RØDE Microphones’ ‘My RØDE Reel’ short film competition is back, with an even larger prize pool. In just four short years, ‘My RØDE Reel’ has not only become the world’s largest short film competition, but has also established itself as a staple amongst the global filmmaking community. Last year RØDE received close to 8,000 video submissions from 89 countries which is a staggering amount and shows how this initiative has been embraced.
Every year RØDE seems to increase the prize pool, and this year is no different with more than $500,000 in prizes and more awards than ever before, which presumably means an increased chance of winning something. While RØDE don’t always promote it (and it’s not guaranteed this year) most years they’ve sent a gift to every team that entered, which is truly incredible. Last year each entrant received their VideoMicro and Micro Boompole Pro, which combined is more than $150 just for submitting something!
A new prize initiative for the major category winners will be membership in something RØDE are calling the “RØDE Directors Club”. Apparently members will receive every new Broadcast and Filmmaking category microphone RØDE releases for the next three years, before anyone else gets access to them. Given their recent announcement of the VideoMic Pro+ and VideoMic Soundfield this sounds like an exciting club to be a part of.
Above you can see last years Peoples Choice Award for the best short film, and at the top of our article the feature video shows a series of testimonials from previous winners.
Kudos also to RØDE for adding a “Best Female Filmmaker” prize category last year which continues this year. We talk a lot about trying to broaden the inclusion of our industry so it’s nice to see a brand take action in this. RØDE tells me that they more than doubled the number of female participants last year which is a great achievement.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional or amateur filmmaker- everyone is encouraged to take part and tell their story. To enter ‘My RØDE Reel’, people are required to create a short film of three minutes or less, as well as a behind-the-scenes reel that features a RØDE product being used during the production of the film.
The entry kit including all the instructions and links to free filmmaking assets is available now at www.myrodereel.com.
In 2017, as well, the group of five marquee awards featured in previous years have become six.
Judges’ Film award for the best short film
People’s Choice award for the most popular short film
Young Filmmaker award for the best short film by an entrant under the age of 18
Female Filmmaker award. This award is designed to encourage and celebrate women in the film community.
Each of these prizes is worth over USD $40,000.
The BTS award for the best behind-the-scenes film is for the first time split into two categories:
Educational BTS Award, for the most informative behind-the-scenes, and
Entertaining BTS Award: for the most entertaining behind-the-scenes.
New genre awards in 2017 include: Best Virtual Reality film (using 360-degree cameras), Best 30-second TVC (Television Commercial, for RØDE, naturally) and Best Vlog. A full list of categories can be found at www.myrodereel.com.
RØDE Microphones has assembled an incredible prize pool valued at more than $500,000. This includes equipment from Adobe, Angelbird, Aphex, Atomos, Blackmagic Design, Blastwave FX, Cam Caddie, F&V, FilmConvert, FilmSupply, Freefly, iOgrapher, Joby, Kessler Crane, Lowepro, Michael Wiese Productions, Miller, Movcam, Musicbed, NiSi, Paralinx, Red Giant, Shane’s Inner Circle, SoundField, Teradek, ZEISS, and of course RØDE. A full list of the prize packs is available at www.myrodereel.com.
Entries for ‘My RØDE Reel’ are open from March 1st and close June 30th, 2017. RØDE has provided a FREE entry pack, which is available now by registering at www.myrodereel.com.
Visit www.myrodereel.com now to learn more.
