reported by Emily Burke, CyberScreenwriter.com

Through a partnership with Argot Pictures and Brightcove, Real Girls Media has launched an independent film channel on DivineCaroline.com, the place where women come together to express themselves, find answers and share life through storytelling. Launching with the Oscar winning title My Country My Country, powerful documentaries and ideological films like On the Downlow, The Business of Being Born and The War Tapes all build on women’s passions for thought provoking independent films.

Divine Lens is an online film series dedicated to promoting the work of female documentary filmmakers. Divine Lens will feature films along with director’s interviews, excerpts and trailers. Through Divine Lens, users can contribute their thoughts on each film and engage with their peers about topics they find significant.

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reported by Samuel Grigsby, CyberScreenwriter.com

HandHeld Entertainment and Ckrush Entertainment invite actors of all levels to embrace their inner dork for a chance at a breakout role in the upcoming feature film "LiveMansion: The Movie."

LiveMansion: The Movie will have a role called "Dork." Anyone who wants to play the role of "Dork" in the movie can create a video audition acting as the role of "Dork" and submit the video (two minutes in length or shorter) to www.dorks.com/charactercontest.php for a chance to act in the film.

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reported by Samuel Grigsby, CyberScreenwriter.com

Today, the landscape of independent filmmaking changed when Four Eyed Monsters (http://www.foureyedmonsters.com/) became the first ever full length feature film to be featured on YouTube. And Spout (http://www.spout.com/), a gathering place for movie- lovers spreading word about great films, was right there to support this ground breaking initiative. With exclusive advertising and a financial commitment to Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, creators of Four Eyed Monsters, Spout is helping Susan and Arin make their next movie.

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reported by David Hillsboro, CyberScreenwriter.com

PG-13 films have lots of "happy violence," say UCLA researchers. Borrowing from the late communications theorist George Gerbner, happy violence is that which is "cool, swift and painless." PG-13 films don't consider the consequences of violent acts, such as injury, death and the shattered lives of the people involved.

And why this matters is simple, says Theresa Webb, a researcher with the department of epidemiology and the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center at UCLA's School of Public Health: Youth violence is a commonplace occurrence in American society. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds. And media depictions of violence help teach such acts to children, leading to three effects — increased aggression, fear for their own safety, and a desensitization to the pain and suffering of others.

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reported by Samuel Grigsby, CyberScreenwriter.com

Vista film director, Randall Blaum, returned from a 30-day, 80-mile expedition to Mount Everest as he began filming on his new movie, "Meet Me at the Top," which takes a hard look at why there have been no cures for any disease in over 50 years and why people are now being given more drugs than ever.

Randall traveled over 24 hours from Los Angeles to Kathmandu, and then trekked 40 miles on foot to reach the Everest base camp going from sea level to over 17,000 feet in the process. The trek to base camp took two weeks because he and the climbing team had to acclimatize to base camp’s 17,500 feet, where there is little oxygen.

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reported by Betty Paulsino, CyberScreenwriter.com

On Saturday, July 7th, hundreds of Toronto filmmakers will compete to create an original short film in just 12 hours, from noon to midnight. They will be taking part in the first Toronto Film Race, part of the nationwide Film Racing Tour, which will visit more than 10 cities in 2007.

At exactly 11:59AM on July 7th, filmmakers will be assigned a theme for their film. Past examples of themes include revenge, bad advice and spare change. The teams must write, shoot and edit an original short film, no longer than 4 minutes and submit their films 12 hours later by the midnight deadline. All completed films will premiere for the public a few days later at a local theater. The top films from the Toronto Film Race will compete for thousands in cash and prizes, against top films from each of the cities on the 2007 Film Racing Tour.

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reported by Nicholas Scott, CyberScreenwriter.com

Rain Bird Corporation, a leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services, is giving all filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their talents while bringing about a greater knowledge and awareness of the need for water conservation in the face of a water crisis of global proportions. The Intelligent Use of Water Film Competition seeks short films (1-20 minutes in actual or excerpted run time) that focus on the topic of water conservation. Narrative, documentary, animated, experimental and/or student-made productions should explore approaches and ideas to intelligently manage and efficiently utilize the Earth's most precious resource.

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reported by Jason Gallagher, CyberScreenwriter.com

Award-winning television and film producer Albert Fisher launched on AOL's UnCut Video (http://uncutvideo.aol.com) a worldwide initiative called "A Minute of World Peace" to encourage the creation and online submission of one-minute videos to promote world peace.

"Never has the time been more appropriate or the technology more readily available for individuals to express themselves creatively on this universal issue than right now," explains Fisher. "This is a unique opportunity for people of all ages to create 60-second films to share their individual feelings about the global quest for world peace."

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reported by Brian Scott, CyberScreenwriter.com

Two student filmmakers from San Diego State University shot their first feature documentary, "Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey," with a budget of $200. The 75-minute movie about a young boy involved in medieval recreations who makes a connection with his long-absent father will premiere Father's Day on HBO Family.

Student filmmakers Lowell Frank and Destin Daniel Cretton sold their $200 documentary to HBO, which will premiere as a father's day special on June 17, 2007 on HBO Family.

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reported by Tim Garrison, CyberScreenwriter.com

Bryan Ferre, creative director and producer of The Prodigy, Opportunity Knocks collaborated with Collins College to recruit the reality show’s field camera crew. The Prodigy hired 17 Collins College film graduates to follow contestants in 57 cities throughout the country. Ferre is an alumnus of Collins College.

The stage for The Prodigy is a real business with a real company where candidates are paid to work. All contestants have been trained to canvas the market and sell advanced technologies. Contestants are grouped into teams that compete with each other during the work day. Teams also share living arrangements. Film crews will follow individuals for four months, filming them day and night.

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reported by Samuel Grigsby, CyberScreenwriter.com

Trever James, a Los Angeles Film School graduate, has been selected as one of the 15 finalists on FOX’s nationally-televised reality show, "On the Lot."

James, who graduated with honors from The Los Angeles Film School in 2005, has survived three rounds of cuts since the show premiered.

After beating out a group of more than 12,000 applicants, James was one of 50 contestants that appeared in the show’s first episode. He then moved into the next round, where he completed a short film with two other contestants in less than one day.

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