Submissions are now open for the 2018 HBO Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition! This competition provides emerging directors of Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent the opportunity to showcase their work.
- Judged by a panel of HBO executives, industry leaders, and fellow APA filmmakers, the competition seeks to identify cinematic storytellers who offer unique perspectives of the Asian Pacific American experience
- The theme for the 2018 APA Visionaries Short Film Competition centers around the concept of “home”
- Winners will be announced in February 2018
- Here is a video of this year’s ambassador Leonardo Nam of Westworld announcing the competition
What could you win?
- Cash prizes for first 3 winners
- Selected to make their premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in April 2018
- Offered the opportunity to license their film to premiere exclusively on HBO and/or its platforms during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May 2018
The theme is "What is home?"
The definition of "home" can mean anything from a physical space, a city, or country; for others, it is simply a state of mind. Regardless of how it is characterized– the idea of "home" is an inherent part of one’s identity. Filmmakers are challenged to explore what "home" means to them.
In addition to receiving cash prizes, the three films will be selected to make their premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in April 2018 and offered the opportunity to license their film to premiere exclusively on HBO and/or its platforms during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May 2018.
Winners will be announced in February 2018. Film premieres will be at HBO's sole discretion.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Director must be a resident of one of the 50 United States or Washington, D.C.
2. Films must have been directed by a person of Asian or Pacific Islander descent [i.e., descendants of the people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, Indian subcontinent or Pacific Islands (China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands and Samoa)].
3. Director must be at least 18 years of age and of the age of majority in their state of residence (i.e., 19 years of age in Alabama and Nebraska; 21 years of age in Mississippi) as of 7/12/17.
4. Running time (inclusive of credits): 8-12 minutes. Film must be a minimum of 8 minutes in length; submissions shorter than 8 minutes in length will be disqualified. Films must be a maximum of 12 minutes in length (inclusive of title sequence and closing credits); if a submission is longer than 12 minutes in length, only the first 12 minutes of the film will be judged.
5. Films must be in the English language or contain accurate English subtitles (common foreign words/phrases are acceptable without subtitles).
6. Film must be a Festival Premiere (i.e., Film must have had no previous major festival screenings under its current or any former title, or in any form that is, in HBO’s opinion, substantially similar to or derivative of the current film) through 5/31/18.
7. Film must have commenced principal photography on or after October 1, 2016.
8. Film must not have had any previous exhibition on broadcast or cable (by means of any method or medium) or online.
Watch a video here of this year’s ambassador Leonardo Nam of Westworld announcing the competition.