All Over Albany

Edwood film camp

If what you really want to do is direct , here's your big chance.

Inspired by the iconic campy film director Ed Wood, the folks from the Edwood Film Fest are back at work on their 11th local independent film festival. This year organizer Peter Barnett has added a new twist for wannabe filmmakers.

Along with the festival's annual short film contests, organizers have thrown weekend film camps and film contests into the mix.

A faculty of industry professionals is holding the People's Film Camp, where they'll be workshopping original screenplays that participants can later submit to the festival's short film contest. There are still two weekend sessions available, May 17-18 and June 14-15. Each two-day session costs $30 and will take place at the Steamer 10 Theater

There's also still time to get in on the weekend film contests. Individual filmmakers or teams will have no more than a weekend to produce a short film. There's another catch, though. Teams must sign up in advance, but they won't get instructions for the contest until the Friday evening of the contest. Selected films from the contests will be screened at the Spectrum 8 Theater in September. The contests are also $30, and there are still two more ahead -- on May 23-24 and June 21-22.

Information on the camps or the contests is available on the festival's web site. You can also contact Peter Barnett at peter@ewfilm.com or 518-878-9021.