SHREVEPORT, LA - Film Prize Junior, the student version of the award-winning Louisiana Film Prize, has broken its record with film submissions from high schools and middle schools across the state of Louisiana, including not only Northwest Louisiana and Shreveport and Bossier City, but also Monroe, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans metro areas. Film Prize Junior Festival will be from April 15-25, and it will be free to view the films and vote at www.FilmPrizeJr.com.

“It’s incredibly inspiring to see these teachers and students produce films and be a part of Film Prize Junior,” said Gregory Kallenberg. “Film Prize Junior was created by my son to give kids a chance to become creative entrepreneurs. I think he’d be proud of this year’s effort.”

To participate in Film Prize Junior, teachers and students must follow a program where they learn how to create a screenplay, work together to produce the film and to promote their film to an audience. This year, Film Prize Junior had 68 short films submitted by students from 37 schools across Louisiana, including 13 Title One schools. Students will compete for Best Film as well as best Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi/Thriller, Stop Motion/Animation, and Documentary/PSA.

“Because of the dedication of teachers across Louisiana during this time, students have found a creative outlet when many activities have been cancelled,” said Steven Knight, Film Prize Junior Coordinator. “The program has been nothing short of amazing. These students have exceeded all expectations, and we cannot wait to put their work on display.”

This year’s virtual festival will be one of the largest student film festivals and conferences in the country, and the festival organizers will award $10,000 in scholarships and media grants to the winning schools. In addition to all of the Film Prize Junior 2021 short films, the festival will offer other programming, including a virtual Red Carpet event for the student filmmakers; industry-led roundtables and workshops for students and their teacher sponsors; and open houses for those interested in learning about how to get involved and compete for the next academic year. All viewing and voting for the short films will end at 12:00am CST on Sunday, April 25. The awards ceremony will be a live Facebook event on Wednesday, April 28 at 5:00pm CST where the winning films will be announced.

A full schedule of events can be found on the festival website, FilmPrizeJr.com.

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The Prize Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012. Our mission is to promote economic growth, workforce development, youth job training, creative class entrepreneurial buildout and increased tourism through education, entrepreneurship, conferences, contests and festivals in Shreveport and Northwest Louisiana. The Prize Foundation operates six major initiatives year-round: Louisiana Film Prize, Film Prize Junior, Startup Prize, Food Prize, Music Prize, and Fashion Prize. Each Prize has a qualification process, engagement with economic and cultural resources, and an educational component.