Roseau, Dominica – (June 20, 2018) The Dominica Film Challenge, an on-island video competition was launched this past Friday (June 15, 2018) at the Goodwill Parish Hall. Over the next three weeks, six select teams of the best videographers/storytellers on island will go out and film unique and compelling scenes of what Dominica has to offer visitors. The winning team will be rewarded with an EC$10,000 grand prize for the best promotional video.
The teams which are competing in the 2018 Film Challenge are:
– Armani Augustine and Garvin Leblanc
– Derek Galon and Margaret Gajek
– Sheldon Casimir and Norris Francois
– Marica Honeychurch and Arnaud Chabert
– Tridel Edwin and Elias Dupuis
– Ericson Joseph and Kreig Harris
Discover Dominica Authority, CEO Mr. Colin Piper, gave an overview of this year’s Film Challenge, which for the first time is featuring only locally based filmmakers. He stated, “The Authority has been observing the compelling and technically-advanced content being put out by a variety of local film-makers, and is taking the opportunity to allow them the chance to showcase their skills while promoting the Nature Island. These local film-makers are expected to use their intimate knowledge of the best experiences, adventures, views and adventures on island to showcase the island in all its glory.”
At the launch ceremony, the teams were each presented with a check of EC$4000 to facilitate their expense related to the production phase of the challenge.
Discover Dominica Authority encourages all Dominicans to follow the adventures of the Dominica Film Challenge teams over the next three weeks. This is a great opportunity for the Dominican communities at home and abroad to use the hashtags #Re-DiscoverDominica and #DominicaChallenge and create great momentum on the Social Media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as we collectively showcase the wonderful sites of Dominica to all.
While the participating teams will be given a lot of creative freedom in conceptualizing and filming their productions, each video will be required to feature a particular niche of Dominica’s tourism product such as hiking, history/culture, cuisine and health and wellness.
About the Dominica Film Challenge:
The DDA has hosted two earlier versions of the Film Challenge, in 2014 and 2015. The first event in 2014 featured 5 teams of participants from the US market. In the second version, participation was extended to include other markets such as France and Canada.
These earlier Film Challenges were a combination of social media ambassador programs, journalistic FAM trips and event competition. The chosen participants were all skilled filmmakers/photographers with large social media followings. To illustrate this point, following just the first Film Challenge, as a result of the competition the destination benefitted from 3,356 social posts, over 4.5 million consumptions (clicks to view), 1.1 million engagements (likes, shares, forwards) and over 60 million online impressions.
The challenge takes place from June 18 – July 9, 2018 with the final project submissions being posted online for a public vote at the end of July. Follow the participants online via twitter (@DominicaStory) or hashtag (#dominicachallenge) on Facebook and Instagram.
