Celebrating and empowering voices and stories too often marginalized by mainstream media.
New York, NY – JUNE 7, 2024 – The Film Lab announced the theme of the most electrifying and boundary-breaking filmmaking competition of the year – the 72 Hour Shootout (“Shootout”) – at a live launch party hosted by Idealist in New York City on June 6th.
This annual extravaganza celebrates diversity, empowers underrepresented voices – focusing on Asian Americans – and challenges the status quo in the entertainment industry. The party featured giveaways, speeches, red carpet photos, and custom Lunar Seltzer “Dan Dan” cocktails. Filmmakers gathered live and virtually gathered live and virtually to use film as a tool to empower underrepresented voices, stories and creativity on a global stage.
In the Shootout, filmmakers have 72 hours within which to create films based on a common theme. The announcement of the theme, “Practical Dreamer,” made by Idealist CEO Ami Dar, started the clock ticking. Filmmakers must also incorporate a symbol consisting of a yellow circle within a blue circle within a green circle. Dar commented, “Idealist is rooted and guided by practical dreaming and we are so excited to see how these talented filmmakers express this beautiful concept in their own creative ways.”
Actor and Film Lab President Jennifer Betit Yen spoke to the filmmakers about using film to “[g]ive power, to share power with those not born to it.”
Jennifer Betit Yen, President
In July/August, the top 10 Shootout films will premiere at the Asian American International Film Festival. The top 50 films will be featured in Film Lab’s highly acclaimed TV series, Film Lab Presents, which will air in the fall of 2024 on CrossingsTV. The top 100 films will show on YouTube.com/AsAmFilmLab.
Shootout Judges include Marci Phillips (VP, ABC Primetime Casting), Sundance’s Jandiz Estrada Cardoso, Antony Wong (Program Coordinator, Asian American / Asian Research Institute of The City University of New York), Daniel Sakaya (CrossingsTV), and more. Lunar Seltzer, Idealist, the New York State Council for the Arts, the New York City Cultural Development Fund, Asian CineVision, New York Women in Film and Television (“NYWIFT”), The Cre8sian Project, ScriptHop, Jersey Kool, and Batsu are among the sponsors of this year’s competition.
About the Film Lab
The Film Lab is a non-profit 501(c)(3) headquartered in New York City that has been dedicated to the promotion and support of gender and ethnic diversity in media since 1998. The Film Lab accomplishes that goal in three ways: (1) education; (2) outreach and support; and (3) film, television and online entertainment production.
@AsAmFilmLab