PBS's Independent Lens Announces the Winner of the Independent Lens Filmocracy Mashup Contest: Kylee Darcy's Corn King Takes Over the World
San Francisco (June 23, 2008)—ITVS Interactive (Independent Television Service) and PBS’s Emmy® Award–winning weekly series Independent Lens announce Kylee Darcy of Fairfax, Calif., as the grand prize winner of the inaugural PBS Independent LensFilmocracy online video mashup contest. Darcy, whose entry was chosen by the KING CORN filmmakers, will receive a $1,000 cash prize, and her short will be screened nationwide as part of Independent Lens’s Community Cinema this fall. She also will receive a KING CORN DVD, its soundtrack and more.
The PBS Independent Lens presentation of KING CORN, a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation, provided the backdrop for the first Filmocracy Mashup Contest. Directed by Aaron Woolf, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, KING CORN premiered on Independent Lens on April 15, 2008. Running March through May, the Filmocracy Mashup Contest asked competitors to make a statement about the politics of food in America using KING CORN clips and footage from Getty Images. Contestants uploaded their own clips, then mixed it all up with the Eyespot online editing tool.
Darcy, 19, a health-conscious sophomore at UC Berkeley, is passionate about the politics of food. She came across the Filmocracy contest while she was conducting research for work about the relationship between nutrition, exercise and mental health. For her entry, Corn King Takes Over the World, Darcy created her own hand-drawn animation and mixed it up on Eyespot with clips from KING CORN and Getty Images to make a bold and colorful statement about the politics of food.
“I got the idea of things pouring out of the corn when I was reading on the KING CORN website about how many foods include corn,” said Darcy. “The list just went on and on—that made me think of the visual of the corn splitting open with food products spilling out en masse. The little monster represents the overindulged child growing into an obese adult as well as the effect of fast food on our country—we truly have created a monster.”
To help contestants with their mashups, Filmocracy made available “Learn From the Pros,” six exclusive shorts by independent documentary filmmakers offering mentorship and practical tips. Darcy, an amateur filmmaker, found “Learn From the Pros” very useful in helping her create the winning entry. In addiition to a grand prize winner, the most popular video and the highest-rated video were chosen based on input from Filmocracy site visitors. The most popular entry is And So It Is, by Ananta, and the highest-rated entry is The Politics of Food, by Brandon Savoie.
The prototype for Filmocracy was created in the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Digital Content Lab. Filmocracy is a joint project of Independent Lens, ITVS, Eyespot, Getty Images and Exopolis, with guidance from individuals at 20th Century Fox, kontent films and Druid Media.
About American Film Institute’s (AFI) Digital Content Lab
The AFI Digital Content Lab is the premiere R&D incubator for new forms of digital entertainment. Launched 10 years ago, the lab has generated more than 80 cutting-edge digital media prototypes that consistently set a standard for innovation, excellence and real-world viability. These proof-of-concept prototypes are conceived and built by collaborative teams of mentors who donate time, vision and production skills over a three- or six-month hands-on development period. AFI’s Digital Content Lab prototypes play across an ever-widening spectrum of screens, providing a unique window onto the fast-changing landscape of film, television, games, and broadband and mobile entertainment. In short, the AFI Digital Content Lab invents tomorrow’s media solutions—today. For more information, visit http://www.afi.com/.
About Getty Images
Getty Images is the world’s leading creator and distributor of still images, footage and multimedia products as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place to which creative and media professionals go to discover, purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work that appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and websites. Visit Getty Images at http://www.gettyimages.com to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business and enabling creative ideas to come to life.
About Eyespot
Eyespot provides video editing and sharing software that can be easily embedded in any website. Eyespot technology is easy to use, intuitive and accessible for all end-users. Its solution includes next-generation video-sharing technology that enables users not only to embed codes, but also to share via email, mobile phones, portable players and other connected devices. Eyespot puts creative tools and rights-cleared media into the hands of influencers and connectors. And enabling influencers and connectors leads to the creation of content that attracts legions of viewers, which in turn enables social media and participation culture, thereby completing the ecosystem that benefits all parties. For more information, visit http://eyespot.com/.
About Independent Television Service
ITVS funds and presents award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy® Award–winning weekly series Independent Lens, which airs Tuesday nights at 10 PM on PBS. ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of the U.S. Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since ITVS’s inception in 1991, its programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing television audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. More information about ITVS can be obtained by visiting itvs.org. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. For more information about ITVS and its services, visit itvs.org.
CONTACT: Voleine Amilcar 415-356-8383 x 244 voleine_amilcar@itvs.org