Sem Maltsev: Film Annex's Contest Development

Posted on 29 March 2013 at 12:41

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This week, I would like to talk about an idea that came to me yesterday. I was inspired by Thomas Courtney. He sent me a link to some sort of contest for filmmakers. And I started thinking: Film Annex is a distribution platform for independent filmmakers that actually PAYS filmmakers for their work. Why can't create a contest? The answer is "Yes, we can." The contest idea is beneficial for both sides, filmmakers and Film Annex. For filmmakers, it's a great opportunity to earn more money, and for Film Annex it's a great promotion.

There are lots of ways to do contests, but I came up with two ideas: Award and Contest concepts.

Here I want to share two brief examples:

Contest #1: Film Annex's Awards

In this case everything is simple. People apply with their films and we award filmmakers in different categories or genres. It's a kind of Film Festival concept.

Prize:

- $2000-5000 cash prize

- Winners will be featured in Eren's Picks.

Brief Requirements:

1. Create 3-5 min film

2. Upload it on Film Annex (films should be uploaded after a certain date)

3. In the movie title, you should put #FilmAnnexAwards

4. Follow @filmannex on Twitter and like Film Annex on Facebook

5. Share your film on Facebook and Twitter with the #filmannexawards hashtag

...

Contest #2: Create your own web show

I personally like this idea, where filmmakers will get $1000-2000 to produce the first 2-4 episodes of the idea and upload it on Film Annex where there Web TV will be featured on Eren's Picks for a month and they can generate again $1000-2000 for the next episodes and so on.

Prize:

- $1000-2000 (to produce first 4 episodes of your show)

- The winner will be featured on Eren's Picks

Brief Requirements:

1. Come up with an idea of a new web show

2. Post the idea on Twitter with a hashtag #FilmannexWebShow (That means you have to fit your idea in 140 characters)

3. Follow @filmannex on Twitter and Facebook

...

I will be happy to hear some feedback from filmmakers, which idea they prefer and what they think or maybe you can suggest something. Please don't be shy and comment below :)