CAMPUS MOVIEFEST: THE HISTORY

Like the story from a classic Hollywood film, Campus MovieFest (CMF) came from a humble beginning. Six years ago, a band of friends attending Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia thought it would be fun to give computers, camcorders and the training to residence hall students to make their own movies and then share the five minute films the teams created. The four Emory students had no idea the project would change the course of their lives and the lives of countless students across the globe as the program grew to become the world’s largest student film festival.

Now much has changed since that first festival in 2001. The team has doubled in size over the years and the four founding fathers, David Roemer, Dan Costa, Vijay Makar and Ajay Pillarisetti no longer live in the office, but the mission and passion remains the same. The goal of CMF is still to showcase the next generation of moviemakers and empower people everywhere to share their stories with the world – a vision that has provided students the chance to learn skills that will be beneficial throughout their lives.

The numbers of students participating in Campus MovieFest each year have grown significantly since the first 1,500 students. 75,000 students attending 25 different schools in the United States and the UK have made over three thousand movies and CMF is just getting started. CMF has awarded over $300,000 in prizes, plus the events offer global exposure to students thanks to partners including TBS and Turner Classic Movies as well as media coverage from the Today Show to ABC World News Tonight to CNN. The phenomenon shows no sign of slowing either because, as long as students have a story to tell, CMF will be there to bring their tale to the world.

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