Dear Volunteer,

It's that time of year again - The Shoot Out™ is returning for its fourth year to Boulder, Colorado!! The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival is held October 10-12th and is one of Boulder's most creative, unique, weird and fun events.

We offer you the opportunity of working with fellow film-making and film-loving enthusiasts, in a safe and respectful environment, with a common goal of making this the best experience possible for everyone involved.

These positions are volunteer only, and in certain agreed-upon cases, expenses will be paid for gas, etc. Lite meals and refreshments will be provided to all volunteers during the event. The Shoot Out Boulder will also provide T-Shirts to volunteers, and a free ticket to the gala event on Sunday after the successful completion of the volunteer tasks.

Here is a list and short description of the open positions. You will note there are Department Leads, and many of those Leads will oversee all the volunteers on their 'team'. There is a short form below that you can fill in and submit at the end of the email. Read the different descriptions, find something that appeals to you, and volunteer your time!

Best Regards,

Michael Conti
Executive Director

The Shoot Out Boulder asks filmmakers to trust their courage, imagination and determination by making a 7-minute film in just 24 hours. The challenge and skill involved becomes evident with the list of required technical, material, and timing 'rules' for creating the films. The Shoot Out Boulder makes it possible for amateur as well as professional filmmakers to showcase their talents, gain experience, and have the potential to create an award-winning film in one weekend. It also creates a unique setting for the community to see the filmmakers’ work and to share in the excitement of filmmaking firsthand. Visit our website to find out more about this unique event.

Pearl Street Mall Pavilion Hours: Friday, Setup 2:00 PM, Reg. Begins 4-6 PM, Saturday Setup, 3 PM, Tape Return 4-6 PM, Tear Down at 6:30 PM

Pavilion Coordinator
This person will need to be on hand to coordinate and oversee the raising of The Shoot Out Pavilion on Friday afternoon. It will need to be taken down Friday night, re-raised Saturday afternoon, and taken down again Saturday night. The Pavilion will be stored in a rental truck on Pearl Street at 13th. This person would coordinate the pick-up and return of the rental truck and other rental items.

Click this box to be considered for the Pavilion Coordinator position.

Pavilion Assistants (4 people needed) [October 11-12] Friday, Setup 2 PM, Reg. Tear Down 6:30 PM, Saturday Setup, 3 PM, Tear Down at 6:30 PM
These volunteers would need to be on hand to coordinate putting up The Shoot Out Pavilion on Friday afternoon, taking it down Friday night, and re-raising it Saturday morning, and taking it down again Saturday night.

Click this box to be considered for one of the Pavilion assistant position.

Registration/Tape Turn-In Lead [October 10-11] Saturday Setup, 3 PM, Tape Return 4-6 PM, Tear Down at 6:30 PM
This person will need to coordinate the volunteers in The Shoot Out Pavilion on the Pearl Street Mall. They will make sure the volunteers have the materials they need to register teams, organize goodie bags for the teams, hand out the numbered Mini DV tapes, and keep the cash box accurate. Also, this person will organize the Mini DV tape turn-in volunteers and keep the flow of tapes going with the tape runners to the Boulder Outlook Hotel for Saturday evening.

Click this box if you are interested in being considered for the Registration/Tape Turn-In Lead position.

Registration Volunteers (6 - 8 people needed) [October 10] Friday, Training 3:00 PM, Registration 4-6 PM.
These folks will help teams register by ensuring they fill out registration forms correctly. They will take VISA/MC, checks and cash, hand out goodie bags, and check in with the Registration Lead at the end of their shifts.

Click this box if you are interested in being consider for one of the Registration assistant position.

Tape Turn-In Volunteers (6 - 8 people needed) [October 11] Saturday Setup 3 AM, Tape Return 4-6 PM, Tear Down at 6:30 PM
These folks will accept mini DVs from the teams, mark them entered, do paperwork for add-ons to the team for judging consideration, and organize them for the Tape Runners to bring to the Boulder Outlook Hotel for judging.

Click this box if you are interested in being considered for the Tape Turn-In position.

“Bouncer” (2) [October 11] 5-6 PM, Saturday Night Only
These will be big burly guys or gals who make it understood that there will be no late tapes accepted into the contest no matter how creative the excuse.

Click this box if you are interested in being considered for the Bouncer position.

