Comics, films vie for festival places

The Montreal Just For Laughs comedy festival is on the look-out for short comedy films.

The Eat My Shorts! film festival runs alongside the stand-up showcases in July.

Previous entrants have included The Spirit of Christmas, the animated short that became South Park and True, that was developed into the Budweiser "Whassup?!"adverts.

There is also a separate section for edgier films, and another for French language shorts.

The deadline for submissions is April 30, and films should preferably be under 10 minutes long, on VHS or DVD, clearly labeled with running time and contact information.

Send tapes - which will not be returned - to Katharine Harris/Just For Laughs ­ 2101 St. Laurent, Montreal, QC, Canada H2X 2T5.

Meanwhile, representatives from the stand-up festival will be heading to London later this month to see those British comedians hoping to perform at the event.

Milton Jones, Brendon Burns, Ian Stone, Ian Moore and Mathew Osborne.are among those 'auditioning' at the Comedy Store on April 14. The show is open to the public, with proceeds going to the Comedy Store Fund For Sick Children.

Just For Laughs is one of the world's largest comedy festival, and is a favourite with US television executives - with 1,200 industry folk attending last year.

In total more than 1,700,000 people enjoyed over 2,000 Just For Laughs shows in 2002.

Just For Laughs

Published: 3 Apr 2003