Samsung Fresh Films Kicks Off 2007 National Teen Filmmaking Program to Uncover America's Undiscovered Talent

Samsung Fresh Films Kicks Off 2007 National Teen Filmmaking Program to Uncover America's Undiscovered Talent

~ Films to be Judged by Industry Professionals and Showcased at Premiere Event ~

CHICAGO, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) today announced its second year as title sponsor of Fresh Films, a one of a kind national teen filmmaking program, and the official call for entries to uncover the country's most talented aspiring teen filmmakers. On March 20, 2007, Samsung Fresh Films will open its nationwide call for entries, accepting submissions from teens aged 14 to 19 via www.fresh-films.com. The program has adapted a film festival style structure, adding a film industry jury, an online peoples' choice award and film genre categories.

After the call for entries closes May 1st, a panel of producers will read the thousands of submissions and select 99 teenagers to be part of the 2007 program. The selected teens will be divided into nine teams, each team representing a city (L.A., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta and Kansas City). This year each film crew will be assigned one of three genres: comedy, drama, or action/thriller. In 2006, this highly competitive program received more than 6,000 entries from teens across the country.

During their summer break, each crew will produce a genre-specific short film. The film crews are in charge of all elements of the production including casting, directing, shooting and editing. After production is complete, the industry jury will judge the films by genre segment. The three jury-selected films will then go on to compete for the coveted prize of Fresh Film of the year. Additionally, all the remaining films will be eligible for a viewer's choice award during the online viewing and voting period. The crew that produces the top-voted film will be crowned the "2007 Freshest Teen Filmmakers" and will attend the premiere event.

Serving on the film industry jury is Christian Gaines, Director of Festivals for the American Film Institute. Gaines has been an integral part in establishing the AFI FEST partnership with the American Film Market. Gaines' resume includes working for top film festivals, including helping to start the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989. In addition to Gaines, other Hollywood professionals, to be announced, will serve to judge and critique the films.

"We are very excited to have industry leader Christian Gaines involved with the program this year," said Estlin Feigley, producer of Samsung Fresh Films. "His involvement is in line with what Samsung Fresh Films strives for - to expose the behind the scenes film stars of tomorrow. We want to introduce our young filmmakers to an icon who will give them filmmaking advice they will carry with them for years to come. These teens are not only receiving top notch feedback, but this film credit could be the first in many aspiring filmmaking careers."

Samsung Fresh Films opens teens' minds to a world of endless possibilities. By providing teens with new mobile phones to communicate with their teams, snap and send photos of film sites and record video messages, the program gives them a jump start on a future in film, as well as an in-depth look at the behind the scenes creative side to film. "By giving the teens free reign on the film direction and an unlimited creative license to explore beyond the boundaries of film, the final product is inspiring and not to mention highly entertaining," continued Feigley.

Eligibility Criteria

Teens aged 14-19 can apply and no experience is necessary. Teens must submit a completed entry form; including 100 words or less on why they want to be part of a film crew and a sample film idea. The Fresh Films program began four years ago and has since produced over 60 films, has premiered films at 20 film festivals and has engaged 65 million teens. Teens chosen to be part of this year's program will have the opportunity to travel to production headquarters in one of nine major cities and spend seven days on-set directing, shooting and editing their own films.

"I simply would not be where I am now without my experience with Fresh Films last summer," said Katie Bell, a past participant in the Samsung Fresh Films program. "I learned more in the seven days that I spent producing our film than I would have in a summer-long film class!"

Samsung Fresh Films

For more information about the Samsung Fresh Films program and official rules or to see the 2006 films, visit www.fresh-films.com. Fresh Films was originally created by Dreaming Tree Films, a film production firm that has been working with budding filmmakers since 2000. This is Samsung's second year as title sponsor of the filmmaking initiative.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungwireless.com.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies, with 2005 parent company sales of $56.7 billion and net income of US $7.5 billion. Employing approximately 128,000 people in over 90 offices in 51 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones, and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Source: Samsung Fresh Films

CONTACT: Tracy Calabrese of MWW Group, +1-972-301-5406, or
tcalabrese@mww.com; or Amy Doyle of Fuse, +1-802-383-1414, or +1-802-598-9214,
or adoyle@fusemarketing.com, both for Samsung Fresh Films

Web site: http://www.fresh-films.com/
http://www.samsungwireless.com/
http://www.samsung.com/

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