AGENDA NEWS
Women’s Weekend Film Challenge returns
A crew of 180 filmmakers joined forces to produce six short films from 11-14 August, as part of the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge in New York. Participants wrote, shot and edited films in 84 hours, scouting locations for shoots around the city. The WWFC was set up to address the lack of women and non-binary people behind the camera and on-screen. This was its fifth film challenge event, and the first since the pandemic forced productions across the country to shut down. Previous challenges – three in New York and one in LA – saw more than 700 attendees make 30 short films, screened at more than 90 film festivals. Almost 600 applied to fill every role of production – from gaffers and sound mixers to writers and actors. Organisers placed the lucky 180 into crews, ensuring each team had the talent they needed.
GROUP WORK New York hosted the unique workshop weekend, where six films were created from writing through to production
“Our community was hungry for this after Covid-19 shut down production,” said organiser Tracy Sayre. “This is our first in-person programme since, and the record-breaking number of submissions we received shows how much interest there is in networking with a diverse group of women and non-binary filmmakers.” Equipment, software, insurance and funding was provided by the likes of Zeiss, Sony, Arri, AbelCine and more. womensweekendfilmchallenge.com
“Almost 600 applied to fill every role – from gaffers and sound mixers to writers and actors”
TAMRON’S WIDER SUPERZOOM Tamron is almost finished developing an ultra-telephoto mirrorless zoom for Sony E-mount full-frame cameras: the 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD. With an 8x zoom ratio starting at 50mm, it’s the same size as classic 100-400mm zooms, with a wider angle of view. It is 18.3cm/7.2in long and weighs 1155g/2.55lb, with a quiet VXD linear motor focus mechanism and IS. Providing up to half-size magnification during close focus, it is 25cm/9.8in at the 50mm end. Filter size is 67mm to match other Tamrons. The lens also features a port to enable dedicated Tamron Lens Utility software for customising lens functions. It should be available in late autumn; no prices have been set. transcontinenta.co.uk
FREE UPGRADE Owners of two of the latest Rotolights can now control them via the smartphone app
APPY DAYS AT ROTOLIGHT
found on the latest generation of Rotolights, meaning users can choose from 16.7 million colours, create custom presets, access key features and recall most-used settings. This is ideal for when the light fixture is inside a modifier, or is awkward to access on-set. rotolight.com
Rotolight has launched a new app for its latest Neo 3 and AEOS 2 lights. The free app works on iOS and Android tablets and phones, allowing you to employ your device to adjust kelvin, brightness, HSI, gels, flash settings and SFX – on up to 20 lights. It features a virtual replica of the touchscreen
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