Some strolled in. Some ran in a panic. There were computers digitizing up to the last minute in the lobby. There were people on their phones calling other teammates in desperation for missing documents. Others were upstairs impatiently waiting on emails to print documents they forgot. Then 9:30 pm came... much faster then people had hoped or wanted.
43 teams left excited and prepared to conquer the SLAM on April 1 at 7:30 pm. With relief and pride 50 hours later 28 teams were able to say “WE DID IT!”. The stories of their trials and tribulations in trying to complete their movies were exciting and entertaining .
For those 28 teams, we at the 50 Hour Slam congratulate you. For those of you that did not, we say nice try and better luck next year. We also offer those who did not make it an opportunity to still get your film to us and take part in the “feed back session” later in May. Share stories of your experience and get notes from the organizers on your films.
It was fantastic launch. A thrilling end... but it is not over. Now we await our panel of judges as they select the 15 that will be screened on May 1. March Madness has nothing on us! The movies will be prescreened tonight by the organizers to make sure that all the criteria requested is in place and documentation is accurate. The Judges will then have two weeks to make their choice and pick the top 15 and of course, their number one choice.
Remember all 28 movies submitted will have an exclusive screening period on CMTV. They cannot be used for any other festival during that time nor appear on the internet during that period. The organizers have decided that 2 teams that lost the battle to digitizing files in the lobby and upstairs in the CMTV lab may participate in the screening opportunity on CMTV.
After that we will begin the third stage of the SLAM, the internet contest over the summer on www.50hourslam.com. For this we have decided to allow all 31 movies to participate for the "Viral Vote".
Well done all! We hope you are all proud of what you accomplished!