Filmaka Announces Winner from Annual Film Competition; 21 Year-Old Aspiring Filmmaker Lands Opportunity to Direct First Feature Film

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filmaka (www.filmaka.com), a global digital entertainment studio and robust online creative community, today announced Nuru Rimington-Mkali as the winner of its first annual feature film competition with his short “And I Refuse to Forget.” Hailing from London, the 21 year-old aspiring filmmaker was awarded the opportunity to direct his first feature film, which Filmaka will produce.

Filmaka, founded by acclaimed film producer Deepak Nayar and led by renowned industry executive, Sandy Grushow, is committed to inspiring, celebrating, and rewarding creativity and talent by providing a variety of professional opportunities for undiscovered filmmakers and writers from all corners of the world. Competitions are juried by industry leaders including Colin Firth (Bridget Jones Diary), Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn), Neil LaBute (Nurse Betty), John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand), Paul Schrader (Raging Bull), Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire).

“The quality of films Filmaka received was excellent! In a community of more than 3,600 filmmakers and film lovers, Nuru stood out among them and rose to the top,” said Deepak Nayar, Founder and CEO, Filmaka. “We look forward to producing his first feature film.”

Grushow added, “Nuru is a great example of how Filmaka creates professional opportunities for undiscovered talent. Our annual competitions are a powerful engine for generating top-quality content from our expanding community. We look forward to working with many of the 2007 finalists and in seeing the exciting new works our 2008 competitions will deliver!”

Rimington-Mkali, along with 36 other competitors, vied for the highly sought after grand prize in the final competition themed, “The Secret Adventures of ….” Entrants originated from 15 different countries including Japan, India, Portugal, Venezuela, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, and the United States. During the last stages of the competition, Rimington-Mkali and six other finalists pitched their film and series concepts to Nayar and Grushow. The finalists also met with agents from William Morris Agency as well as Filmaka Jury members Bill Pullman and Zak Penn.

Acclaimed writer/director Neil LaBute was one of the many jury members who reviewed the finalist’s films. “I found Nuru’s film (And I Refuse to Forget) a wonderfully impressive ‘paranoid thriller’ that was told with great economy and vivid imagery,” said LaBute. “I was also duly impressed with his technical work on the picture – which was very assured – and I feel that Nuru has great potential as a feature director. I really look forward to the next step in his already interesting career.”

“I am so honored to be recognized by Filmaka for my short,” said Rimington-Mkali. “I have been making films for several years, spurred by a passion for cinema and joining the Filmaka community has allowed me to pursue my ultimate dream of creating a feature film.”

Luis Bernal Salazar (Mexico City, Mexico) was awarded $5,000 as first runner up while Noah Harald (Los Angeles, California, U.S.), Anne Heeno (Copenhagen, Denmark), Max Sacker (Berlin, Germany), Santiago Tapia (Boston, Massachusetts U.S.), and Cullen Paul Wright (Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.) were named runner-ups and awarded $2,000 each. A complete list of finalists is below and all 37 final films can be viewed on www.filmaka.com.

Today Filmaka also launches its 2008 annual feature film competition, themed “Behind Closed Doors.” Once again, a series of competitions will result in one talented, aspiring filmmaker being awarded the dream of a lifetime, the opportunity to direct a feature film produced by Filmaka. Go to www.filmaka.com for details.

Complete List of 2007 Filmaka Feature Film Finalists

Nuru Rimington-Mkali (Winner) London, England, UK

Luis Bernal Salazar (1^st Runner-Up) Mexico City, Mexico

Noah Harald (Runner-Up) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Anne Heeno (Runner-Up) Frederiksberg, Denmark

Max Sacker (Runner-Up) Berlin, Germany

Santiago Tapia (Runner-Up) Boston, MA, USA

Cullen Paul Wright (Runner-Up) Lincoln,NE, USA

Joe Anderson (Finalist) London, England, UK

Hedia Anvar (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Daniel Barosa (Finalist) Buenos Aires, Argentina

Rudolf Buitendach (Finalist) London, England, UK

Simăo Cayatte (Finalist) Lisboa, Portugal

Ted Chung (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Richard de Almeida (Finalist) Lisboa, Portugal

William Donaruma (Finalist) Granger, IN, USA

Sahra Girshick (Finalist) London, England, UK

Trevor Hardy (Finalist) Lancing, England, UK

Varda Hardy (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Randy Hines (Finalist) Austin, TX, USA

Byron Husky (Finalist) Kansas City, MO, USA

Anshul Joshi (Finalist) Mumbai, India

Smita Kapoor (Finalist) Mumbai, India

Anastasia Kirillova (Finalist) London, England, UK

Hugo Lilja (Finalist) Stockholm, Sweden

Karoly Ujj Meszaros (Finalist), Budapest, Hungary

Terry Miles (Finalist), Vancouver, BC, Canada

Emil Mkrttchian (Finalist) Kista, Sweden

Miguel Nienstadt (Finalist) Caracas, Venezuela

Azi Rahman (Finalist) London, England, UK

Kevin Redford (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Fernando Reyes (Finalist) Mexico DF, Mexico

Barbara Rothenborg (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Ambika Samarthya (Finalist) Los Angeles, CA, USA

Fili Seifert (Finalist) Copenhagen, Denmark

Wataru Uno (Finalist) Tokyo, Japan

Brett Wagner (Finalist) Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Richard P Wojcicki (Finalist) Centerport, NY, USA

ABOUT FILMAKA

Filmaka (www.filmaka.com) is a global digital entertainment studio and robust on-line creative community for aspiring filmmakers. Filmaka is committed to inspiring, celebrating and rewarding creativity and talent by providing professional opportunities for undiscovered filmmakers and writers from all around the world. The unique mechanism is a series of competitions which are juried by industry leaders. Each month, Filmaka challenges its community to create original, professionally produced high-quality scripted and unscripted films, Web series, and branded entertainment, ranging from funny or provocative, to dramatic or animated. Rewards range from cash prizes to the opportunity to create series for traditional and digital media. Filmaka will also produce at least one feature film and documentary directed by community members.