Music has been an inextricable part of filmmaking pretty much since the beginning. Even during the so-called “silent era” live musical accompaniment was an accepted and expected part of movie going. After all, as an audience member what you’re hearing is often just as important as what you’re seeing.

In 99% of movies and TV shows, the original score is what unites, guides and colors the aural experience of cinematic storytelling. As a director, the score is arguably the biggest tool you have in your toolbox when it comes to dictating your project’s tone and intent. But getting your hands on interesting, high-quality original music from established composers isn’t usually an option for indie, low-budget filmmakers.

Enter Danny Elfman’s Rabbit and Rogue. The Rabbit and Rogue Project is a unique challenge aimed at empowering and inspiring independent media creators. Free of charge, filmmakers will be able to use selections from Elfman’s new album, Rabbit and Rogue in their short film projects. That’s right, you can use free original music from one of Hollywood’s most legendary and idiosyncratic musical visionaries!

Just think: your short film could join the ranks of movies containing scores by Elfman, including Batman, Good Will Hunting, Edward Scissorhands, Milk, Spider-Man, Silver Linings Playbook, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, Men in Black, Chicago, Mission: Impossible, To Die For, Dead Presidents, Midnight Run, Alice in Wonderland, Standard Operating Procedure, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Presented by the LA Film Festival in partnership with Indi.com, the Rabbit and Rogue project will offer free license of songs from Elfman’s new LP Rabbit and Rogue album for use as both accompaniment and as inspiration for their short projects, be they live action, animated, narrative, nonfiction, music videos, abstract or experimental.

Over the course of the next nine months, submissions will be reviewed and a final six will be chosen to premiere at next year’s LA Film Festival. So you have an idea, now’s the time to finally make it! The soundtrack is waiting, and so is the stage.

UPDATE – January 26, 2017: As if the darkly jaunty, syncopated auspices of Mr. Elfman weren’t enough, the Rabbit and Rouge Project has—as of January 26—become even more star-studded, with the addition of acclaimed filmmakers Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Gray, Nowhere Boy), Gus Van Sant (Milk, Good Will Hunting), McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) and Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) as guest judges. The deadline for submissions is May 8, 2017. So don’t delay – get your work in front of this eclectic fivesome of accomplished auteurs today.

“Danny is a giant among composers,” says 2016 LA Film Festival Director Stephanie Allain of the project, “[He] recognizes the high cost of acquiring a top-notch score. We’re excited to bring these films to the 2017 LA Film Festival!”

Added INDI executive Nicole Greenwood, “I’m thrilled that INDI will help showcase the talents of filmmakers from around the world using such brilliant scores. This really is a chance of a lifetime. What a beautiful gift from Danny Elfman.”

Submit your film at indi.com/laffdannyelfmanproject. Finalists will be selected as Audience Favorites and those favored by a team of elite industry judges. A panel of top industry producers, directors, composers, executives, music supervisors and renowned filmmakers will judge leading contenders. The winning films—one for each of Elfman’s six Rabbit and Rogue musical compositions—will premiere at the 2017 LA Film Festival.

The opportunity to collaborate with a world-renowned musical icon. The chance to debut your work on an elite Festival stage. What better incentives to blow the dust off that DSLR and shake the cobwebs out of your old copy of iMovie? Right now you’re only one Rabbit and Rogue away from short-form superstardom.

As Elfman himself says: “Now go make it!” — Visit indi.com/laffdannyelfmanproject to learn more about The Danny Elfman Project: Rabbit and Rogue. The deadline is May 8, 2017.

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