Want to know what’s going on at the Cage? The following are some additional information about the Cage.
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that this will be the last semester that I will be with the Department of Radio-TV-Film as the director of the Cage. Due to budget cuts, the Cage Director position has been eliminated and the Cage duties will be handled by a student worker in the main office, effective Fall 2012. I started working for RTF in the spring semester of 2006 and began working in the Cage in the fall of 2007 and have been running it ever since. While this is sad, it is only the beginning. I am taking this as a sign from the universe to try something new. I will be moving to San Francisco in August. Wish me luck.
In the coming semesters the Production Resource Center will go through some changes but still be able to provide you with the same opportunities and support it always has.
It has been a treat working with and for you all for the last several years. Thank you for the opportunity. I’ll be around all summer to help with the transition. If you would like to get a hold of me, please email me.
Warm Regards,
~Sarah Gonzalez
Cage Director
The winners of the spring 2012 Film Festival Fund are Gaia Bonsignore, Sarah Deuel, Stefan Gill, Jordan Kerfeld, Catherine Licata, Andrea Tuttrup, Shawn TJOA, Nina Vizcarrondo and Kelly Williams, each receiving $100 to help with the cost of submitting to film festivals.
Past winners include Logan A. Caraballo, Timothy Edwards, Ryan Hanlan, Jing Yang, Annie Silverstein (two semester winner), Jou-Chia Huang, Drew Xanthopoulos (two semester winner), Jesse Klein, Micah Barber, Hammad Rizvi, Teddy Outerbridge, Roseann Garcia, Elizabeth Chatelain (two semester winner), Michael David, Gaia Bonsignore (now two semester winner), Jeff Drigger, Patrick Simmons, Karinne Berstis! Amy Bench, Alex Thomas (two semester winner), Jeehjun Dong, and Jessie Dorfman Matty Greene, Kevin Rowe, and Sharon Arteaga. All of these students have gone on to submit their projects into film festivals and many have screened their film in festivals such as the SXSW Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, SoCal Film Festival, Hill Country Film Festival, Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, Texas Black Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival and many many others. Some students went on to win awards such as The LA Film Festival Best Comedy Short (Producer Roseann Garcia), SXSW Film Festival Jury Award for Best Texas Shorts (RTF MFA Annie Silverstein), the Indie Grits Film Festival and Winner of Best Documentary at the Light Factory Filmmakers Showcase, (winner RTF MFA student Drew Xanthopoulos). These accomplishments were made possible in part by funds that the Production Resource Center was able to provide.
There are a few changes this semester so please read the Film Festival Fund application carefully. First, I have eliminated the section where faculty signatures are required. The second and more important change is that the deadline is in one week and I will not be accepting late applications this year due to time.
This fall 2011 Film Festival Fund will be available for screenwriters who intend on submitting scripts to competitions and festivals.
The Film Festival Fund for the fall 2011 winners are Logan A. Caraballo, Timothy Edwards, Ryan Hanlan, Jing Yang, Annie Silverstein, Jou-Chia Huang, Drew Xanthopoulos, Jesse Klein, and Micah Barber. Congratulations to you all. This award was made possible by the Comm Council’s fall 2011 Allocation Award.
The Production Resource Center is moving its office! Instead of being on the second floor of the CMB building (CMB 2.107) it will be moving to the fifth floor of the CMA building (CMA 5.132).
The winners of the spring 2011 Film Festival Fund are Hammad Rizvi, Teddy Outerbridge, Roseann Garcia, Elizabeth Chatelain, Michael David, Gaia Bonsignore, and Annie Silverstein, each receiving $140 for the use of film festival fees. Congratulations to you all!
The winners of the fall 2011 semester’s Film Festival Fund is Jeff Drigger, Patrick Simmons, Elizabeth Chatelin and Karinne Berstis! Congratulations to you all!
Winners of the spring 2010 Film Festival Fund are Amy Bench, Alex Thomas, Drew Xanthopoulos, Jeehjun Dong, and Jessie Dorfman! Congratulations to our winners and to all the applicants!
The Cage has been chosen to receive $100 from Communication Council’s spring 2010 Allocation Award for the support of the Film Festival Fund! Thanks UT Comm Council!
The Cage was awarded $500 from the College of Communication CCS Career Program Partnership Fund! This award will be used for the First Time Film Festival Fund, giving students money for film festival entry fees. The Winners of FFFF are Matty Greene, Kevin Rowe, Sharon Arteaga and Alexandra Thomas, each receiving $125 for the use of film festival fees. Congratulations to you all!!!
The Cage has been chosen to receive $500 from Communication Council’s fall 2009 allocation award so that we can make T-Shirts (which are now available for only $15)! Thanks UT Comm Council!
The Film Festival Fund application opens April 1st (no foolin’) ! Deadline is April 22nd.
The Cage, The Student Production Resource Center, was awarded $100 from the College of Communication’s Comm Council’s Allocations Fund, March 2010. This money has been issued for the support of Film Festival Fund.
The Student Production Resource Center, The Cage, and UT College of Communication’s Comm Council have worked together to help film students expand their careers. Film Festival Fund is a small fund that will be given to students each semester in order to be used on film festival entry fees. Film festival entry fees can vary from $10-$100. These costs can stack up quickly and become daunting. Film festival participation is very important for film students because it helps establish an identity within the community, allows room for networking, helps create a realistic portrait of the kind of films that are being made and how the industry reacts to these films, and helps give prestige to the film students, the Department of Radio-Television-Film, and the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin.
With the Film Festival Fund, The Cage, Student Production Resource Center, and the Communication Council hope to help apprehensive and preoccupied filmmakers get their work out in the world. The Film Festival Fund is important because film festival participation is directly related to a filmmaker’s career exploration and development. If a filmmaker does not get his/her work seen, then there is no way he/she will ever be successful.
