Mammoth Film Festival

Horizon Air announced last week that the airline will offer new daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Mammoth Mountain for the 2008/2009 winter sports season starting Dec. 18. Although the drive up from LA is beautiful, this adds a valuable alternative way to get to Mammoth.

Exciting:

“The addition of commercial air service to Mammoth represents a big step toward realizing our shared vision to become a destination resort community,” said Rusty Gregory, CEO of Mammoth Mountain. “Horizon’s daily flights will allow the world to experience what Southern Californians have known for decades; that Mammoth is for everyone who wants to play big in the mountains. World class skiing and snowboarding in the winter along with fishing, hiking and mountain biking in the summer plus great new food offerings provided by our partner, Patina Restaurant Group – it just doesn’t get any better than Mammoth.”

The new daily service runs from Dec. 18, 2008, through April 12, 2009. The one-hour-and-five-minute flight departs Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) daily at 2:20 p.m. and arrives at Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH) at 3:25 p.m. The return flight leaves Mammoth at 4:05 p.m. and arrives at LAX at 5:10 p.m.

Affordable:

Horizon is offering a limited time introductory fare of $79 each way for travel from Los Angeles to Mammoth for selected days in January 2009. Regular fares from Los Angeles start as low as $99 each way.* Tickets for the new flights go on sale July 14 through horizonair.com or by calling Horizon Air Reservations at 800-547-9308.

Members of the Horizon Air/Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan frequent flier program can earn 500 miles on Horizon flights to Mammoth. Mileage Plan miles are redeemable for flights worldwide on Horizon, Alaska, and their numerous Mileage Plan partner airlines.

And environmental:

Horizon’s flight to Mammoth will be operated with the airline’s Bombardier Q400. This 74/76-seat, high-speed, twin-engine turboprop is one of the most technologically advanced regional aircraft in the world. It’s as quiet and comfortable as a jet – thanks to its special technology that suppresses noise and vibration, its generously sized overhead storage bins, its unobstructed under-seat space, and its ample headroom (6 feet 5 inches). The Q400 is also among the most environmentally friendly aircraft today, burning 30 percent less fuel and producing 30 percent lower emissions than comparable jets.

Read the complete press announcement here.

“The early bird gets the worm discount.”

The early bird deadline for both feature and short film submissions is July 15th, which is exactly one week from today. Submit your work before then to take advantage of the specially reduced early submissions fees for all films!

Remember, you can submit through our entry form, or submit online through our partner, Withoutabox. (Withoutabox members may also be eligible for an additional discount.)

We’ve been working on a way to include short films at the 2008 Festival, and after some venue and schedule adjustments…we’re now ready to add a short film competition! We know how many great short films are out there, and are very happy to be able to include them this year.

In the Short Film category, we accept a broad range of work, including animation, music videos, documentaries, narrative shorts, and even television. The only restrictions are that the work can’t exceed 50 minutes, and as with feature films, can’t have a distribution deal in place. The short film competition winner will be awarded the Best Short Film prize.

We look foward to a great slate of short films, so submit yours now!

We wanted to let everyone know that we have partnered with Withoutabox to accept film submissions for the Festival…the link is available on the submissions page.

Withoutabox is a great company that streamlines the process for festivals and filmmakers. Also, Withoutabox members are eligible for a special $5 discount off of Mammoth Film Festival entry fees. And if you are really really late, they will offer an exclusive extended deadline — October 7, 2008.

So submit a film, and get ready for the madness of tournament-style elimination at the 2008 Mammoth Film Festival!

Last year’s Best Picture winner here at the Mammoth Film Festival, Spirit of the Marathon, is being screened around the country, and will be featured at next month’s Running Film Festival.

For those of you who haven’t seen the film, it features Olympic medalist Deena Kastor, who will be representing the United States in Beijing this summer. We wish her all the best!