A/V Swap Call For Submissions

The A/V Swap Home Office
107 Delaney Street
Houston, Texas 77009

2009 Call For Submissions


[JUNE 2, 2009, HOUSTON, TEXAS] The A/V Swap is now accepting submissions for our 2009 collaborative film/music event. We strive to encourage experimental film and music and to allow visual artists to explore their vision in new mediums. Composers and filmmakers are some of our most excellent submissions every year but painters, performance artists, hip-hop producers, traditional folk musicians, sculptors, rock bands, writers and poets can all articulate their unique talents in moving pictures or sound as well. This is not a music video competition. Please consider submitting your work to the A/V Swap- whatever your level of experience with video or audio recording is- all works will be shown on the big screen at a favorite local theater.

Want to know what the A/V stands for? Watch our Instructional Video HERE


A/V Swap 2009


The A/V Swap provides a forum where local composers and filmmakers can showcase their talents by working on film or musical compositions they may have never otherwise encountered. We ask composers to submit a soundtrack without a film and filmmakers to submit a film without a soundtrack. The works are randomly exchanged, giving one movie to each composer and one soundtrack to each filmmaker. In this "swap" we anonymously pair composers and filmmakers, hoping to expanding their creative horizons. The filmmakers and composers have one month to create an accompanying work, and the films are presented in an all-inclusive viewing party as well as a Best Of screening in September of 2009.


For the 2009 A/V Swap, in addition to participating cities Houston and New York, we are excited to add Austin, Texas and Buffalo, New York to this year's events. We will reach out to the local creative communities and diversify The A/V Swap with the inclusion of new and exciting artists from Texas' capitol city and New York's gateway to the west. Through strengthening our partnerships with Texas and New York filmmakers and musicians, we continue to broaden our appeal and reach new audiences.



Technical Specifics


For the first deadline, please submit films as a .mov file and music as either a .wav or .aif file. Films and music should be submitted on a data CD or DVD. Submissions are limited to 7 minutes in length.


After receiving your accompanying work, please submit your final collaboration as a DVD that may be played on any DVD player.


For any other technical questions, please email sean [at] theavswap.com



History


The A/V Swap was born in 2004 to give artists an outlet to create innovative works that enrich Houston's cultural diversity. Founded by Michelle Hempton, the A/V Swap has grown exponentially in the last six years. Inspired by Michelle's love of film and desire to form an artistic community, the A/V Swap was born and has now grown to attract more than 300 Houstonians annually. It has expanded to include a dedicated team of five board members who work diligently to achieve the swap's mission. This year we look forward to further expanding the event's diversity and creativity.


The Landmark River Oaks Theater in Houston hosted the A/V Swap in 2004 and 2005. The event grew to demand a larger venue and premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 2006 to a crowd of more than 350 Houstonians, becoming the most successful local film screening in MFAH history. Through the success of the first two years of the swap, an increasing number of artists submitted their work. In 2007, the 4th A/V Swap was held over two nights in December. The premiere event was hosted at the Angelika Film Center Houston, which drew the attendance of over 200 film lovers. The following day, a midnight viewing at the River Oaks Landmark Theatre drew an additional crowd of 100. For the A/V Swap 2008, we were invited by the Houston Downtown Alliance to participate in Houston Theater District Day on August 24. The event, which attracts over 40,000 art aficionados, gave us invaluable public exposure thanks to Houston's dedication to support for the arts.




How the A/V Swap Works


The way the A/V Swap works is quite simple and intuitive. The idea is to pair local composers with local filmmakers. The catch is that each participant will not know the other artist with whom they are working. The A/V Swap will ask composers to submit a soundtrack without a film and filmmakers to submit a film without a soundtrack. Then, we will trade projects, giving one film to each composer and a soundtrack to each filmmaker. The artists and musicians will then have three weeks to create an accompanying work, which will be premiered at the viewing party. The most innovative and interesting collaborations will be included in our main event, the Best of The A/V Swap 2009.


As the Swap is random, participants will likely end up working with films/compositions they might not usually encounter, creating an added challenge and expanding their creative horizons. Furthermore, as the A/V Swap is anonymous, participants will not know for whom they are creating compositions/film for until the actual day of the premiere.



Timeline and Tasks


MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009: Drop off first submissions (Check local info at theavswap.com for location)

All participants will have to enter and submit their pieces of work by this date.


JUNE 23-28, 2009: Trades are assigned and distributed

A panel will randomly match composers with submitted films and filmmakers with the submitted compositions.


Project Development Period

At this time, participants will have 4 weeks to create their work. Filmmakers will try to create footage for the music they got and composers will create compositions from the film they received.


MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009: Final collaborations due

All projects must be completed by this date in order to ensure that they will be showcased at the premiere event.


Project Collection and Showcase Preparations

At this time, the A/V Swap team will collect the finished pieces of work, prepare a compilation DVD of all completed works, and prep for the premiere.


AUGUST 2009, Dates TBA

City-Specific All-Inclusive Screening


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2009, Date TBA

The Main Event: Best of The A/V Swap 2009 Premiere


After Party, TBA

This is when participants will have the opportunity to meet the people that created compositions or footage to their work, allowing them to expand their networking circle and discuss their work.



Drop-Off Location for Houston, Texas

Antidote Coffee
729 Studewood St.
Houston, TX 77007

visit us at theavswap.com