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Dtonio Cheatham’s fifteen minutes anti-bullying short “Junior” has gone viral. Since last week, it has shattered 2.75 million views, and is well on its way to 3 million views, with 90K thumbs up and close to 12K positive, supporting comments.
And Dtonio’s subscribers have swelled to 18K. This has given the cast of “Junior” a fan base. Since posting on youtube, September 26, they have received close to 6K views on a 30-minute live feed and chat that they created.
That’s D’Bless Robinson – Junior, Flexx Live – Dontae, Gwendolyn Jackson – Naima, and
Kin Casanova – Duke recorded at the studio owned by Keyonia and Bradley Parry .
But is this enough to cinch the win for the purpose it was intended? Dtonio originally created “Junior” as his submission for the Film Challenge Detroit 2018 People’s Choice Awards.
This past summer, Local 4 TV put out a -call to determine precisely how talented Detroit’s filmmakers are. They received over 100 submissions. Of these, through an exhaustive judging process, they culled the Top 10 which really rose above the rest.
Those movies will be scored by Local 4’s team of VIPs. Those VIPs have included Devin Scillian, Greg Russell, Tati Amare and the Dean of Film Studies from Oakland University in the past.
This year’s theme was “Fight or Flight.
The Grand Prize winner this year will win:
- 4 First-Weekend Passes To Sundance Film Festival (1 credential and 5 tickets per person)
- AirBnb Thurs-Sunday right in Park City, Utah
- Airline tickets for four from Detroit Metro
- $1,000 Spending Cash
Runner up will win:
- $1,000 Cash
Our People’s choice award (the film out of our Top 10 that receives the most votes online):
- $300 B & H Gift Card
This year they have added two new prizes to recognize the level of talent they’ve seen in the films submitted including a Best Actor Award ($500 and spot in local commercial) and a Best Cinematography Award ($500 B&H) Gift Card.
The challenge for Dtonio and team is converting these close to 3M views into votes. The film with the most votes by 8:00 PM on Tuesday, October 9th will win Local 4’s People’s Choice Award.
You can help. Vote on the link below.
Voters can vote once per hour. So show your support below for your favorite “Film Challenge Detroit”
We wish all every success.