ACU’s annual student-run short film competition, FilmFest, kicked off with an informational meeting Friday.

The theme of this year’s FilmFest is Timeless. Submitted films will be screened at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene on April 11, and the event will run from 7-9 p.m. The 2010 co-chairs are Christina Johnson, junior English major from Dallas, and Jonathan Davis, senior marketing major from Dallas. They will be working with a committee made up of Perry Henderson, Sandra Amstutz, Lucas Wright and Jordan Havens.

The event has grown in size each year, with around 1,000 people attending last year. Davis said he expects more films to be entered this year than last year and for the Paramount to again sell out for the event.

“This is going to be the best year FilmFest has ever seen” Davis said.

This year, a cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the best film. Trophies will be awarded on an individual basis in other categories, including Best Producer, Best Director, and Best Writer.

Student filmmakers are already beginning work on their productions.

“I am really looking forward to the filming process,” said Josh Tumblin, junior theatre major from Nashville, Tenn.

Every year, FilmFest conducts a series of workshops to assist filmmakers in different areas of production. This year, instead of having the individual workshops on different days, the workshops will all take place in one day, back to back. The workshops will cover directing, screenwriting, sound design, shooting, editing and lighting design. Interested students and faculty members are invited to come to the Campus Center Living Room this Saturday; the workshops will start at 9 a.m. and finish around 5 p.m.

FilmFest boasts many opportunities to get involved, especially for the musically inclined. Wright, junior electronic media major from Abilene, said this year FilmFest is trying to get songwriters and performers connected with producers and directors to add a level of completeness to the film submissions.

Davis thinks very highly of the event and what it can do for participants.

“FilmFest really does have a way of changing students’ lives,” Davis said. “There are more ways to get connected through things like [this] then most people are willing to believe. ACU has such a vast network of alumni in the filmmaking world that things like FilmFest are great springboards into the circles that those people inhabit. This business is about who you know.”