If you’re reading the Heliopolis and haven’t attended the Louisiana Film Prize yet, we have no problem saying that you’re behind the times. This locally-grown film festival has national buzz and has filmmakers across the globe eyeballing Shreveport-Bossier and northwest Louisiana as a production hub. Why? Because the LAFP offers up $50,000 in cash to the best short film shot in NWLA.

Here’s a video of last year and a promo for 2015. More of the article is after the video.

This festival, running since 2012, has become nationally recognized among film competitions by offering even more prizes and opportunities each year – from automatic festival placement around the country to getting their films played on iTunes where they can go on to make money from their film. In 2013 some of the films even got television broadcast deals – a combination of which is wholly unique to a festival of this type.

And the big stipulation – filming in northwest Louisiana from now until July when films are due – appears to be no deterrent to talented filmmakers looking to roll the dice for a prize big enough for them to make a full-length feature film on a shoestring budget. In 2015, Team Film Prize is touting that the biggest prize of all is “indie film fame” by way of winning these prizes.

“Having enough money to make a feature film is extremely rare for the aspiring filmmaker,” says Filmmaker Liaison Chris Lyon. “If we want to bring people to our area and show them what we’ve got to offer as a creative community, as an industry friendly city, and as an inviting people, we need to entice people who might not otherwise visit the area to give us a look.”

And entice they have. It’s no secret that the Film Prize is brash and unashamed to show people how radical and forward thinking they really are, but they do it so well. And with over $7 million dollars in economic impact over the last three years, they’ve got the numbers to back it up.

If you’re a filmmaker, the Louisiana Film Prize is your chance to go big or go home. Registration is open and half priced through Sunday at midnight.

If your a resident of northwest Louisiana, show that southern hospitality to the filmmakers coming from near and far – and be ready to jump on the BOGO festival ticket price when they hit this fall. The film festival will be October 2-4 in downtown Shreveport.