This award is specifically to encourage film festival participation. 5 students will receive $50 to assist with festival entry fees. Exact funds will vary from semester to semester.
AVAILABILITY:
Funds are anticipated to be available each spring and fall semester.
Application Deadline for Spring Semester 2010: April 22th, 2010
Awards Announced: May 5rd, 2010
GENERAL INFORMATION AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
1. You must be a currently enrolled as Radio-Television-Film student of the University of Texas at Austin or have been an enrolled student fall of 2009. This award is open to both Undergraduates and Graduate students.
2. You must have directed or produced a short for a Radio-Television-Film class in the last year or be currently in production (productions completed by May 2008). Narratives, documentaries, animations, and experimental films are all welcomed. You will need a faculty signature for a completed application.
3. You must submit a complete application (please see below).
CONDITIONS OF FUNDING:
No later than six weeks after the award has been given, the student must submit a copy (or copies) of the film festival application that the award is being used for. If this is not received, the student will not be able to apply for this award or any other award sponsored by the Student Production Resource Center.
The award amounts are conditional from semester to semester. If there are not enough applicants to fill all the awards slots then the Cage will spread the designated funds between the applicants.
JUDGING:
There will be five judges including the Cage Director and President plus three others who will not be publicly announced until after the awards have been given.
Applicants will be judged based on a simple judging rubric made up of the applicant’s completed application, spelling and grammatical errors, composition and writing skills, and overall film festival understanding and need.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
All requests for awards must contain the following information:
➢ Completed Application form: the 2 page application, pages 3 and 4 of this document.
➢ Up-to-date film resume: If you need help, please refer to the College of Communication Career Services Center’s resumes guide on their website, http://communication.utexas.edu/ccs/resumewriting.html
➢ Personal Statement: A one-page statement on why you think you deserves this award. What do you want to do as a filmmaker?
➢ Festival Strategy: A one-page description of your plan for your film including a more in-depth list of possible film festival and screening venues. This should also include what you hope to accomplish with your film.
➢ A Copy of the film on DVD is optional.
Completed applications should be turned in at the RTF office, CMA 6.118, to the Cage mailbox (or designated box), no later than 4:00PM on the deadline date. Please have all material in a folder or envelope. Make sure your name is clearly written on all pages.
Please e-mail cage@austin.utexas.edu for any additional questions.
Good Luck to all of you.
Winners will be announced on Twitter on May 4st, 2010 and will be announced through the Department of Radio-Television-Film and through e-mail May 5. Please follow The Cage on Twitter www.twitter.com/TheRTFCage
The Cage has been chosen to receive $100 from Communication Council’s spring 2010 Allocation Award for the support of the Film Festival Fund! Thanks UT Comm Council!
NEW LOCKER POLICY!
Beginning January 2010 all graduate Teaching Assistants will be required to pay for their use of lockers. The fee for one locker will be $10 a semester. There will be no exceptions. Also beginning 2010 the Cage will be allowed to bill your locker dues to your What I Owe page.
The Cage was featured in the Radio-Television-Film’s Communique spring 2010 (Page 19 or PDF page 10)
MOVIE MONEY
The Cage Funds Small Award For First-Time Fest entries
The First Time Film Festival Fund is a small award created by Sarah Gonzalez, director of the Student Production Resource Center (more affectionately known as The Cage). The purpose of the award is to give money for festival entries to students who have never participated in a festival. The fees can range from $0 to more than $100. The four winners were undergraduate students Matty Greene and Kevin Rowe, MFA graduate student Alexandra Thomas, and Spring 2009 graduate Sharon Arteaga. After a competitive process, the Cage received $500 from the College of Communication Career Services Office specifically for the First-Time Film Festival Fund. The $500 was split between the four applicants, with each receiving $125. “It’s great to have the support of the RTF department,” says Greene. “The grant will help support not only me and my film but everyone who worked on it.” Film festival participation helps establish an identity within the community, allows room for networking, and helps create a realistic portrait of the kind of films that are being made and how the industry reacts to these films. It also gives prestige to students, the Department of Radio-Television-Film, and the University of Texas at Austin. “The department gives me a lot of support,” says Gonzalez. “I’m grateful that they supported this award creation.” Gonzalez established a judging rubric with a point system and gathered a group of judges to ensure objectivity. The judges included Cage President Ashley Carter, Treasurer Alyssa Varsos, Hector Gonzales from RTF Equipment Check-out, Josh Kinney from the College of communication Digital Media Labs, and Gonzalez. Gonzalez says she hopes to receive more money and more applicants in the future once the word about the awards gets around.
The Cage is a non-profit student organization that gets limited financial support, with most of its revenue coming from locker rentals. It helps students with their pre- and post-production needs, and Gonzalez works closely with students to get what they need to make their films, such as actors, crew members, locations, funding, etc. She also keeps students updated on local events and screenings, jobs, grants, and festivals. “Sarah’s creativity and energy have been a boon to the Cage and to RTF students,” says Michelle Monk, RTF Department Administrator. “We are fortunate to have her with us.” For more information about the Cage please
visit http://rtfcage.com.
The Winners of First time Film Fest Fund are Matty Greene, Kevin Rowe, Sharon Arteaga and Alexandra Thomas, each receiving $125 for the use of film festival fees. Congratulations to you all!!!
The Cage was awarded $500 from the College of Communication CCS Career Program Partnership Fund! This award will be used for the First Time Film Festival Fund, giving students money for film festival entry fees.
The Cage has been chosen to receive $500 from Communication Council’s fall 2009 allocation award so that we can make T-Shirts! Thanks UT Comm Council!
