Bay Street News :: January 2011

Hello and Happy New Year to all!

We hope that everyone has had an enjoyable holiday and that 2011 finds you healthy and well. We are back and preparing for the 7th annual Bay Street Film Festival, anticipating another successful year! The Finlandia has been booked, we are on our way. Only nine more months until the festival!

We are now officially open to submissions! We are only accepting submissions through www.withoutabox.com. It is even possible to submit an online screener to avoid sending a DVD, postage etc. If you are a local filmmaker who would like to submit to the festival, we still require that you submit all information through the online database so that we can avoid the last minute crunch that seems to arrive too quickly every year. Here is the direct link to submit your latest works through withoutabox to BSFF: https://www.withoutabox.com/login/4279 . Also remember, the sooner that you submit your film, the lower the submission rate. We look forward to receiving your films! We are happy to waive the submission fees for local filmmakers only. We remind all filmmakers that, as always, we are happy to pay screening fees to those films selected to be part of the festival program as per rates determined by CARFAC. Here is their website: http://www.carfacontario.ca/

Also for 2011, we are looking to bring back the traveling Bay Street Film Festival! In the past, we have organized a selection of films that were submitted and accepted to screen during past festivals which would be screened again in local and regional venues, such as libraries and community centres. The purpose of this is to allow the community another chance to view past festival favourites, and for those who live outside Thunder Bay the opportunity to see some of the best films to have been submitted to the festival. Here's how it works: The festival community puts together a package of films for an approximate total of 3 hours runtime. This package would be sent on loan to a community to screen, open to the public free of charge. If you are interested in being a liaison person, or know of anyone who would be interested in Northwestern Ontario, please contact us. There is no cost involved, providing there is a venue that is interested in supporting and hosting the screening events.

Sponsorship: If anyone is interested in sponsoring the Bay Street Film Festival, we are looking for sponsors and financial supporters for the 2011 festival. The festival is a great avenue for connecting the local arts community here with the international community. We will be releasing our sponsorship package once it becomes finalized.

For anyone wanting to revisit the 2010 festival or any past festivals, festival programs are still available for download on the festival website: www.baystreetfilmfestival.ca.

Any community members interested in joining Thunder Bay's local film and video network, a FlashFrame meeting will be held on January 19th upstairs in the Finlandia Hall at 7:30 pm. Come on over and see what is currently happening in the Thunder Bay film and media community. We are always open to new members, and memberships are only 20 bucks, 10 for students! FlashFrame provides a great platform to meet and connect with other people in Thunder Bay who are up to the same thing: filmmaking and other media production... or even just interested in it!

Inquiries regarding the Bay Street Festival can be forwarded to: baystreetfilmfestival@gmail.com