Ken Gumbs’ Four Door Films is partnering with film distributor Maxim Media International in “Project Screamlight,” a viral contest in search of the best horror film ideas.
The winning writer receives $5,000 and his idea will be transformed into a feature produced by Four Door and distributed by Maxim Media.
Fittingly, the winner will be announced on Halloween.
“We designed the contest for general market horror film fans, as well as filmmakers,” says Gumbs. “So someone who has an idea for a horror film can submit a proposal, or a completed film script.”
Tempe, Arizona-based Maxim Media will decide on the winning entry. The ultimate film will be entered in Maxim’s annual film fest circuit that includes Cannes, Slam Dance, Fantasia, Screamfest and more.
Maxim, famous perhaps best for the “Faces of Death” and “Brain Damage” series, was one of the first distributors Gumbs contacted about his easy-to-sell idea.
Darrin Ramage, founder/owner of Maxim, says this is the first time a viral contest like this has been done. He challenges entrants to “get us a good script. Tell us a good, scary, over-the-top story, not a cookie cutter.”
“Maxim is a good partner,” Gumbs notes, distributing about a 100 horror/shock titles a year. They develop and create the marketing campaign for every film and promote them at key international film markets through their extensive network of contacts.
With the contest idea in mind, Gumbs connected with Maxim them while researching different film markets to learn what kind of films that distributors of this genre were looking for.
“Since we come from a business, commercial, Web and corporate video and marketing background, we know how to market the contest through the Internet,” Gumbs says.
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