Joshua Tree India Launches Short Film Competition 'The Mssing Plot'

“What happens when you know just a little and nothing more?”

With this intriguing tagline, Joshua Tree Films India debuts its '10 day- story idea to final executed film' online competition aptly called The Mssing Plot. 

Simply put, the contest is a “story to film” challenge where all contestants will be given just one opening scene and taking that they will be required to develop the story, shoot, edit and submit the final film within a span of ten days. The contestants will be free to take the story in any direction and choose any genre they want- romance, thriller, drama or comedy.

Aimed at independent filmmakers, advertising professionals, documentary filmmakers and others looking to showcase their creative voice, the concept of the competition is novel and extremely interesting for professional as well as amateur filmmakers. The competition will go live on the 2nd of May with the announcement of the opening scene and the participants will have ten days to upload the final film that needs to be done via withoutabox.com, Joshua Tree’s collaborative partner for the competition.

An illustrious and versatile panel of judges has been roped in for a rigorous and intense judging process that will include all the judges viewing and rating the submissions twice before a first round of shortlists is announced. 

“The idea behind having such a dynamic jury was to make sure that the entries were judged on all aspects and that the results are all encompassing. That’s why we approached directors, creative heads with advertising agencies, producers as well as cinematographers and we do we believe that we are very lucky to have gotten the jury that we finally did,” states Joshua Upputuru, founder and executive producer of Joshua Tree films. 

Spanish director Alejandro Toledo, England based producer and writer Alistair Fryer, ITSA India founder Emmanuel Upputuru, Australia based cinematographer Frank Flick, NY based director Marc Wilkins, Parisian director Pan Nalin, LA based director Andrew Baird and executive producer of Nomad films India & Prague Amitabh Bhattacharya form the full panel of judges for the contest.

"The best way to become a better filmmaker is not to study, not to read, not to watch films. But to practice.  To explore. To try. To error. The Mssing Plot is a wonderful challenge and a great opportunity for filmmakers all over the world to sharpen their storyteller-skills. I am excited to be part of the jury and can’t wait to watch the short cinematic treasures coming together,” said jury member Marc Wilkins about judging the contest.

With a gold and a silver statuette to be handed over in each category, there is an additional hook for all the gold category winners in the form of the ‘Red Statue’ for the Best Plot of the year Award. This will come with Euro 24k worth production services in Romania for their next short film.

“The Mssing Plot, beyond being a competition aims to be a platform where all filmmakers are inspired to create and showcase their ideas with full freedom and creativity. This, we feel the real strength of the competition and the prizes on offer are just bonuses on top,” further adds Upputuru. 

 “For a production company the challenge is always to find new talented directors. When my long time friend, Joshua, called me with his idea I said yes even before letting him to present all. I think it’s a great and huge opportunity for young talents to show what they are capable of. I’m very happy that we can offer our support and experience in production service to the winners and for sure we will see them in major film or advertising competitions in the years to come,” said Giuliano Doman of Family Film, Romania, the sponsor for 25K Euro worth of production support in Romania for the final winner of the Best Plot of the Year award.

The website for the competition is ready and open for registrations at themssingplot.com.