About the American Motion Picture Society

AMPS
If you love making movies, AMPS is for you. Young man operating a camcorder.

President's corner
Who we are
History

Join AMPS
AIFVF - longest running festival in the world
NAMMA - the new contest for USA and Canada

AMPS is a not-for-profit organization serving those who create non-commercial films & videos. Membership is open to all film makers world wide and offers a number of benefits:

quarterly newsletter "Movie Makers" with news, technical reviews and reports of events.
reduced entry fees to the American International Film & Video Festival.
exclusive members' awards.
contact with a worldwide membership.
free loan of the winning festival entries on DVD.
and it costs just $8 a year!

History

The American International Film Festival was founded in 1930 by the Amateur Cinema League who organized the Festival until 1954 when it was taken over by the Motion Picture Division of the Photographic Society of America.
In 1990 the PSA decided to give up the organization of the Festival so the America Motion Picture Society, AMPS, was founded by George W. Cushman (1909 - 1996) to keep the Festival alive. He set up a board of three directors with a President and secretary/treasure to organize the Festival and this continues to this day, open to membership for all movie makers and viewers world wide.
In 1988 "video" was added to its title.
Entries in the Festival are welcomed from both members and non-members. The panel of judges is drawn from the ranks of both professional and amateur movie makers and is changed every three years.
Originally conceived as a showcase for amateur films AMPS restructured the festival and opened it to all non-commercial films regardless of the status of the film makers.
In 2009 following the closure of AMMA (Amateur Movie Makers Association) AMPS established NAMMA - The North American Movie Makers Awards with entry restricted to amateur film makers in the USA and Canada.