Calling all bold, spicy, and adventurous entrepreneurs and new businesses! Cucalorus welcomes you to submit an application to participate in the 10×10 project. Part of the Cucalorus Festival, this program pairs ten entrepreneurs with ten filmmakers and challenges them to make a film together in less than a week. The project is made possible through a partnership between Cucalorus, CastleBranch Inc.’s tekMountain innovation incubator, and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Program organizers see 10×10 as an opportunity to introduce young creatives to emerging businesses and to showcase the growing community of entrepreneurs working in the Cape Fear Region.
Norwood Cheek originally brought 10×10 to Cucalorus 17 as part of the festival’s retrospective on his work. Bands and filmmakers joined together to create music videos during the week of the festival while Cheek created a mini-documentary on the music scene in Wilmington. All videos were screened for audiences on the last day of the festival, followed by a Q&A with the artists. 10×10 was resurrected and restructured with this new entrepreneurial spin for the 20th anniversary Cucalorus Film Festival. Collaborations included the Greensboro-based living museum Elsewhere, whimsical retail store Edge of Urge, and our friends at the North Carolina Black Film Festival. (Watch the full lineup of 2014 10×10 vids on our YouTube channel.)

Norwood Cheek, music video extraordinaire and visionary behind Cucalorus 10×10.
“We had a great response last year, so we knew that this was an area for continued exploration and experimentation,” said Cucalorus artistic director Dan Brawley. 10×10 participants will experience a unique, highly interactive side of Cucalorus; in addition to creating their film during the November festival, filmmaker and entrepreneur duos will attend a host of events that week, including the 10×10 kickoff party at tekMountain and a screening of their completed projects on the last day of the fest.
Interested entrepreneurs and filmmakers should apply here to be a part of 10×10. Spots are open to businesses of all industries, personalities, locations, and shoe sizes.

Participants of the 2014 10×10 program gather onstage to discuss their experience.