We’ve seen your work. We know how fantastic it is. Now let’s see if it’s worth $500,000 and the support of Ridley Scott’s production team.

YouTube have recently launched one of the most incredible competitions around. Read on, and you’ll discover that we’re not even just saying that because they sponsor us!

‘Your Film Festival’, which opened for submissions on 2 February, is free to enter, and accepts films up to 15 mins long in any format - short film, web-series episode, TV pilot – and any genre. Submissions close on 31 March 2012, whereupon the entries will be whittled down to a shortlist of 50. Shortlisted films will then be put to the public vote between 17 May and 13 July 2012, during which time a worldwide audience of millions will generate 10 finalists.

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Click here to fill out a very quick survey to tell YouTube what you want in an online platform.

This is your chance to help build the online world that you need as a filmmaker!

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What’s so special about being a finalist? Well, on top of the sort of exposure for your film that is normally a distant dream, should you get this far you’ll only be taken to the 2012 Venice Film Festival, that’s what. The winning filmmaker will be chosen here, and they will leave the festival with a $500,000 grant to make another film, and the production support of Scott Free, Ridley Scott’s team.

This dedication to film is why we were so pleased when YouTube agreed to sponsor our 2012 Watersprite Awards. Don’t get us wrong – the money was lovely too, we won’t lie about that! But it’s no surprise to us that a competition this egalitarian and innovative has come along from YouTube. They may have started out as a repository for homemade clips and music videos, but they are now clearly thinking about the future of the film industry in responsive ways that many of the larger production and distribution houses just aren’t. They’re expanding the site’s video offering with film and TV on-demand; they’ve proven they are interested in experimental filmmaking with the remarkable ‘Life in a Day’; and – most importantly of course – they’ve already shown commitment to grassroots filmmakers, and the future superstars of the industry, by sponsoring the 2012 Watersprite Awards!

We think the facts of this competition speak for themselves and we’d love to see some of your films make it through.