Kevin McCloud offers budding Welsh filmmakers the chance to win £1,500 and a short film commission. Blue movies are so passé. But green movies, now that is in vogue. Kevin McCloud is launching a UK-wide competition to find budding filmmakers who can use their creativity to encourage people to green their homes.
As part of the Great British Refurb (GBR) campaign with support from Canon UK and the University of the Arts London, the competition is seeking people willing to get ‘innovative with insulation’ and ‘excited about energy savings’ and create a short film that will inspire people into improving the energy efficiency of their homes, just in time for the UK government’s new Green Deal scheme.
About 250,000 homes in Wales – some 20% of the housing stock – are in the worst F and G categories for energy ratings. It’s estimated that over half of our lofts have less than 150mm of insulation, well below the 270mm recommended by building regulations. Poorly insulated homes use up lots of energy and cost homeowners a small fortune to run as well as being bad for the planet. The UK Government’s Green Deal programme aims to offer every home in the UK an energy saving refurbishment by 2030 to help reduce carbon emissions and help tackle climate change.
The winning film – which will be judged by Kevin McCloud, UK Energy Minister Greg Barker and several other judges from the worlds of business and film – will be rewarded with a cash prize of £1,500, HD camera film equipment from Canon UK, plus the commission to produce a campaign film for GBR partner WWF-UK.
"It’s a painful but true fact that not many people get overly excited by the thought of a full energy efficiency makeover to their homes. But they should as this is about homes that are warmer, cheaper to run and kinder to the planet. What’s not to like? So we want to see people throw their creative filming talent at overturning the ongoing public apathy to these issues," said Kevin McCloud.
Some of the UK’s top names from marketing, advertising and film will judge the competition, which launched on 1 December and closes on Monday 16 January 2012. A shortlist of entrants will be invited to attend an event in London on Monday 30 January 2012, where the winner will be announced. Prizes will also be given for second and third place. To view the full film brief along with supporting information for entrants then please visit this link: http://www.greatbritishrefurb.co.uk/film-competition
The Great British Refurb campaign aims to make home energy refurbishment easy, affordable and attractive and this competition is part of a drive to encourage people to think about home energy refurbishments in a new light, sparking fresh ideas and approaches on the issue.