Non-Profit Film Festival: Lights. Camera. Help.

This weekend Austin will play host to the first ever film festival for non-profit and cause-driven organizations. Lights. Camera. Help. received submissions from over 140 groups and selected nineteen finalist to be screened this Friday and Saturday. Of these films, one will win the Lights. Camera. Help. Judge's Prize which comprises all the proceeds from ticket sales and donations collected during the festival. Of the finalists, Austin organizations are well represented, and include Mobile Film School, United Way Capital Area, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, and Art From the Streets. These locally based groups are joined by the Michigan Humane Society, the Los Angeles Urban League, charity:water, and others. A complete schedule of the festival was recently released, and tickets to Saturday's screenings can be purchased online for a mere $7.00! Lights. Camera. Help. co-founder Aaron Bramely answered some questions for us about non-profit organizations, new technology, and this weekend's festival.

Tell us a little about how Lights. Camera. Help. got started.

The idea behind Lights. Camera. Help. is not only to have a charity event that donates all of its proceeds to the organization behind the best film, but also to give nonprofit and cause-driven films the attention they deserve.

The films-for-a-cause genre is growing rapidly, but there’s no real venue where these films can be seen as both tools and art. We want to change that.

In its earliest stages, Co-founder David J. Neff had a conversation with a colleague about a film festival for health-related organizations. That seemed a little narrow, so the idea was enhanced to include all films by nonprofits and cause-driven organizations.

At that point, David, who works for the American Cancer Society High Planes Division and has a background in video production, called up Rich Vázquez, and myself to have a sit down. Rich is a web developer who works with Community Impact News and the Cine Las Americas film festival among other things. I work with Ridgewood Associates Public Relations, Inc. where I specialize in digital media and nonprofit and governmental communications.

When we had our first meeting, we jumped in headfirst. We picked dates for the festival and our submissions opening party called Reel-to-Reality. It’s really fantastic to be part of a team of like-minded people.

Were many of these organizations already using video to further their causes? Were any inspired to make a film just for the festival?

Since the filmmaking process takes quite some time, all of the films we received this first year were works that these organizations had already created or were already working on. In a few instances, editors were working frantically through the night to meet our deadline.

It’s our hope that next year, and into the future, Lights. Camera. Help. will not only be a reason to create a film, but also a resource for nonprofit organizations looking to spread their messages through film.

What can prospective audience members expect to see at Lights. Camera. Help.? How is the festival going to be different from watching a string of public service announcements?

The audience can expect to see the 20 best films that we’ve selected from the 140 submissions we received. Among these, only a few are PSAs. Several are short form documentaries that tell hopeful success stories of prayers answered, obstacles bested or money raised. We also have two narrative pieces. We didn’t really expect those, but we were blown away by how good they are.

We also have two, hour-long documentaries, one of which is about a local organization called, Art From the Streets. There’s a really good variety that covers he gamut of emotions. Yes, you may cry, but I promise you’ll laugh and be moved too.