2 from UI make MTVu semis

By Amanda Masker / THE DAILY IOWAN / November 1, 2005

A set of UI filmmakers have qualified for the semifinals in an mtvU film contest for the second year in a row.

When mtvU called out to universities across the nation offering development deals and home-entertainment systems to the entrant with the best film trailer, UI juniors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods answered. They recently learned they became semifinalists in the Best Film on Campus: Trailer Challenge Contest.

Both men created trailers to films they had previously made together via Bluebox Limited, the production company they created in high school, in hopes that by winning the contest, they could re-create the selected film on a larger budget with bigger named actors.

Beck entered a drama he wrote and directed titled University Heights, a character piece about four lives on a college campus and the conflicts they endure.

Woods entered Her Summer, a thriller he wrote and directed, in which two friends delve through a box of evidence from a murder case and speculate what happened. The trailer reveals "An unsolved case. A box of evidence. One unforgettable story."

While the duo isn't hoping for one trailer over the other, Beck speculated that " Her Summer probably applies more to the MTV audience." But both films have their merits, he added.

Both Beck and Woods are communication studies majors with a passion for telling stories.

Last year, the duo's collaborative short film finished in the top three of the Best Film on Campus contest. However, contests are not a main focus of the filmmaking team, Woods said.

"We don't really do this often. We have entered about four contests," he said, adding they gauge contests by the prizes that will further their filmmaking careers.

Being semifinalists is really exciting for the duo, because a lot of people don't think of Iowa as a state of film, Woods said, adding, "We live in a state where filmmaking is exciting."

The UI is the only university to have two semifinalists in the competition.

"It says a lot about Iowa, as a state with filmmaking," Woods said.