Hey folks, Harry here... Fantastic Fest is doing something rocking fun this year for it's bumpers. We're letting filmmaking kids make them! Sure, we could get past luminaries of FANTASTIC FEST to make something, but we wanted to unleash the wide-eyed minds of tomorrows future filmmaking freaks - and let them go a little crazy. So here's the details - and we all look forward to what you guys have in mind!!!

"REEL HEROES:" THE FANTASTIC FEST TRAILER COMPETITION

(Austin, Texas) Fantastic Fest has partnered with AMD and the Austin School of Film (www.austinfilmschool.org) to present "Reel Heroes: the Fantastic Fest Trailer Competition." Youth filmmaking teams will embark on a mission to conceive, write, make the costumes, film and edit a short film featuring an original concept superhero. The film must explain the powers of the superhero and conclude with the aforementioned character turning to camera and saying "(Name of superhero) welcomes you to Fantastic Fest."

"Until this event, the Alamo's "Filmmaking Frenzy" competitions have been targeting adult amateur and professional filmmakers," says festival director Tim League. "We are excited to be working with AMD/Dell and the Austin School of Film to extend the reach of our events to emerging filmmakers. Who knows, events like this may inspire the next Richard Linklater or Robert Rodriquez."
The competition is open to youths ages 16 and under. Films may be live action or animation. Teams may have adult supervision, but the intent is for kids to conceive and execute the films on their own. Films must be between 25 seconds and 45 seconds long. Completed films must be received by September 7. Selected films will be played before movies during the 2007 Fantastic Fest. Winning teams will be invited to the 2007 Fantastic Fest Awards Ceremony to be held at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar on September 27. Prizes include video editing hardware courtesy of AMD/Dell. Visit www.fantasticfest.com for more details.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Fantastic Fest is an eight-day festival of the best new sci-fi, horror, fantasy and genre films, as well as choice classic and obscure cult titles from all over the world. The festival director is Tim League (Alamo Drafthouse Cinema). Programmers include Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News), Kier-la Janisse (Big Smash, Cinemuerte), Matt Dentler (SXSW), Todd Brown (Twitchfilm.net) and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra and Tim McCanlies (screenwriter, Iron Giant). The 2006 festival premiered over 60 features and 30 shorts. Fantastic Fest is co-sponsored by Ain't It Cool News and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar in Austin, Texas. Dates for the 2007 Fantastic Fest are September 20-27, 2007. Additional information can be found at www.fantasticfest.com