The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s recently announced partnership has spawned its first initiative, PROJECT STARGAZER: Developing Diverse Sci Fi Movies for the 21st Century.   With a mission to encourage and support creative, multicultural works in the science fiction genre, PROJECT STARGAZER is a competition for screenwriters and filmmakers to create a sci-fi filmed entertainment project featuring NASA technology. It will provide writers and filmmakers from diverse communities with new resources to tell science fiction stories that capture science facts resulting from NASA science missions.  The announcement was made by Tanya Kersey, Founder and Executive Director, HBFF.

The goal of PROJECT STARGAZER is to identify great science fiction story ideas and encourage emerging visionary screenwriting talent from diverse communities.  The program seeks to identify strong and thoughtful stories that incorporate NASA science facts and technology; stories that force the viewer to question reality; that explore reality and our perception of it; and that challenge us with the mystery of the mind and the universe.

“We’re looking for ideas and stories that can be developed into scripts, and ultimately films that captivate broad audiences as well as inspire future generations of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) enthusiasts,” says Ms. Kersey.  “We want to nurture and celebrate the next generation of diverse sci-fi storytellers.”

“Projects may incorporate future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, paranormal abilities, infinity, immortality, what is human, time, space, consciousness, etc.  It’s up to you,” added Tony Chamblee, Program Director, PROJECT STARGAZER. You can find out about NASA technology at: http://www.nasa.gov/,http://www.youtube.com/user/NASAexplorer or  http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/featured_tech.shtm.

Anyone from first-time screenwriters and filmmakers to seasoned professionals can submit their story idea to PROJECT STARGAZER.  Applicants must integrate at least one NASA technology into their submission.  Submissions must include a logline, synopsis, treatment and an artistic statement describing your creative vision for the project.  Submissions must also clearly feature one or more NASA technologies.  The main characters should reflect the multi-cultural panorama of the 21st century. A panel of industry and NASA judges will score each submission based on originality, story idea, characters, tone, visual style, marketability, and use of NASA technology. Ten (10) semi-finalist Stargazers will be selected.

At HBFF 2013, the semi-finalist Stargazers will participate in an intensive workshop that includes individual one-on-one meetings and master classes with top industry writers, directors, producers and science/technology consultants to assist in the further development of the Stargazer projects. Each Stargazer will have the opportunity to pitch their projects to a panel of judges who will select three Stargazer finalists to participate in the 2014 PROJECT STARGAZER Lab.  Finalists will be announced at the HBFF 2013 Closing Night Ceremony.

For complete details including submissions guidelines and entry dates for PROJECT STARGAZER, http://www.hbff.org/hbff-2013-project-stargazer-faqs/.

To submit your story idea to PROJECT STARGAZER visit http://www.hbff.org/submit-to-hbff-2013-project-stargazer/.

The 13th Annual Hollywood Black Film Festival runs October 2-6, 2013 in Hollywood, CA.  For more information: http://www.hbff.org.  Like HBFF on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/hollywoodblackfilmfestival.  Follow HBFF on Twitter at:http://www.twitter.com/hbff.

About the Hollywood Black Film Festival

Founded in 1998, the Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) aims to enhance the careers of emerging and established Black filmmakers through a public exhibition, competition program and industry panels.  Known amongst the entertainment industry’s powerbrokers as, “The Black Sundance,” the festival brings independent works of accomplished and aspiring black filmmakers to an environment encompassing the mainstream Hollywood community and Southern California film-going audiences. The festival’s goal is to play an integral role in discovering and launching independent films and filmmakers by bringing them to the attention of the industry, press and public.  For more information on the Hollywood Black Film Festival, visitwww.hbff.org, email: info@hbff.org.