PlayStation 'Shoot!'

[JP]

London, 30th October 2008:

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced a new initiative called Shoot!. Shoot! will deliver series of short films that will be free to download from 13th November via PlayStation®Network for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) or PSP™
(PlayStation®Portable), allowing owners to watch cutting-edge film from up-and-coming directors and experience this unique content. The films will also be screened across Europe on ShortsTV from January 2009.

Six of Hollywood’s award winning filmmakers Armendariz, Bruckheimer, Kounen, Rothermund, Vinterberg, Winterbottom have chosen an emerging film director from their own country to mentor for the project. The emerging directors then created a short film, shot in High Definition, based on an open brief, shaped only by one of a number of words that capture the essence of PlayStation: Play, Create, Share, Connect, Discover and Challenge. The emerging directors will showcase their movies in Berlin alongside the internationally recognized Film Festival in February 2009 and the project will culminate with an award ceremony for the best short film.
“As well as delivering a world-class entertainment experience for film lovers and the fast-growing PlayStation community, Shoot! is a real example of how PlayStation brings people together and nurtures creativity,’ said Mark Hardy, European Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. ‘Encouraging people to share ideas and entertainment content that they’ve created themselves is a major part of what we’re about.

Carter Pilcher, CEO at Shorts International commented, “PlayStation Network provides us with a fantastic new way to bring short films to viewers.”

The Shoot! directors, their short films and their Executive Producers are:
Country Director Film Executive Producer
UK Joel Wilson Bitter Michael Winterbottom
Jamie Campbell
France Christophe Perie Citizen Hero Jan Kounen
Germany Uwe Flade Prison Food Marc Rothemund
Spain Xavi Jose Hands Montxo Armendariz
Scandinavia Klaus Thymann 8.3 Minutes Thomas Vinterberg
International Anthony Green The Dreaming Jerry Bruckheimer
The films have been shot to Hollywood production standard, are varied in their topics and feature leading actors from around the world, including: Colin Salmon (Tomorrow Never Dies, 8.3 Minutes), Phil Davies (Vera Drake, Secrets and Lies, Bitter) and John Sessions (In The Name Of The Father, Dylan, Bitter). The movies were shot at locations ranging from the legendary Pinewood Studios to the lakes and open spaces of Canada and New York City.

Accompanying each Shoot! film will be behind the scenes footage of the movies in production, interviews with the cast, crews and directors and the pitches the directors gave to introduce their movies. This will give a unique look at the world of short film making and show PlayStation Network users just what it takes to turn a movie idea into reality.
Bitter - Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell are two of the UK’s best young directors. They have worked on a number of short films as well as directing commercials for Virgin Trains, Kodak, Walkers Crisps and The Times newspaper and have now set up Eleven Film Limited, which has produced a number of Documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4. ‘Bitter’ is the tale of a man who is set to meet his daughter’s boyfriend for the first time. When he meets him he is faced with his worst nightmare - they are the same age and the meeting is a tale of the unexpected.

Citizen Hero - Christophe is a 30 year old young director. Before making movies, Christophe was artistic director for a number of commercials in Paris. During this period he had opportunity to work on some of the top French television commercials with feature film directors such as Rémy Belvaux (Man Bites Dog) and Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element).

At the same time Christophe worked as extras assistant-director on international feature films with directors such as M.Night Shyamalan, Ron Howard, Alfunso Cuaron, Gus Van Sant, Oliver Schmitz, Walter Salles.
In 2007, Christophe did his first short film ‘CUISINE AMERICAINE’, a four minute long black comedy. Once he had completed that, he came back into the world of advertising, but this time as a director. CITIZEN HERO is his second short film.

Christophe is working on his first feature film project - he prepares to shoot in 2009.

