'A SHOWCASE FOR THE BEST STUDENT SCREENWORK IN SCOTLAND'

Next March some of Scotland's newest and freshest film-making talent will be displaying their work at the third Scottish Students on Screen festival, organised by Scottish Screen at Dundee Contemporary Arts. The event, an exciting two days which aims to bridge the gap between education and industry by inviting the top media practitioners, educational spokespeople and talented students to meet and network, showcases the work of students from all over Scotland.

Over the next few months students are invited to submit film entries to a competition that is the backbone of the March event. The films compete for five awards across different genres with the addition of two top awards for 'best cinematography' and 'special achievement'. Additionally there will be an award for 'screen criticism' recognising the best of the country's written academic work.

As a result of last year's experience of schoolchildrens' work, the first of the two days will focus on the achievement and development of film-making skills from this age-group, plus screenings of new and yet-to-be-completed films by Scotland's youngest talents. The best of these will go on to international exhibition, like some of last year's which made it to the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and the Hampton's International Film Festival.

Similarly, students entering film projects should note that some previous winners have reached international audiences some of which have gone on to develop exciting careers in the screen industry as well as having their work exhibited at International Film Festivals. The second day of SSoS will feature careers experts, aided by education professionals and industry practitioners who will debate the big issues and share their knowledge with delegates.

The deadline for submission of work is the 31 December, (any work completed over the last two years may be submitted).

For more information contact Scottish Students on Screen Co-ordinator
Ben Ashton 0141 302 1760 or email students.onscreen@scottishscreen.com.

Now - the more of you guys that are interested in doing this - then the entrance fee (£100) could be paid for by AbertayUnion.com - so email me if you are interested and i'll add you to the mailing list, meetings will be arranged and boom - you're a movie producer - dig?

NEWS BREAK
METRO DIGITAL ANNOUNCES CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR SCOTTISH STUDENTS ON SCREEN

Metro Digital have just announced that they will again be involved in the national student moving image festival 'Scottish Students on Screen'. The event will incorporate a webcast similar to last year and Metro Digital are delighted to be providing both the technology and support for this exciting feature.

The webcast will comprise a package of edited festival material that will include the shortlisted competition entries, which can be viewed and voted for online. Metro will also provide a special audience award for the film which gains the most votes. Last year the website received over 11,000 hits and this year competition is expected to be even more intense.

Stevie Greer of Metro Digital explained the process after last year's event 'The voting system which we designed visibly demonstrated our capabilities in combining three technologies, packaged to bring functionality and entertainment via a simple user interface. We used a combination of interesting HTML layout and design, a custom built ASP database to count and record the voting sessions and our dedicated video streaming Internet network to allow voters to view the films in the best possible quality.'

During the event the men from Metro will be assisted by student camera crews who will record the highlights of the two days for broadcast online. Last year the students from Motherwell and Jewel & Esk colleges performed so well that Metro needed to shoot very little extra material. Metro as a group, has been involved in the television and film industry for over 20 years and feel it is important to take a long term view by giving support, where possible, at grass roots level.