Doorpost Awards $300,000 to “Undiscovered” Moviemakers

by Jessica Wall | Published July 23, 2008

The Doorpost Film Project, a “contest aimed at discovering and developing moviemakers capable of producing films that inspire and influence rather than simply entertain,” just finished round one and is now left with 15 finalists who are described by Nathan Elliott, the Project’s director, as “a globally, ethnically and racially diverse group of filmmakers that have one important thing in common: They’re enormously talented.”

Now that the finalists have found success with their initial films (which were judged both by online viewers and panel of industry professionals), they’ll have to demonstrate their talent yet again, this time using $10,000 from Doorpost to create a second short film, which will be shown between August 17th and 31st. After one last round of voting September 1st through 10th, the selected films will be shown at a festival in Nashville on September 13th.

The grand prize winner (who must demonstrate “unique promise as the most captivating, contemplative and visionary filmmaker of the future”) will receive $100,000 as well as scheduled private meetings with development studios. Second and third place prizes of $30,000 and $20,000 will also be awarded and each finalist will receive a written critique of their film from the panel judges. The finalists’ films are currently streaming on the Project’s Website (http://www.thedoorpost.com) and it is clear that no matter which one takes home the grand prize, Doorpost has found a wonderfully talented pool of moviemakers.