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Lego Presents Backyard Film Festival This Weekend
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 Some of Hollywood's most prominent directors, including Pay It Forward's Mimi Leder, will give their time to young budding filmmakers at this weekend's 4th Annual Backyard National Children's Film Festival� at the Paramount Theatre. The November 3-4 Backyard Festival is presented by the LEGO Company to recognize and encourage outstanding filmmaking achievement in young people under age 18 from the United States and Canada. Hollywood directors, producers and actors - including Ryan Hurst and Krysten Leigh Jones of current box office hit Remember the Titans - will coach more than 500 local kids in the art of their craft with behind-the-scenes tips and tricks. Included in the Saturday workshop activities will be the unveiling of the new LEGO� & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set, which allows kids to create real movies. All of Steven Spielberg's proceeds will be donated to the non-profit Starbright Foundation and Shoah Foundation. Other hands-on activities to inspire future moviemakers include story-crafting tips from the Young Filmmakers Academy, animation tips from AnimAction, prop and set design demonstrations, green screen effects, make-up artists, real-life stunt-people, historic movie camera displays and more. Kids also can ``sell'' their movie pitch to actual film and television producers, who will be on-hand to check out the emerging moviemakers of tomorrow. The Festival, which serves to inspire young people to create stories that highlight endeavors of the human spirit and their views of the world, also will award seven young people for their compelling vision and creative excellence. The Friday evening awards presentation will be hosted by Hurst and Jones, who, along with other celebrities - including Brandon Baker (appearing on Fox's ``Boston Public'') and Camilla Belle (Practical Magic) - will present the awards. Awarded in three age categories, Backyard's first and second place honors - the ``Youth Vision'' and ``Creative Excellence'' awards respectively - are based on the following criteria: Original Concept and Presentation, Clarity of Message, Artistic and Aesthetic Aspects of Story, Technical Execution (production, editing and audio) and Overall Excellence. This year's festival, the first to occur in Los Angeles, includes more than 200 entries representing the work of 1,500 kids. The winners are as follows: High School Category - Youth Vision Award: "Photo Finish" by Rob Burke (team leader), Age 15, Bellevue, WA
- Creative Excellence Award: "The Littlest Kojak" by Todd Reichert (team leader), Age 18, Gloucester, Ontario, Canada
Middle School Category - Youth Vision Award: "Phone Number" by Nick Corirossi (team leader), Age 13, Miami, FL
- Creative Excellence Award: "Pushing Back the Limits" by Callie Pfeiffer (team leader), Age 14, Hamel, MN
Elementary School Category - Youth Vision Award: "Kung Fool" by Nick Panama (team leader), Age 12, Los Angeles, CA
- Creative Excellence Award: "The Key to Life" by Ashley King (team leader), Age 11, Strongsville, OH
LEGO Imagination Award "Beneath the Satin" by Staisha Grosch (team leader), Age 16, currently San Francisco, CA and most recently, Fort Lauderdale, FLThis first-time award is given to the 2000 Backyard movie entry that best represents an imaginative story brought to life through film. The LEGO Company also will present the 2001 Backyard National Children's Film Festival, scheduled for November 2-3, 2001, which will be a global moviemaking contest for young filmmakers from around the world. [Posted 11/03/2000]
  
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