal to us, using the sheet as a guide, and then we'll ask you some extra questions to make sure you're covering your bases and you're truly committed to the film.
One big thing we will ask during the meeting is if you have a cast or crew in mind - yes, an advantage of this process is that you can work with whoever you want if you choose. If you have some people you want to ask, go for it. Whatever crew spots you don't have filled by our pitch, we can ask for among the rest of our members. Jim will assign you those positions as normal. As for cast members you still need, you will get a spot in our casting call in Feb. So please, spend some time thinking of who you might like to work with; if you don't have anyone in mind, that's totally fine, it's up to you.
If we get too many pitches we will have to limit the number we accept, and in that case we will pick the ones we feel are most likely to succeed and are not too overly ambitious. Finally, keep in mind that this semester we will be more heavily enforcing a shorter time limit for your films. We aim for 5-10 minutes; if it goes over a little it's fine but we cannot have 20-25 minutes films. We simply don't have the time at the festival, and you don't really have the time during the semester.
Have a great first week of classes and we hope to see everyone next Tuesday!

mdfc_film_proposal_form.pdf |