Online Video Contests: Update

It's the start of a new month, which is always a good time to inform you folks about web competitions for filmmakers. These are great to hone your skills and potentially reap some cool prizes. The only requirements for a listing here (all of which can be found in the sidebar), are no entry fee, and some kind of reward.

The Hold Steady's Music Video Contest
The rules here are simple: make a music video using any song from The Hold Steady's latest album, Boys and Girls in America. The Prizes: There are three prize packages that include $1000, $500, and $250 respectively. The Catch: The songs are not given to contestants (via download), so I guess you have to purchase the CD to find out what your material is. Video entries are posted as they come in. Deadline is March 31.

Vboxx.com Video Contest
Here's a contest with an interesting premise. These guys will send you a Vboxx T-shirt, and you must incorporate it into your video somehow! Before they send you a shirt, however, you must pitch your idea to them in the registration process, so be ready! The contest is monthly with a $5,000 prize each month. All the monthly winners are eligible for the grand prize of $50,000, and both contests are voted on by registered users. Shirts are limited, and videos will only be collected until June 30.

Urban Legend: Redux
Got horror? Ziddio.com is sponsoring a contest that wants your warped take on any urban legend. Upload your video and if you make it past the first and second round, you could get an all paid weekend to L.A. as well as a walk-on in a future Lionsgate horror movie. No cash here, but for splatter hounds, the very idea may be motivation enough. Entries are accepted until April 24.

Make a Music Video for "Completely" by Art of Dying
Here's another band looking for a good video. This time, they give you the song to download (thank you), and offer some pretty impressive prizes: a Macbook and a Hi-def Canon HV1 (huh?) camera. Now comes the weirdness. According to the rules, the video must not be longer than one minute, but it can be shorter! Considering the song they give you is over three minutes, I'm not sure how you're supposed to do that, but with these prizes, why not try? No deadline is given beyond "After the 50th entrant is entered the voting period will continue for 60 days".

So there you go. Grab your cameras, fire up your NLE, and good luck!