Tape Runner (2 people needed) [October 11] 4-7 PM, Saturday Night Only
These will be folks with their own cars who can bring tapes to the Boulder Outlook Hotel for judging until the Tape Turn-In time closes. Gas money will be provided. BIFF Office's Dubbing Department Hours: Friday, Pick up Equipment, Dubbing Open 4-6 PM, Tear Down at 6:30 PM. Return equipment Monday.

Click this box if you are interested in being considered for the Tape Runner position.

Located at the Boulder Media Center near 12th and Pearl Street, basement level. Hours Setup/Training 11 AM, 1 PM – 9 PM, Saturday Only.

Technical Dub Lead [October 10-11] Pick-up Equipment Friday, Setup/Training 11 AM, 12 PM – 5:30 PM, Saturday, Return Equipment Monday
Tech Dub Lead will be responsible for making sure the dub stations are properly setup, and will provide training to the volunteers to insure that participants are able to dub their materials in a timely manner. Lead will also be responsible for picking up and returning the equipment if needed.

Click this box to be considered for the Tech Dub Lead position.

Dub Station Attendants (6 people needed) [October 11] Setup/Training 11 AM, 12 PM – 5:30 PM
These folks will keep the dubbing machines going and the musicians supplied with snacks and water, and will keep the allotted time slots on time per team.

Click this box to be considered for the Dub Station Attendant position.

Music Department Coordinator (1 person needed) [September 27 -October 11]
The person will help find musicians interested in participating in the dub station recordings. The musician performs in real time an accompanying track while the filmmaker is dubbing back to the provided mini DV.

Click this box to be considered for the Music Dept. Coordinator position.

Musicians (5 people needed) [October 11] 11 AM – 5 PM, Saturday – 2 hour commitments
These artists will work with filmmakers in providing a sound track from a single instrument (i.e. a guitar).

Click this box if you are interested in supporting the efforts as a performer.

All volunteers will be required to attend a training session prior to their shift to insure proper machine usage. Technical support is available to the participating teams.

Sponsor Relations [October 5-12)
This is a key volunteer who would handle making sure the sponsors get the information they need to attend the event (i.e. guest list). This person would also make sure sponsorship fulfillment was accomplished by tracking status of sponsors' commitments.

Click this box to be considered for the sponsor relations position.

Judging Department Hours: Prelim Judging Sat. 4 PM- 12 PM Sunday. There are a variety of shifts that will occur during this time period.

Preliminary Judging Coordinators [October 11-12] These folks will each take a preliminary judging segment (Saturday evening, or Sunday morning) and coordinate the volunteers and the monitors for watching the DVs, making sure everyone is comfortable with their tasks. They will mediate the final showing of the top ten film from each segment and if there are more than 10 films, will help the judges reduce to a manageable number close to 10. They will also set aside the tapes that are 'too close to call' for the second round of preliminary judging.

They will also come to the second round of judging, from Sunday morning to show time on Sunday afternoon, helping the judges reduce the films from 20 or so DVs to 10. These coordinators will advocate for the close calls to be viewed again if they believe the films warrant a second look. They will also handle the tiebreakers.

Preliminary Judges (30 – 45) [October 11-12] 4 hour time slots from 4 PM Saturday until 12 PM Sunday.
These folks will take one of two slots (Saturday evening or Sunday early morning) to review DVs from The Shoot Out. They will watch between 10-15 DVs and reduce them to their favorite 3. Then they will gather as a group to watch the top choices, reducing the group to ten. Each of the group of 10 will be forwarded to the second round of preliminary judging.

The second round of preliminary judging should have a minimum of 13 judges, they should have been judges in round one or two in last year’s event so they have some idea of what is expected.

All preliminary judges will receive one free ticket for the gala screening.

Click this box to be considered for the preliminary judging position and/or runner assistant position.

The Boulder Theater Hours: Sunday, Setup 10 AM, Doors open at 12 PM for general admission, Show 1 PM until 3 PM. Tear Down after the Show.

Event Runners (6 - 8 people needed) [October 12]
These folks will assist at the Gala Screening and will act as Event Runners/Production Assistants. They will assist the producer of the show, in anyway needed. Some may sell t-shirts and beanies in the foyer.

Click this box to be considered for the event runner position.