O.W.L. Indie Short-Film Festival

In 2017, Carla Coles & Leigh Cooney, in collaboration with Meet Your Maker Gallery in Stratford Ontario, launched the OWL (Our Weird Little) 48.5 Hour Film Competition. The goal was to inspire amateur filmmakers of ALL ages and experience levels from small rural towns to big cities across Southern Ontario to create a short movie in under 48.5 hours on an almost zero budget.

To get us started in our goal we received funding from a community grant organization. This funding helped us to cover the costs of promotions, staffing, equipment, venue rental, a custom prize statuette, and a host of other necessities.

The event was such a success that we immediately started planning for the Fall of 2018! We wanted the event to remain small, but grow to include some elements of education like workshops and discussion panels with industry professionals for inexperienced filmmakers to find support in getting started. We dreamed of an expanded two or even three day film festival celebrating low budget “B” movie shorts from across Ontario, with the 48.5 Hour competition screening being the centerpiece.

In the absence of a grant, this year we are turning to good people like you for support so that we can make this festival an annual, and much anticipated community driven event. We believe this project in its expanded form has the potential to become a huge draw for creative people working or wishing to work outside the mainstream art industry.

If you are a business and would like to discuss how we can best acknowledge your sponsorship please reach out to us using the contact form and we can chat or arrange a meeting.

As of right now, the breakdown for acknowledgements is as follows:

Under $250: Name listed in the "opening credits" on the big screen on opening night before the films begin. Also our love and eternal respect. 

$250 - $500: Name listed in the "opening credits," love and eternal respect, AND your business logo or other image will be projected onto the screen before each event. The more money we raise the more events we'll host, and the more opportunities there will be for us to showcase your donation. 

$500 and upwards: Name listed in "opening credits." Love and respect. Your image on the screen before each event. AND we'll name an event after you. So "The (insert donor's name) Editing Workshop." 

We would like to acknowledge Macleod's Scottish Shop, Edison's Inn, and Matt Francis (Peak Realty) for getting the ball rolling with their donations of $250, $250, and $500 (!!!) respectively before we even put together the campaign. You were our inspiration. 

If you’d like to see last year’s submissions please search for OWL Film Project on YouTube.

Thankyou so much for your support!

Leigh Cooney and Carla Coles
OWL Events and Happenings

https://www.facebook.com/OWL-Events-and-Happenings-179743999307964/