Announcing the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival

I'm excited to announce that the 2011 edition of the SCSC's Los Angeles 3-D Movie Festival will take place at the Downtown Independent Theater in May. This will mark the eighth time that the LA 3-D Club has presented an international competition of independent 3-D films, in what has now become an annual event.

A little history - Back in March, 1997, the club held its "First Ever 3-D Movie Competition" followed in June, 1998 by the "2nd Ever". The following year saw the "3rd Ever" in August of 1999, and then the club took a break from the movie competitions for a few years. While these competitions all took place several years before I attended my first SCSC meeting, I have had the pleasure of viewing many of the entries from those events on the SCSC DVD, where they are presented in field-sequential 3-D (It would be great to someday soon get new HD transfers of these films).

I first participated in the "4th Ever" competition, held in May, 2005, with the first 3-D video that I ever made, a piece called "Shooting Star" that was shot using a NuView lens attachment. The event was held at the Longley Way School in Arcadia, California, which served as the meeting place for the SCSC Movie Division. By the time of the "5th Ever" in May, 2007, I had begun doing digital projection for the Movie Division meetings, and the competition saw a great selection of digitally produced videos, including Ray Zone's "Slow Glass" and Tom Koester's "Towers of Simon Rodia".

2007 also saw the introduction of the much coveted Ro-Man Award trophies, which are presented to the winning filmmakers. Over the years, the panel of judges who bestow these awards has included such luminaries as Lenny Lipton, Phil McNally, Chris Condon, Dan Symmes, Bob Burns, John Rupkalvis, and Thomas Jane, to name just a few.

The "6th Ever" competition was held at the Longley Way School in May, 2009, and featured an international selection of entries from around the world, including movies from Japan, Germany, France, Colombia, and The Netherlands. It also saw the premiere of Sean Isroelit and Jeff Amaral's award winning short film "The Caretaker" starring Dick Van Dyke.

By the time of the "6th Ever", we had started taking our show on the road to present at film festivals. Selections from LA 3-D Club move competitions were presented at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, and at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival's 3-D Indie Film Expo. Shortly after our event, in August, 2009, we were invited to present a screening of 3-D movies at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, and we were introduced to Jim Kirst and the Downtown Independent Theater, which quickly became the new home of the Movie Division.

By the end of 2009, we had equipped the theater with a pair of dual polarized projectors and a silver screen courtesy of USC, and were planning to begin our monthly curated 3-D nights. The rapid growth of independent 3-D production, and our partnership with such a great new venue made it the right time to rename our competition and make it an annual event. The 7th Annual Los Angeles 3-D Movie Festival was presented on May 15th, 2010 to a record turnout, and featured two blocks of independent 3-D films in competition and a special screening of the feature film "Dark Country", complete with a Q&A with director/actor Thomas Jane and actor Ron Perlman. The festival was a resounding success, and proved to be both a great time and a positive fund-raiser for the club.

Which brings us to the present, and the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Fest. The call for entries is now open, and the festival is scheduled to be held over two days, May 14-15, 2011. I invite everyone who is shooting 3-D films to submit their work, and I encourage members of the club to volunteer to help make this year's festival the best one yet! Details are available online at both www.LA3DClub.com and www.LA3DFest.com

Special thanks to John Hart, SCSC Movie Chairman Emeritus and Lifetime SCSC Member for his assistance with the history of the movie competitions.