The company said filmmakers are encouraged to submit their homemade cult, horror or exploitation movies to TLA’s corporate office where four members of TLA’s web content department will screen the films in order to find the best and most unusual short films out there. Then they will choose 20 finalists whose work will appear using the site’s streaming video service for devoted genre fans to screen and vote for their favorites.
“We’re looking for the weird, the wacky, the cheesy, the terrifying, the fiercely original," said Dan Reed, managing editor of TLACult.com.
"We love genre movies here at TLA and we love seeing work whose creativity shines through despite the budgetary restrictions that short filmmakers have to face. If it’s trashy, we want it for our contest. If it’s bloody, we want it for our contest. If it’s totally off-the-wall weird we want it for our contest,”
To submit a film, interested parties can visit TLACult.com to print a copy of the submission form which should be enclosed along with a DVD copy.
Submissions should be under 20 minutes in length and not currently available on any commercial DVDs or pay-per-view sites.
All submissions are due in by Nov. 1. and will not be returned to the filmmakers. The 20 finalists will be notified at least 24 hours prior to the contest’s official launch on Dec. 1.
The company said TLACult.com customers will be encouraged to vote for their favorite selections before Jan. 1, 2011, when the prize winners will be announced.
"We are very excited to launch this contest," Reed said.
"There are thousands of filmmakers out there making unique and crazy genre movies every year that, for whatever reason, only a very limited selection of people get to see, and even more cult movie fans hungry to watch them. With this contest, the filmmakers get exposure for their work they wouldn’t get otherwise and the fans get access to some truly unique movies."
