June 15, 2023

The MPI Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge (CFC), part of MPI’s Rising Filmmaker Program, held its kick off event last week in Los Angeles with a full house. There are more than 300 participants this year and many of them were in attendance.

Founded and run by Joe Gressis, the CFC is a decades-old competition designed to encourage networking and collaboration among participants. At the kick off, Joe announced this year’s theme, a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” 

Participants will take that quote as inspiration as they take the next two weeks (May 17–31) to collaborate with other filmmakers to produce short films. On June 9 some of the strongest entries screen to industry professionals and judges, including MPI senior vice president Lana Link and The Bragg Brothers (the writers/directors of MPI Original Film Pinball). Judges will select winners for over $20,000 in cash and prizes including a $5,000 development deal with Shout! Factory!

We look forward to announcing the winners of the CFC in June!