Well it’s been almost six weeks since I last updated the blog, but not for lack of eventful things happening.

Our new web series Byte Club has finished prep and starts shoot on Monday. We’re aiming to shoot 20 episodes of this new tech series focusing on company culture, and the people behind some of the most user friendly and cutting edge technology that we all use. This season we’re concentrating on companies in the Greater Toronto Area, so if you have or know of the tech company that you feel is worth profiling on show, drop me an email and let me know.

We’re also putting the finishing touches on two new corporate Avatar’s that we’re looking forward to showing our clients. I’ll get them posted up here as soon as they’re finished.

The Men’s Room has reached the post production stage and we’re knee deep cutting a solid 21 episodes. We managed to attract some great guests who all came with a wealth of information to share. It’s looking like we’ll be ready to start launching these in August on mensroom.tv.

And finally, the 48-hour Summer Toronto Film Challenge films are in and 23 teams made the deadline. The top 15 films have been sent to our three judges, and the top 10 films will be announced at the Innis screening on Thursday July 17th. Those top 10 films will screen Friday, July 18th at the Bloor Cinema at 7pm, and be eligible for over 15K in prizes across eight categories. Each winner will also take home a custom TFC film slate with their name engraved on it.

And that gets us up to date.

Toronto Film Challenge go on sale today on the website. 60 teams are eligible to compete for $15,000 in prizes by making a short film in only 48-hours. Each team will receive an invididualizd ‘challenge pack’ which contains the following elements that must be worked into their film;

• A Central Conflict
• A Prop
• A Location
• A Line or Word
• A Character Trait

The competition beings on July 4th, with the Top 10 screening and awards night taking place on July 18th at the Bloor Cinema in downtown Toronto. Teams of ten can enter online at www.torontofilmchallenge.com. To view previous winners, visit the TFC YouTube page.

We have partnered with Ouat Media to distribute our short film Heir Apparent to local and international markets. Ouat Media is also the official distributor for the Toronto Film Challenge and a great supporter of independent short film in Canada. Heir Apparent will be made available first for viewing and purchase in the Market Place at the World Wide Short Film Festival in June.

Filming has begun on the 1st season on The Men’s Room. The show is being hosted by talented performer, athlete and all around ladies man, Mark Sparks. We shoot for another two weeks and then we post for another three. Although a launch date is not set yet, we’re looking towards mid July to start airing the show on mensroom.tv.

Here’s a look at the set for our upcoming interview web show “The Men’s Room“. The set was designed and built by Duncan Kemp and lit up by Fraser Brown. Production on the 1st season is slated to start soon.

On April 26th, 30 teams of 240 filmmakers set out to make 30 short action films in under 24-hours. After being judged by profressionals Aaron Abrams, Sean Buckley and John Bradshaw, the results are in.

Here are the winners for the Spring 24-hour Action/Adventure Toronto Film Challenge.

1st Place / Audience Choice
Geronimo Deadly - “Bumrush“

2nd Place
Infinite Monkeys - “Tools of the Trade”

3rd Place
Creative Meat - “Last Round”

Congratulations to the winners and all the participating filmmakers for completing a film. Pictures for the event can be found on our Flickr page.

We’ve just posted our new corporate solutions demo videos. Each video offers a sample of the type of video we create for our clients. We currently offer three types of solutions.

1) Interactive Avatar - A transparent video used to introduce your website or guide viewers through sales transactions. We provide free hosting service for this video, which can be customized to scroll with the viewer, keeping your message in clear view.

2) Instructional Video - An externally hosted instructional video can be used to demo a product and/or service. This type of video has the capability to be shared throughout popular social media services such as Facebook and Youtube.

3) Ongoing Web Series - An ongoing web series is an effective way to keep current information flowing to your viewers in an entertaining and engaging manor. Released daily, weekly, or monthly, a web series can also be distributed across multiple social networks and sharing sites.

Credits: Fraser, Ryan, Sean, Natasha, Reese

Here’s a look at our new sting. Special thanks go out to Craig for his hard work on this one.

Tickets for the spring 24-hour Toronto Film Challenge go on sale today. 30 spots are available for competing teams of 8. This season, filmmakers have 24-hours to make an action/adventure short film to screen at the Bloor Cinema on May 2nd. Team tickets can be purchased on the Toronto Film Challenge website.

Special thanks to the Cinema Studies Student Union at the University of Toronto who asked me to speak on their film panel on Friday. I was joined by Shannon Abel (Hot Docs programmer, TIFF industry coordinator) and Jason Anderson (freelance writer for Eye Weekly, National Post, Cinema Scope).

We spoke to the students about pursuing a career after film studies and what was involved in getting your foot in the door of interesting companies and festivals. I had a good time speaking with the students and fielding their questions. It reminded me of being a budding film student again.