NEW YORK — The Google Inc.-owned video site YouTube has announced that through March 31 Your Film Festival will take submissions of short films up to 15 minutes in length for the online event that ultimately will send 10 finalists to the Venice Film Festival.
Fifty semi-finalists will be selected by Scott Free Productions, Ridley and Tony Scott's production company, to form a channel on YouTube: YouTube.com/yourfilmfestival. There, users will be able to view the films and vote for their favorites. The 10 finalists will be flown to the 69th annual Venice Film Festival, where their films will be screened in August. Ridley Scott will lead a jury in selecting a winner, who will receive a $500,000 grant from YouTube to produce a work with Scott Free.
Though anyone can submit a film, Your Film Festival is particularly hoping to reward young filmmakers and producers, and urges them to consider YouTube a pathway to industry attention.
“Short filmmaking is exactly where I started my career 50 years ago, so to be helping new filmmakers find an entry point like this into the industry is fantastic,” said Scott.
Basically the only restrictions beside length are that entrants must be at least 18 years old and that the work can't have been distributed prior to Jan. 1, 2010.
Photo: Courtesy of filmofilia.com
Ridley and Tony Scott
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