The 麻豆原创 will participate this month in the 15th annual Campus MovieFest, one of the world鈥檚 largest student filmmaking festivals.

An information session will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, in Room 221 of the Student Union. The official project launch will be noon-5 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Student Union atrium, where participating students will receive the loaned equipment needed for shooting and editing their creation. They will have until Jan. 25 to submit their work.

If students make it to the national level, prizes include a year鈥檚 membership to Adobe Creative Cloud and other film exposure opportunities. The best movies from across the country will be honored with the Golden Tripod awards 鈥� Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Picture. Campus Best Picture winners will receive $5,000 in top-of-the-line Sennheiser audio equipment.

In addition, student teams can enter a special category that will award $15,000 in prizes to films and songs related to social-justice issues.

Students who sign up will be provided the free use of all of the equipment they will need to make their movie, including royalty-free music, hard drive, laptop loaded with Adobe Creative Cloud software, and professional cameras, camcorders and sound equipment.

The Campus Activities Board will host a viewing of the top 16 films Feb. 18 in the Pegasus Ballroom. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. The top four teams will be chosen by a panel of faculty, students and staff and will be entered into the national competition.

This will be the 10th year 麻豆原创 has participated in the festival. More than 850,000 students from colleges and universities worldwide have shown off their talents in the last decade.

For more information and to sign up: .

At the Red Carpet Finale, the top 16 films from will be screened for audiences, and several prizes will be announced. The event will be held 聽in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the show beginning at 7:30 p.m.

鈥淚 am looking forward to the energy and reactions of the guests at the finale,鈥� said Campus Activities Board cinema director Drew Ulloa. 鈥淢any students were really excited about the films they were turning in.鈥�

Campus MovieFest, the largest student film festival, provides students with equipment and technical support to create and edit a film of five minutes or less over the course of a week. Students have the opportunity to exercise their creativity and, for those with film majors, build portfolios for their future careers. Students created their films at the end of January, and they were then screened for content and judged by a panel of five students and five faculty and staff members.

Films selected for Best Picture, Best Comedy and Best Drama will be sent to Hollywood to compete against films from other universities for the chance to win up to $30,000. In addition, Best Picture winners will have the opportunity to apply to compete at the Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, audience members can participate in drawings for their own prizes, including a Nintendo Wii, a $50 iTunes gift card and a $25 Starbucks gift card.

鈥淪tudents will be able to enjoy the Oscar atmosphere with a red carpet, as well as their pictures being taken,鈥� said Ulloa. 鈥淭hey will also be able to support their fellow Knights and relax while enjoying the films.鈥�

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments, including popcorn, Vitamin Water and Jeremiah鈥檚 Italian Ice, will be served.

Campus MovieFest, in its sixth year at 麻豆原创, features films created in one week. More than 80 team captains met Jan. 17 at the Student Union to pick up a camera and laptop provided by the festival organizers to use while creating movies under five minutes.

Films from the 16 finalists will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom. Awards will be given for best picture, best comedy and best drama, and the winning films will advance to the Campus MovieFest finale in June in Hollywood.

The other screening, the Directing 2 Showcase, is a presentation of 26 films under six minutes made by students in the Directing II class. Each film must have at least one professionally trained actor in a lead role. Many of the previous聽films in the annual exhibition have been selected for 麻豆原创 Film鈥檚 5 Stories compilation DVDs and have been accepted at film festivals around the country.

The showcase will be at 7 p.m. in Room 132 of the Visual Arts Building.

Both events are free.