Prison Food - Uwe Flade was born in Munich in 1971, but now lives and works in Berlin where he is best known for working on music videos for artists including Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, In Extremo, Nickelback and Rammstein. His film, Prison Food, set during a very special Sunday in a single prison cell, is a tale of entrapment, tension and the power of the human imagination. With only a ball and the human mind, to comfort them, Flade’s characters envision a better life for themselves, free from their repetitive, helpless state. It’s only disrupted by reality rudely shattering their delicate fantasies.

Hands - Director Xavi Jose has built up an impressive resume as a cinematographer, photographer, and director of photography – with work from Berlin to Barcelona, with clients from Calvin Klein to the Swedish band Sahara Hotnights under his belt. His film, Hands, his first in the director’s seat, is a fascinating and melancholy character portrayal that reveals a new facet with every viewing. The story of a couple who live with a damaging secret, and the actions that pull them apart, it’s a tale that ultimately grips and shocks us. Xavi has brought his full array of talents to creating a film that looks as good as the script reads.

8.3 Minutes - Highly acclaimed photographer Klaus Thymann has proved a multi-talented force to be reckoned with. His photographic work has been featured in ID, Dazed & Confused, The Face, and GQ. Thymann has done visual campaigns for Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Adidas, BMW, and Nike, and co-founded the art and design-based Black Box magazine. His short film, 8.3, uses elements from Mayan culture and modern technology to explore the divide between science and mysticism. Thymann’s work asks just what differentiates our beliefs in the spiritual world from the facts that we cannot ignore. It’s a work that builds tension upon itself piece by piece, until all is revealed in a dramatic, surprising conclusion.

The Dreaming - Anthony Green is a young Canadian director interested in exploring global issues and contemporary morality through the medium of film. He currently lives in London, where as a recipient of the Graduate Merit Award, he is completing a post-graduate degree in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. His dissertation will focus on the motion picture industry’s role in facilitating social change.
Aged 21, Anthony wrote and directed PIGEON, his first short film to attract international acclaim. The film recounts the true story of Susi Penzias and her attempt to flee Nazi-occupied France in 1941. Besides playing at over two dozen film festivals and winning numerous awards, PIGEON is employed as a model in Ken Dancynger and Pat Cooper’s Writing the Short Film, and used in classrooms worldwide as a tool for educating students about the Holocaust.

In 2005 Anthony earned a BFA with honours from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His thesis film, SCREENING, explores the sensitive topic of racial profiling, capturing the anti-Islamic sentiment of post-9/11 America. The sixteen-minute short premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, and has gone on to play at festivals worldwide, winning over 20 prestigious awards. Most notably, in the spring of 2007, SCREENING won the Student Academy Award for Best Narrative Picture, as well as 6 Golden Sheaf awards including Best Drama and Best Director. In March 2008, SCREENING was among the nominees for Best Live Action Short at the Canadian Genie Awards.

Between his degrees, Anthony spent two years documenting the Rolling Stones’ “Bigger Bang” tour. Through 120 cities, in 40 countries, Anthony and his partner recorded the on-stage and behind-the-scenes life of the legendary rock band. The resulting 70-minute documentary, entitled Salt of the Earth, packaged with three live concerts, has already become one of the best-selling music DVDs of all time.

Anthony Green was born on June 21, 1982 in Toronto, Canada. He is presently in the process of researching and developing a story for his first feature-length project.

With its multimedia storage and PlayStation Network access, PS3 and PSP are giving people the chance to really explore their creative interests and passions - from gaming to photography, film to music. Following on from Movement’s focus on European music, the executive producers behind Shoot! and the emerging talent on board give a further taste of the breadth of experiences to be explored, shared, and adored online as part of this new global community.

So with 13th November 2008 in sights for arrival on PlayStation Network, get ready for Shoot! – free to download short movies available to all online PS3 and PSP owners. Have you got Shoot! in your sights?

More information on ‘Shoot’ can be found at http://www.PSShoot.com

Sounds interesting to me, some really good people involved in the project too.

[Number45]

Saw this earlier. I think it's an interesting idea, and might bring new people to the PSN if they market it in the right areas/channels.