By Andie Arthur

	A contestant in the New York City Film Race turns in her film by the midnight deadline

Lights… camera… action!

Then last year, the New York competition went to a 12 hour format. Weisman jokes, that he had “no clue what would come of that.” It ended up being a hit. While the time limit for the films was cut in half, the effect on the film racers was positive.

“People are a lot more exhausted at the end of 24 hours,” Weisman notes. Most of the film racers would have been up for 36 hours at that point. With the 12 hour format, “People’s heads are a little clearer,” he says.

	Filmmakers get in a crucial last shot before turning in their competition film in New York

The success of the 12 hour film race in New York City lead Weisman to expand this year’s competition to multiple cities. Along with Miami, there will be competitions in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Toronto. Miami is the third city on the list, as competitions have already happened in New York and Boston.

The competitions in New York and Boston were extremely successful.

“The screenings went really well. We sold out every night,” says Weisman. “People had a great time.”

Weisman says that some of the filmmakers from Boston enjoyed the experience so much that they are trying to get down to Miami to repeat the experience.

You don’t have to be an experienced filmmaker to participate. Weisman stresses that anyone with a camera and a computer can enter. Participants range from professional filmmakers to amateurs who have never held a camera. While participants range in age from young to 50 or 60 year olds, Weisman admits that the “bulk are right out of college.”

The teams have crews of anywhere from one to two people to a crew of thirty. In the larger groups, each member has a specialized role, where as in the smaller groups people take on a variety of duties. There are currently 10 teams signed up for Miami’s event.

“Everyone comes up with something unique,”  Weisman says.

This is certainly proven true by the films from the Boston and New York competitions on the Film Racing website, filmracing.com. Despite the thematic links, the films are extremely varied. The theme for the New York competition was a search. The films varied from a Brechtian silent film where the on screen filmmakers searched for an ending to a beautifully and meticulously detailed film where a woman searches for her pills.

	Film Race filmmakers do a location shoot

Though the films themselves are varied, about 75 percent of the completed films are comedies. “The format lends itself to comedy,” says Weisman.

For those who are interested in competing in the Miami Film Race, the deadline for registering is May 3. Participation is open to everyone, though each team will need to fill out talent, location, and music releases as well as a participation agreement. Winners of the competition receive prizes, including copies of the Final Draft (screenwriting software) and Toon Boom Storyboard (storyboarding software) to certificates to Writer’s Boot Camp.

If finding your own team for the Film Race seems a bit daunting at this late date, the website offers a message board where you can advertise your services for an already existing team.

And if participating in general seems too daunting, the screenings for the Miami Film Race will be held at Bill Cosford Cinema, at the University of Miami Memorial Building on May 10. Tickets are available to the public and sold at a first come basis.