Year Three C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival Launched

Year Three C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival Launched

New Cash Prizes, Award Categories, Earlier Deadline Introduced

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Calling all local ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th graders who want to help save the environment and make a film about it! Bayer Corporation, Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Spectacular and Pittsburgh Filmmakers encourage them to grab a camera, assemble a cast, scout locations and write and produce original films for the third annual C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival.

By submitting their work on or before the new, earlier Friday, June 1, 2007 deadline, student-filmmakers will have the chance to compete for cash and other prizes, both for themselves and their schools, at the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge Film Festival and Awards Ceremony in the fall. Prizes include:

-- Grand Prize: $1,000 plus digital video camera and case, Pittsburgh
Filmmakers class, director's chair and Carnegie Science Center's
SciTech Spectacular and Three Rivers Film Festival tickets

-- Abstract/Art/Experimental Film Award: $300 plus director's chair,
Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Spectacular and Three Rivers Film
Festival tickets (new category)

-- Narrative Film Award: $300 plus director's chair, Carnegie Science
Center's SciTech Spectacular and Three Rivers Film Festival tickets
(new category)

-- Documentary Film Award: $300 plus director's chair, Carnegie Science
Center's SciTech Spectacular and Three Rivers Film Festival tickets
(new category)

-- Communicating Science Award: $300 plus director's chair, Carnegie
Science Center's SciTech Spectacular and Three Rivers Film Festival
tickets (new category)

-- $1,500 for each winning film's school to support their media and
science programs (new cash prize)

About the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival

The C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival, presented by Bayer Corporation, Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Spectacular and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, invites students, either individually or in teams of up to four, to write, produce and edit a video or film on the theme "Mutual Impact: The Environment and You." C.A.U.S.E. stands for "Creating Awareness and Understanding of our Surrounding Environment."

All completed entries will be reviewed by an independent panel of judges with expertise in science and technology, the environment and filmmaking. They will award points on a variety of criteria, including the film's message; ability to deliver the message; connection to the Pittsburgh region; use of

available technology; creativity; and research. Winning films will be announced at the festival and award ceremony on Thursday, September 20, 2007.

Ninth- to 12th-grade students during the 2006-2007 school year who live in one of the following counties are welcome to enter: (Pennsylvania) Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland; (Ohio) Jefferson, Columbiana and Mahoning; (West Virginia) Monongalia, Preston and Marion.

For more information or to request an entry packet, please call the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge Hotline at 412-777-5791 or visit http://www.scitechspec.org/.

About Bayer Corporation

The C.A.U.S.E. Challenge(TM) High School Film Festival is one component of Bayer's award-winning, company-wide Making Science Make Sense(R) (MSMS) program, which advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education. Currently, 12 Bayer sites around the country operate local Making Science Make Sense programs, which together represent a national volunteer corps of more than 1,000 employees. For more information about Making Science Make Sense or to subscribe to the Making Science Make Sense e-News Update, please visit http://www.bayerus.com/MSMS.

Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. In North America, Bayer had 2005 net sales of 7.3 billion euros and employed 16,200 at year-end. Bayer's three operating companies -- Bayer HealthCare LLC, Bayer CropScience LP and Bayer MaterialScience LLC -- improve people's lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose, prevent and treat diseases, protect crops and advance automobile safety and durability. Bayer AG stock is a component of the DAX and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: BAY).

About Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Spectacular

The SciTech Spectacular is a year-round initiative of programs and events at Carnegie Science Center that showcases Pittsburgh as an international hub of scientific and technological developments by featuring Pittsburgh-based companies, universities or organizations, or those with ties to Pittsburgh; and former Pittsburghers now distinguished outside the region. Its programs emphasize the growth industries of Pittsburgh: robotics, information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, environmental technology and advanced materials processes; and connections between science and technology and the arts/literature, current events and science in the news.

The diverse programs are designed for families, students and teachers (middle school through college) and adults. Visitors engage in provocative panel discussions, science demos and exciting arts performances, as well as interactive exhibit booths by corporations, universities, community groups and arts organizations.

About Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Pittsburgh Filmmakers is a regional community resource and one of the oldest and largest media art centers in the country. It is committed to the artist and the understanding and advancement of artistic excellence in film, video, photographic and digital expression. It accomplishes this through programs in exhibition, artist membership services, and education.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers' School of Film, Photography and Digital Media offers one of the most complete professional training programs in the country. Classes are offered in film, video, photography and digital arts and are open to the public and can be taken for college credit. Pittsburgh Filmmakers is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

For more information or to request an entry packet, please call the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge Hotline at 412-777-5791 or visit http://www.scitechspec.org/.

Source: Bayer Corporation

CONTACT: Rebecca Lucore or Sarah Toulouse, both of the Bayer Media Line,
+1-412-777-5200

Web site: http://www.scitechspec.org/
http://www.bayerus.com/MSMS

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