The Guardian have launched a film making competition, that at least on the surface is for amateurs (people who do things for love), rather than professionals.
What they've got right is to create a structure in which people who don't consider themselves to be writesr/artists/filmmakers can get started, in this case a very productive-feeling story about the youth and young manhood of a settee, which participants have got to interpret however they like in no more than five minutes worth of anything that can be uploaded to YouTube.
What is less good is the prize - a week working in the proper media - and the judges, who are the usual type of suspect.
Those two things are going to encourage just the wrong sort of people to enter, and since a book is only as good as its readers, the winner will be a usual type of suspect as well.
And so, I predict the winner to be a young advertising creative from East London.
The closing date isn't until December, but I will faithfully report back here when the results come out, no matter how wrong I'm proved.
i would love to prove you wrong but i can't enter as i am an employee of the guardian media group.
oh well.
Posted by: sam | October 27, 2008 at 16:40