Time Life Names M. Stewart Thondike the Winner of the 2008 Young Filmmakers Challenge

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    FAIRFAX, Va., April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Time Life and RedMoonFilms
 announced M. Stewart Thorndike, a recent NYU Film School Graduate, as the
 winner of the 2008 Young Filmmakers Challenge.
 
     The Young Filmmakers' Challenge 2008 is an online skill-based
 competition that affords an opportunity for eligible student filmmakers and
 recent film school graduates to submit concepts for a proposed two-minute
 television commercial promoting a compact disc music product entitled "90s
 Rock".
 
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080402/NYW046 )
 
     90s Rock features Edwyn Collins, "A Girl Like You," Semisonic "Closing
 Time," Counting Crows "Mr. Jones," Sixpence None The Richer "Kiss Me,"
 Eagle- Eye-Cherry "Save Tonight," Del Amitri "Roll To Me," Toad The Wet
 Sprocket "Fall Down," Natalie Imbruglia "Torn," Barenaked Ladies "One
 Week," and 10,000 Maniacs "These Are Days."
 
     M. Stewart Thorndike's original commercial idea "LIBERATION" was chosen
 from a pool of concepts submitted by graduate film students and recent
 grads from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia
 University's School of the Arts, City College of New York's Media &
 Communications Department, and the Media Studies and Film Program of The
 New School.
 
     Thorndike received a check for $5,000, and will direct her concept
 "LIBERATION" for the 90s Rock Time Life spot. "I was so excited to get the
 call that I'd won the Young Filmmakers Challenge. It's awesome to be a
 recent graduate and have an opportunity to create and direct a commercial
 with Time Life. When I first thought of ideas for a 90s Rock commercial I
 immediately started thinking about the worst and most inappropriate setting
 to start singing and thought of a wedding."
 
     M. Stewart Thorndike is a native of the Seattle, Washington area, and
 has made several narrative films including a short for Converse Shoes,
 which aired on MTV stations, and is currently working on a feature film
 project.
 
     Jon Goodman, of RedMoonFilms explains, "LIBERATION, Stewart's 150-word
 commercial concept simply came to life on the page, and that's what it's
 all about. I was reading words but seeing images, and those images were
 imaginative, arresting, and compelling. The best filmmakers can communicate
 far more with pictures than words, and Stewart is clearly a master
 communicator. She just nailed it. Game over."
 
     Time Life is undeniably an industry leader in short-form, direct
 response commercials, and has generated millions in sales for its music and
 video catalogue. Their memorable music infomercials have changed the face
 of television. Michael Mitchell, the visionary behind the Young Filmmakers
 Challenge and Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Alliances, New
 Product Development at Time Life states "Many 2 minute short-form direct
 response commercials can lack in visual creativity as compared to the
 sophisticated advertising world. Young Filmmakers Challenge provides M.
 Stewart and future winners of YFC the opportunity to make a substantial
 contribution towards innovative and creative change".
 
     "LIBERATION" will begin pre-production shortly and is scheduled to air
 in May/June 2008.
 
     For additional information and interview requests, please contact Holly
 Cooper at (917) 597-3048 or ditinc@aol.com.
 
     About Time Life
 
     Time Life and the Time Life logo are registered trademarks of Time
 Warner Inc. and affiliated companies, used under license by Direct Holdings
 Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.
 Headquartered in Fairfax VA, Direct Holdings Americas Inc.'s history began
 in 1961 as Time Life a direct marketing division of Time Incorporated
 specializing in music and books. The business has been operated as a
 separate company since the mid-1970s when it relocated to Virginia, and has
 since grown to become one of the world's largest direct marketers of audio
 and video products throughout North America, Europe and Australia. The
 Company has set the standard in the direct response industry by pioneering
 direct marketing techniques and building one of the most trusted and
 recognized brands in commerce. The Company now also sells its products
 through major traditional and non-traditional retailers around the world as
 well as via the Internet. The Company was sold in 2003 to private
 investors.
 
     About Jon Goodman
 
     RedMoonFilms (RMF) is a NYC-based, content-focused, writing and
 producing company owned by Jon Goodman. An Emmy Award-winning writer,
 director and producer with a wealth of experience in narrative as well as
 documentary film and television, Jon supplies writing, producing and
 directing services to a range of broadcast clients. Over the course of his
 career, he has written, produced, directed and/or supervised more than 300
 hours of television for broadcast in the United States and abroad.
 
 
 

SOURCE Time Life