Amateurs and professionals alike have 26 days to create entry to local Halloween Film Contest

A screenshot from last year’s grand prize winner, ‘RANGER’. | Titus Carson IDAHO FALLS – People at any skill level have the chance to create a short film and show it to the community if they enter a local film and photography studio’s upcoming contest. The participation window for the 2025 Halloween Short Film Contest, held by Film Garage 208, officially opened on Saturday. As of Thursday, people who would like to submit an entry have 26 days to plan, shoot and edit their short films before the due date, on Oct. 20 by midnight. This is the third year of the local studio’s competition, and one of its co-owners emphasized that participants don’t have to shoot their entry with professional camera gear. Rather, they should come up with an idea that’s inventive, and fully commit to it. “(The competition is) about coming up with a good plot and doing your best to bring that to life. And that’s kind of what the whole fun in it is,” said Daniel Guthmiller, who co-owns Film Garage 208 with his wife, Sarah Guthmiller. At the end of the competition, there will be a screening of the top 10 entries at Center Stage Theatre from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 22. The award winners will be announced the next day. There are three categories with different financial awards this year, which are Pro for $1,000, Amateur for $250 and Best Makeup for $100. When people are ready to submit their short film, they need to post it on Youtube with the title format, “Name of Film – Film Garage 208 Halloween Contest 2025” and then send an email to “contact@filmgarage208.com” with their name, phone number and a link to their video. ‘The Silence,’ an example short film for this year by Film Garage 208. | Film Garage 208 This year, all entries must include dialogue between at least two people, and it must include a running scene. The studio’s website adds, “Don’t hurt yourself trying to run hard, a jog works!” Originally, Guthmiller got the idea for the competition when he saw someone else hold a similar Halloween film contest in Los Angeles, California. “They kind of did it on a big scale, (with) big budget productions. And here in Idaho Falls, I thought it would be fun if we had a way to offer that to people here, but at a smaller scale, things that were actually feasible for people to try to film and do,” Guthmiller said. While the first year saw 27 short films entered, last year’s competition only had 11 entries participate. Guthmiller shared with EastIdahoNews.com why he thought the competition’s entries declined in its second year. “That first year we had so many entries, which was great, but then I think that discouraged people from entering the second year, because they felt like they didn’t have maybe as much of an opportunity since so many people entered,” Guthmiller said. ‘RANGER,’ by Titus Carson, last year’s winner of the Grand Prize and the Viewing Party Crowd Favorite. | Titus Carson Because of this, Guthmiller feels confident that entries will increase again. After last year’s screening, he had people approach him to express regret for not making an entry. “I can’t even tell you how many people came up to us and said, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t enter this year. Like, I thought there was going to be all these amazing people with fancy camera gear. So like, why should I have entered?’” Guthmiller recounted. Guthmiller emphasized that when judging entries, unique and engaging story telling is the most important consideration. “You could win filming with an iPhone, and we say that every year, and we have doubters, but some of the best videos and entries have been the ones that have the best plot twists,” Guthmiller said. He added that another key ingredient for good storytelling is finding actors that are willing to commit to and engage with the story being told, and for the filmmaker to be able to direct that kind of performance. “(In) any of the entries, the best ones have committed acting. So any storyline or any idea will just not really hit the mark … if the acting is not the best,” Guthmiller said. “Take your time and really think about the acting part of it, because it’s something that kind of requires coaching.” Even if an entry is filmed with expensive camera gear, Guthmiller said that it would still be a bad entry if it didn’t put effort into its story. “That’s where it’s fun for people, because it hopefully would force them to sit down with their friends and really get creative and make something that people don’t expect. It’s more than just having a nice camera,” Guthmiller said.The post Amateurs and professionals alike have 26 days to create entry to local Halloween Film Contest appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com