With increasing frequency we are finding short film contests floating around the Internet. It’s hard to know right now if this is good for short film or not. It often sounds like a cheap bid for content, as in Yahoo!’s case. But any excuse to create something and any opportunity to share it seem like a blessing, especially when considering what the landscape looked like a few years ago. We will continue to highlight a contest every now and then, but/and it will usually be associated with some worthy cause, like Current TV or a musician we like.
Today’s contest is mentioned mostly because we couldn’t resist the name of Rafter Roberts’ new CD, for which he and Asthmatic Kitty Records are hosting a video competition. The upcoming CD is called Music for Total Chickens, and filmmakers are invited to submit videos for one of 4 pre-released tracks. Here is their announcement:
Contestants will be offered four mp3s to choose from off of Rafter's upcoming release, Music for Total Chickens. These mp3s will be posted on various blogs and the Asthmatic Kitty website, contestants will choose one of these mp3s to make a video. Contestants will create and upload their videos to the Rafter Contest Group on YouTube. They will have two months to create and post the video. The contest will run to January 23 and the winners will be announced on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2007. No submissions will be taken after January 23, 2007. Two $500 cash prizes will be given.
THE QUALITY PRIZE: The first prize will go to the video selected by a panel of "celebrity" judges.
THE QUANTITY PRIZE: The second prize will go to whichever video is the most viewed according to YouTube's statistics.
Sounds good to us. Again, I’ll reiterate the office’s philosophy that short film deserves more permanent distribution than streaming media and better screenings than on laptop and vPod screens. Short film deserves nothing less than theatrical releases and permanent archiving. But, hey, in the meantime, we’re cool with this. If a filmmaker were crafty and talented enough, she could win several contests a year and support herself, all the while creating her ass off and honing her craft.
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