Can you believe Made in the West is THIS month? That’s right - we’re officially 23 days out from this year's festival and we couldn’t be more excited!
Made in the West is on Saturday 23 November 2019 at Event Cinemas Liverpool. Doors open at 6pm for red carpet entry. Join us for the biggest night of the year on the Western Sydney calendar!
And yes we know you've probably got questions. When will we find out the line-up? When do the judges' scores come in? What can we expect on the night? Where do I get my tickets?
That's why we've put together this handy list for you! Read on to find out what's happening in the lead-up to the festival and what you can expect on the big night.
SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
TICKETS OPEN TOMORROW: Jump online to reserve your FREE tickets for this year's gala festival event then join us on the red carpet on Saturday 23 November at 6pm! Thanks to our wonderful venue sponsors, Event Cinemas in Liverpool, our 330-seat Vmax cinema has comfy leather armchairs, is fully licensed for drinks service, there'll be an in-cinema bar just for VIPs, and you can even pre-order food to pick up at intermission. Better yet, donate $100 to the festival for an Exclusive VIP ticket and we'll be treating you like the king and/or queen of the night you truly are!
JUDGES: Our judges are watching the films and reporting back to us with their scores very soon! We have a fantastic panel of judges this year - all NINE of our judges are successful filmmakers and artists themselves and we've already heard feedback that they are pretty impressed with the quality of films this year, so congratulations everyone!
FINALIST ANNOUNCEMENTS: We're expecting to announce the finalists next week! Keep an eye on our Facebook and Insta pages, or check back here on the website for the official announcement, as we reveal which of our amazing 42 semi-finalists will be seeing their films up on the big screen at Made in the West this year. We have a total screening time of about 2.5 hours, which is a small slice of the 11.5 hours of content submitted to the festival this year, but we'll make damn sure it's the tastiest slice of film pie for you to devour with us on the night.
AWARD NOMINATIONS: We’ll announce the nominations for our individual category prizes at the end of next week! This year's winners will share in a swag of filmmaker prizes and all the accolades that come with winning the Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editor, Best Sound Design, Best Original Score, Best Actress or Best Actor awards at Made in the West 2019.
FESTIVAL NIGHT: Doors at 6pm on Saturday 23 November at Event Cinemas in Liverpool. Finalists will be invited to share a glass of champagne with the judges and sponsors at our Pre-Festival Party – your invitations will arrive via email after we announce the finalists. The show kicks off at 6.30pm and seating is general admission so be on time to secure your seat! We'll screen two segments of films, both about 70mins duration, with intermission between so you can refresh your drinks and chat to your mates about which films you think might win your vote at the end of the night.
RED CARPET: Dress to impress, folks! There will be several snappers in the room so be prepared to have your photo taken! Gather your cast & crew for a great photo memento of the night in front of our festival banners and watch as our TV camera crew interviews the finalists on the red carpet. We’ll share all the pics & interviews with you after the event on our website and social pages.
FILMMAKER NETWORKING: VIP ticket holders only! All 58 filmmaker entrants are invited to join us in the VIP area during intermission to meet each other, talk about the films, and chat with some of our judges, sponsors and special guests. Best of all, you won't have to worry about lining up at the main bar for a drink because you will have access to our exclusive in-cinema VIP bar! Now we're talking.
AWARDS: All 8 individual category prizes will be awarded throughout the night. We’ll be screening 15 - 20 short films in total, and while the judges will already have decided the winners of our top two trophies, it is YOU that will decide the final award of the night. CAST YOUR VOTE for your 3 favourite films and we’ll tally the votes in the final intermission! After we’ve awarded the Best Student Film and Best in the West trophies, we’ll present one of our finalists with the highly coveted Audience Choice Award, as determined by your votes.
AFTER PARTY: Join us to celebrate with the festival winners as we party into the night at The Mac Hotel in their outdoor courtyard and lounge! The pub is about 800m from the cinema at the other end of the Macquarie Mall - we'll be heading over there at 11pm. The kitchen will be open until midnight for anyone wanting some late night pub grub.
DO YOU STILL HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?
Check out our FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS page for more info. You'll find travel info and approximate running times and all sorts of other goodies over there.
Meanwhile, get ready to RESERVE YOUR TICKETS when they are released tomorrow at 9am!
We're looking forward to seeing you at the festival.