The Spark Arts Festival, presented by Arts Build and Chattanooga Presents, featuring arts events throughout the region from April 11-24, will include a film festival focusing on local outdoor activities. 

The Local Hero Project seeks local entries of three-minute hi-def videos to feature at the Chattanooga's mini, mini-film festival April 11, at Mellow Mushroom in downtown Chattanooga.   

Organizers are now collecting produced three-minute (or less) videos, for a public showing at 5 p.m. on a continuous loop on the restaurant’s big screen and other monitors.  Professional and amateur videographers, alike, are invited to enter. The only requirement for entry is a central focus on the greater Chattanooga area’s outdoor experience…from the serene to the extreme.

One of the project’s organizers, Jeff Styles, explains further, “Everyone has those moments… standing at the edge of a waterfall when a rainbow appears… walking a wooded path when a doe steps out, and you lock eyes for what seems like hours. Whitewater runs? Tubing the Hiwassee? Biking down a bluffside on a dare? Everyone has moments that are frozen in their mind, etched in their memory, burned into their brain... the kind they wish they could share with others. And with today's technology, you can. And many do. So, this loose-knit group of gung-ho, go-getters, gardeners, tree-huggers, long-slow-walk takers, etc., are combining forces and resources to introduce the Local Hero Project.”

Entries can consist of footage shot using the latest, compact, nearly indestructable video systems, like the Go Pro Hero, Phantom, the Contour, or, any older hi-def video cameras, as long as the final entry is submitted, by upload or hard copy, by the deadline, Friday, April 5.      

“Native Adrenalin-junkies can enter their epic waterfall drops, gravity-defying attainment moves on cliff or catching air off a single-track 'launch rock,'" said Mr. Styles.  "But kinder, gentler types can also enter more genteel, thoughtful, fare as well. A time lapse of clouds and sunbeams, a slow walk through a field of flowers, a quick civil war history lesson following the plaques in the Battlefield, dogs, kids, kid with dog… as long as it's three minutes long and outdoor-centric, you're in.”

Videos can be uploaded online at http://www.atomicfilms.com/theheroproject or http://www.facebook.com/thelocalheroproject. Videos on dvds, flashdrives, memory stick, etc, can be dropped off at L2 Boards, located at 1st and Market Street.  

The Project’s mini, mini film festival, essentially a one night viewing party, kicks off at 5 p.m., Thursday, April 11, at “Mellow Mushroom” on Broad Street. 

Prizes will be given out, from outdoor gear, to a major Ocoee rafting trip for six, Mellow Mushroom munchies, gift certificates, and a free tandem hanggliding flight with one of the best pilots in the country. All Mellow Mushroom screens will feature an endless loop of entries, including the big screen in the party room that many still haven’t discovered.

Some select entries will be seen again, several times, throughout the year, including on the Get Local Comcast channel, beginning Sunday, April 12, and running through Sunday, Sept. 15,  following the last “Riverfront Nights” concert of 2013. 

The Local Hero Project Chattanooga’s mini, mini-film festival will kick-off the Spark Arts Festival, http://www.sparkartschattanooga.com.  It is sponsored by W.G.O.W. – TalkRadio 102.3, Thrill-a-Minute Sports, Atomic Films, Mellow Mushroom, Comcast, Scenic City Velo/S.O.R.B.A., Rock Creek Outfitters, Wild Trails, Lookout Wild Film Festival, L2 Boards and S.E.C. Climber’s Association.