Posted: March 3, 2006

Contact:
Greg Jones, 404/651-3577
University Relations

Students' "285 at 55" video creates a jam and a stir

ATLANTA - The ad beckoning students to compete made it all sound so very simple: "A camera, a computer and you."
 
A national filmmaking competition for students linked to the Web site: www.campusmoviefest.com invited students from coast-to-coast to "Just grab a group of seven friends, hallmates, teammates, or enemies, and sign up online before the deadline or all spots are filled." The free contest, based in Atlanta and billed as the world's largest student film festival, targeted students in Atlanta, Boston, Florida, California and Scotland. 
 
That's where it all started for team leaders Jordan Streiff, Amanda Hunter and Andy Medlin, all from Georgia State University.
 
Armed with video cameras and their wits, they documented a four-car abreast midmorning ride around Interstate 285 at a the legal speed limit: 55 mph. That morning the drivers created a miles-long traffic jam on Atlanta's perimeter highway, but the stir they've created since has gone even further.
 
"A Meditation on the Speed Limit" is a comedic short that has gotten national news coverage through radio, television, print, syndicated talk shows and an astronomical number of hits on Campus MovieFest's and Google's video pages. The video can be seen online through links at  http://www.campusmoviefest.com/movies.html or
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5366552067462745475
 
"I had hoped for a bit of response," said Streiff, an Asian Studies major with a film background. "To have the national media so interested was quite a surprise," he said Friday afternoon between fielding calls from CNN and Jay Leno's Tonight Show. He had just finished talking to producers from NBC's Today show.
 
The five-minute video won "Best Comedy" and, according to the contest organizers, is their biggest hit ever. "We've never seen such excitement about any other movies," said David Roemer, who helped found Campus MovieFest in 2000. "It just amazing to see what students can do in a week." He said about 3,000 films were submitted this year.