Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
The first deep breaths of voting are happening at the StoryHive website. Prince George short-film Final Breath is in the running.
The 10-minute movie is up against 29 other finalists. Each of them is made by a female director (this year's StoryHive competition theme), and each one is shot with digital camera equipment. The films come from all over B.C. and Alberta.
Final Breath was directed and co-written by first-time auteur Kim Feragen. It was loosely based on an actual incident from her youth that both scared and inspired her.
She worked with more experienced Prince George filmmaker Norm Coyne to flesh out the story, implement some creative elements of fiction and build an all-local production out of it.
They submitted an official pitch in the StoryHive process (this Telus subsidiary has a few annual competitions to boost the grassroots film industries of B.C. and Alberta) and it passed through to the production round. That meant they got an injection of cash funding to make the movie and a chance to vie for the grand prize. Winners are selected by online votes.
Now, the stakes are not financial, they are professional. The top two vote-getters will be presented with filmmaking equipment and mentorship so as to contribute to a future film industry in their local areas.
"The prize is so big for us if we win," said Feragen on Monday, the first day of voting.
"It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The education, training and opportunities it opens up are gigantic for the team, and the region. I want to win so bad - it's all that I will be thinking about all week 'till voting is over."
To vote for Final Breath, log onto the StoryHive website, click on the Digital Shorts button and look for the Final Breath display in the list of films. You can vote once per day up to and including Friday, and once per internet device you have. If you have a work computer, a home computer, a cell phone and an iPad, for example, that means you can vote once per day on each of those machines.
