24 hours to make a film in St. Louis County

WILDWOOD, Mo. -- Some movies take months to make, even years. Participants in a contest in the St. Louis County town of Wildwood will have 24 hours.

It's part of a trend known as "film racing," and according to the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, it's coming to Wildwood this fall.

Film racing is a competition giving filmmakers just a day to complete their project. The Wildwood competition is part of the city's first Art Festival set for October 2014. But the competition begins Sept. 20 of this year. The art festival will have a film component so organizers decided to hold a film racing event, said Joe Vujnich, director of planning and parks for the city of Wildwood.

"The competition strives to provide exciting and rewarding competitions for the filmmakers, while recognizing their efforts with prizes and exposure necessary to take the next big step in the industry," Vujnich said.

Participants 18 and older must complete a four-minute film and submit it to a team of judges by Sept. 21.

Judges will spend about three weeks reviewing the entries and will select a top 10 that will be aired at the B&B Theatre in Wildwood. After that, the top five selected by judges and a people's choice award-winner will receive cash prizes. A public viewing of the winners' movies is planned for Oct. 12.

The concept of film racing began as a competition called NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness in 2002, Vujnich said. In the decade since, the concept has expanded to 20 cities nationwide, and more than 2,000 films have been created as part of those competitions.

City Council member Tammy Shea believes there is a lot of interest in short films.

"Better technology will make it a lot easier for many people to participate," she said.

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Information from: Suburban Journals, http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/