Idaho Film Office Announces Film Grant Recipients

7/31/2012
BOISE, Idaho—The Idaho Film Office has announced the recipients of its 2012-2013 film grants. This program, entering its third year, is intended to advance the filmmaking workforce in Idaho by providing funding to eligible projects that give hands-on production experience.

Four judges scored and commented on the applications. Each application could score a maximum of 100 points. The scores from each judge were averaged and the highest scoring projects were chosen to receive grants of $5,000 each.

Karen Ballard, Idaho Department of Commerce Division of Tourism Administrator remarked, “I am very impressed with the creativity and talent of the applicants and the value they place in these small grants, which will provide valuable workforce training and necessary resume-building experience for aspiring filmmakers in Idaho.”

Peg Owens of the Idaho Film Office said, “We were pleased to receive 27 applications for grants with a nice balance of project types from around the state. There were documentaries, narrative features and shorts and webisodes.”

The recipients of this year’s grants are: Wil Schmeckpeper for “In Common Hours” Concept: Narrative. A stockbroker witnesses the death of a five-year-old boy and it changes him forever. He abandons his job to search for a new meaning in life.

Wide Eye Productions for “Idaho, the Movie”
Concept: Documentary. Veteran writer Tim Woodward joins with Wide Eye to create a one-hour movie about the state we live in and love.

Gregory Bayne for “The Modern Kids”
Concept: Web Series. With a nod toward “Lord of the Flies,” modern-day teens awaken to a world in which all adults over age 19 have disappeared.

Cinema Partners for “Caleb Chung: Great Minds Think Differently”
Concept: Documentary. This film covers the life and times of Caleb Chung, Idaho resident and inventor of the Furby and Pleo electronic toys.

Christian Lybrook for “The Seed”
Concept: Narrative. Explores a man’s search for answers in the face of grief and uncertainty simultaneously connecting the audience with Idaho’s rich agricultural tradition and focus on science and technology. 

Hang with Chad, LLC for “Hanging Chad”
Concept: Narrative. The story of friends searching for the dreams they lost and finding them in Chad, a strange and beautiful nature photographer who begins to change their lives one by one.

Grant recipients will work with the Idaho Film Office to complete their projects prior to December 31, 2013, providing written reports of progress along the way.

The Idaho Department of Commerce Film Office is a partner in Project 60, a comprehensive initiative to grow Idaho's Gross Domestic Product. The media production industry in Idaho for 2010 was valued at $36 million with a payroll of $15 million, according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. The industry nationally is valued at $102.1 billion. 

Contact: Peg Owens
Idaho Film Office
208-334-2470 ext. 2151
peg.owens@tourism.idaho.gov 

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