Digital Media World | Film Festival Picks a Winner with Media Shuttle

Filmmakers entering projects in the Digi60 2012 Digital Filmmakers Festival in Ottawa, opening on 7 December, are using Media Shuttle file transfer software to submit versions of their work for judging and screening. The competition highlights the work of local filmmakers, screenwriters and production partners who must create short films with a specific theme under tight time constraints.

After this year’s theme, or ‘catch’, was revealed at Digi60’s ‘Catch Event’ in September, the race was on as invited filmmakers and the Festival’s Ottawa-based production sponsors had just 60 days to create and submit their finished films for judging. This year’s catch in the Scripted competition category requires that short films centre on a reunion and include a rhyming couplet at either the beginning or end. Films can be up to eight minutes long with one additional minute allowed for credits. The judging form totals 60 points, with a bonus point added to the judging total if the film both begins and ends with a rhyming couplet.

“For previous festivals, we relied on free file sharing sites for digital film submissions. With finished file sizes exceeding 2Gb, filmmakers often experienced long upload times – up to three hours – and if transfers were interrupted for any reason, time was lost and they had to start all over again,” said Festival President Kevin Burton. “With 60 days to make their films, every minute counts.” In addition to submission of lower resolution judging versions of entries, Media Shuttle will be used to submit the final ProRes digital film versions for screening, instead of relying on couriers or in-person deliveries.

Signiant Media Shuttle is designed as an alternative to FTP by achieving substantially faster transfer speeds over existing networks. Media Shuttle also has no file size constraints or associated security risks of storing media in the cloud. While users access Media Shuttle through a cloud-based interface, the assets themselves remain stored on the user’s computer or network. Onboard Checkpoint Restart fuctions assure file delivery by automatically restarting transfers if they become interrupted for any reason.

The Digi60 2012 Festival entries will be screened 7 to 8 December 2012 at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts in Ottawa.