TC Film Festival Gears Up For Fourth Year With Internship & Scholarship Programs, Trailers Contest

Festival Also Donates DVD Collections of Entire '07 Festival Lineup to Local Libraries

Traverse City, Mich. (April 18, 2008) - The Traverse City Film Festival is gearing up for another great year - and to kick things off, they're offering the public a number of ways to personally get involved with the festival.

Festival Founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore announced today that the organization would again offer internship opportunities for students during the 2008 festival.

"Last year, our 25 interns played a tremendous role in the success of the festival," said Moore. "We're excited to offer an opportunity again this year for college students to get hands-on experience planning and executing a film festival in exchange for academic credit."

The festival will also award three $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors who intend to major in film at college. A winner will be chosen from each of the following three schools: Traverse City Central High School, Traverse City West High School and Suttons Bay High School. Students must submit a 500-750 word essay on the topic, "What makes a great movie in America?" A panel of judges comprised of Scott Thompkins (film instructor at Suttons Bay High School), Charles Rennie (film instructor at Traverse City West High School) and Jim Filkins (film instructor at Traverse City Central High School) will select the winners.

While Moore affirmed the festival's strong commitment to students pursuing careers in film, he also emphasized there are plenty of ways for non-students to get involved. Following the success of last year's popular trailers contest, Moore announced he would again be accepting submissions for "creative and entertaining" trailers, 20-40 seconds in length, to play before feature films during the festival.

"This is a great way for budding filmmakers to get exposure and play a creative role in the festival," he said. "The trailers are always a crowd favorite."

For those who prefer simply watching a good film to making one, Moore had another special announcement: the entire 2007 film festival DVD collection will be available beginning in May at 10 different area libraries. Traverse City, Suttons Bay, Helena Township, Northport, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Beulah, Bellaire, Leland and Lake Ann are all on the list of libraries scheduled to receive donated DVD collections from the festival.

"We are excited to make our entire lineup of 2007 films available for free to the public, and are especially glad that we've been able to expand the program from 3 libraries to 10 this year," said Moore. "We know screenings sell out quickly during the festival, and that not everyone has a chance to see every film on their wish list, so this is a great way to catch up on the gems you might have missed during last year's festival."

Students interested in applying for the festival's internship program should submit a resume and cover letter to info@traversecityfilmfestival.org by May 5. Students will be notified about internship positions by May 18. Applications will be accepted throughout May.

Students from TC Central, TC West and Suttons Bay high schools interested in applying for the festival's $1,000 film scholarship should submit their essays to info@traversecityfilmfestival.org or Student TCFF Scholarships, PO Box 4064 in Traverse City, MI 49685 by May 5.

Submissions for the festival's trailers contest should meet the following criteria: 20-40 seconds in length; thematic to the film festival, Northern Michigan or movies in general; available on DVD (higher resolutions welcome if selected); and above-average production values. Entries should be submitted by email or on DVD by June 30, 2008 (TCFF Trailers, PO Box 4064, Traverse City, MI 49685 or trailers@traversecityfilmfestival.org). For a complete list of rules & regulations, please visit www.traversecityfilmfest.org.

About the Traverse City Film Festival

The Traverse City Film Festival is a charitable, educational, nonprofit organization committed to showing "Just Great Movies" and helping to save one of America's few indigenous art forms - the cinema. The festival also owns and operates a year-round, community-based, mission driven art house movie theater, the State Theatre. Founded by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore and co-founders local photographer John Robert Williams and New York Times best-selling author Doug Stanton, with filmmakers Larry Charles and Terry George rounding out the Board of Directors, the festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to northern Michigan.

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