Apple Technology supported Campus MovieFest Bay Area Grand Finale Film Festival

Top honors were awarded to 16 teams of San Francisco Bay Area university students on October 19th for their achievements in film at the Campus MovieFest Bay Area Grand Finale at San Jose's historic California Theatre. The sold-out red carpet evening was the culminating event of the three month long Northern California stop on the world's largest student film festival's 2007-2008 tour. The incredible short films were made within just one week using Apple technology provided by Campus MovieFest, all for free thanks to supporting partners including AT&T. The Apple technology included an Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro loaded with iLife '08, Final Cut Studio and everything else they needed to create the films.

The winners of the Campus MovieFest Bay Area Grand Finale include:

Campus MovieFest Best Picture
"Bobby’s House" by team Ubsey Movies – San Jose State University

Campus MovieFest Best Comedy
"Love Struck" by team Trigen Pictures – San Jose State University

Campus MovieFest Best Drama
"Medo and the Dragon" by team Out of the Convent – UC Berkeley

AT&T Best Use of Mobile
"Charly & Estella" by team PI (Politically Incorrect) – San Jose State University

Campus MovieFest Audience Choice Award
"Love Struck" by team Trigen Pictures – San Jose State University

Campus MovieFest Best Soundtrack
"I Need You Back" by team Life's So Hard – San Jose State University

Over $400,000 in prizing will be awarded to CMF winning teams during this year's tour. Each of the Campus MovieFest Best Picture team members won Mac mini computers loaded with iLife and Final Cut Studio software. The short movie will be featured at Silicon Valley’s internationally recognized film festival, Cinequest, in 2008. Best Comedy and Best Drama award winners took home an iPod touch for each member of the team. The top three films will also be showcased on AT&T's CV video service and Red, Virgin America's in-flight entertainment system. The AT&T Best Use of Mobile award winners received an American Express gift card and move on for a chance to win mobile phones. Finally, the Best Soundtrack winner earned Logic Studio software.

The winners, selected by a panel of filmmakers, partner companies, students, and faculty, were chosen from films made by students at the six participating Bay Area colleges: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, University of the Pacific, Sonoma State, San Jose State, and Stanford University. Over 550 teams of students from these schools participated in this year's film festival. The evening's top shorts will now compete against those made by university students in the Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Alabama, Boston, and Atlanta regions at the Campus MovieFest National Grand Finale in 2008.

All of the top 16 films may be on the Campus MovieFest Web page. [Bill Fox].