Festival Director, Martinus Geleynse, talks with Raquel Rakovac about the Hamilton 24 Festival, better known locally as the H24.
Place: Theatre Aquarius
Date: May 25th, 2011
http://www.h24.ca
About the H24 (content from their web site)
The HAMILTON24 was founded in the Spring of 2008 as the Hamilton 24-Hour Film Festival. The idea was simple: to hold a fun, community-enhancing event in which filmmakers would produce short films within a 24-hour period and then screen them publicly. With only two months of planning, the event became an overnight success. Fourteen filmmaking teams registered, and the screening audience numbered nearly 200 people! Three industry judges (including Gemini-winning Canadian producer Peter Meyboom) juried the films, and prizes worth nearly $7000 were distributed.
The following year, the festival grew dramatically with 37 filmmaking teams registered, and 400 people in the screening audience. In fact, many potential audience members were turned away at the door! The screening had sold out in only 4 days. Jury members included actor Yannick Bisson (Murdoch Mysteries, Sue Thomas F.B. Eye), talent agency owner Debi Mcguin, and Karen Black (Director of Canadian Programming/Initiatives for Toronto International Film Festival). The 2009 festival included workshops, networking events and parties, and a small industry fair.
In response to the incredible creative potential in the Greater Hamilton Area, festival organizers decided to expand the 2010 festival by including new 24-hour events in fashion, dance, and music. Jury members included Jason Meyers (Project Runway Canada), Gerry Flahive (National Film Board), Barbara Sedun (Sr. VP, EMI Music Publishing), and dancer/choreographer Shawn Byfield, among others. Once again, Hamilton rose to the occasion, and filled each category to capacity! The festival boasted 109 teams in the four events, and audience attendance topped 1500.
Most recently, the HAMILTON24 was named runner-up at the 2010 Hamilton Tourism Awards in the "Large Festival of the Year" Category.
Festival Producer - Martinus Geleynse
A creative entrepreneur and producer, Martinus Geleynse is the owner and CEO of the MG International Group of Companies. His companies include NU Integrated Marketing + Communications, HomeSight Real Estate Media, urbanicity, and the HAMILTON24 Festival.
As a producer, Martinus has worked in multiple forms of media across North America, South America, Europe, and Africa. His short film work has been honoured with several film festival selections in the USA and Europe, including winning the award for "Most Promising Filmmaker" in 2005 at Nuremberg, Germany.
Martinus is an avid musician and producer having achieved widespread radio airplay and years of performance experience. Recent credits include producing and recording the song, "Molly" for Canadian Olympic gold medalists Jamie Salé and David Pelletier in the Smucker's Stars on Ice 2008-2009 North American figure-skating tour.
Recognized in the spring of 2010 as one of the "10 Change-Makers in Hamilton" by Hamilton Magazine, Martinus been featured on the cover of Panorama Magazine as one of four leading entrepreneurs in the City of Hamilton (February/March 2010). Martinus is a two-time Hamilton Tourism Award runner-up as "Cultural/Entertainment Ambassador of the Year" (2010, 2011), and won the award for "Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010" in the 2011 Hamilton Outstanding Business Achievement Awards.
Heavily involved in his community, Martinus has taught media to at-risk youth at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts and served as Director of Hamilton Film Week 2008. He recently served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Factory: Hamilton Media Arts Centre and as a member of the Media and Performance committee of the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
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Martyn Kendrick talking about the Hamilton 24 Festivalby imagegallery205217 views
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