Crazy8s is a filmmaking competition and festival held annually in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It provides funding and support to local filmmakers to shoot and edit a short film in eight days. It has been called one of the best platforms for emerging filmmakers in Vancouver and has produced over 100 short films.

History

Crazy8s was founded in 1999 by Andrew Williamson. Teams of filmmakers pitch their concepts to industry professionals. Around 200 teams annually submit a video pitch, 40 are then chosen to pitch in-person to a jury, after that 12 teams advance to the script stage before six finalists are announced in early January. After fine-tuning their concepts and delivering revised scripts, 6 winners are chosen to receive $1,000 and a production package and have three days to shoot followed by five days of post-production. Most of the approximately 2,000 people involved are industry professionals. Notable past participants include

Kaare Andrews Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work includes ''Spider-Man'', '' Iron Fist'', ''Renato Jones'', and '' Incredible Hulk''. Andrews has a diverse drawing style, which ranges from hyper ...

, Samm Barnes,

Carl Bessai Carl Bessai (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Bessai studied at OCAD University and at York University in Toronto graduating with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He got his start directing documentary f ...

, James Dunnison,

Mackenzie Gray Alexander Mackenzie Gray (born 22 November 1957) is a Canadian film, television, and stage actor. He is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Canada. He divides his time between Toronto and Vancouver. Life and career Gray was born in Toron ...

, Matthew Kowalchuk, CJ Wallis,

Ali Liebert ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

Zach Lipovsky Zach Lipovsky is a Canadian director, former child actor and visual effects specialist. Career Lipovsky was a finalist on the first season of the Fox reality show ''On the Lot'' where he placed 5th out of 12,000 directors worldwide. He went on to ...

Elan Mastai Elan Mastai is a Canadian screenwriter and novelist. He is best known for '' The F Word'', for which he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014. His other screenwriting credits include ...

, Camille Mitchell, Nimisha Mukerji, Chris Goldade, Graham Wardle and

Kyra Zagorsky Kyra Zagorsky (born June 6, 1976) is an American film and television actress. She has acted in the TV series ''Helix'', the film '' The Pastor's Wife'' and season 8 of the TV series '' Supernatural''. Early life Zagorsky was born in New York and ...

. Dylan Akio Smith's ''

Man. Feel. Pain. ''Man. Feel. Pain.'' is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Dylan Akio Smith and released in 2004."A thumbnail look at some of the 40 Canadian short subjects being screened at this year's Toronto International Film Festival". Canadian Press, ...

'' won Best Canadian Short Film at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. Zach Lipovsky's ''Crazy Late'' is credited with helping earn him a spot on the reality show ''

On the Lot ''On the Lot'' is a single season reality show and online competition for filmmaking, produced by Steven Spielberg, Mark Burnett and David Goffin. The show, which aired on Fox, featured filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, wit ...

''. ''Earthlickers'' and ''Bed Bugs: A Musical Love Story'' later screened at the 2014

Whistler Film Festival The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pand ...

. Joel Ashton McCarthy's ''I Love You So Much It's Killing Them'' won Best Short Film at

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film '' Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low- ...

's third annual GroovyFest. The 20th anniversary edition began February 8, 2019 and premiered February 23.

Galas

The finished films are screened at a Gala Screening followed by an afterparty. The 2010 gala was held March 27 at the

Vogue Theatre Vogue Theatre is an Art Deco/ Art Moderne styled building originally built as a movie house, and currently used as an event venue for the performing arts. Situated on Vancouver’s “ Theatre Row", the building was designated as a National Hi ...

. The 2014 competition attracted 154 applicants. The 2015 gala screening was held February 28 at The Centre For Performing Arts and had 196 applicants. It was hosted by Diana Bang, attracted 1,700 people and featured the band No Sinner at the afterparty. The 2016 gala screening was held February 27 at The Centre For Performing Arts and was hosted by

Ellie Harvie Elinor Anne Harvie (born April 7, 1965) is a Canadian actress who portrayed Morticia on ''The New Addams Family''. Later, she starred as Dr. Lindsey Novak in ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis''. Harvie was the youngest of five childre ...

. The 2017 competition attracted 216 teams and will screen the final six films February 25 at The Centre For Performing Arts with an official afterparty at Science World.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://crazy8s.film/ Film festivals in Vancouver Film festivals established in 1999 1999 establishments in British Columbia Short film festivals in Canada