THROWIN' BONES #2

In general, I dislike competitions that are designed to pit a bunch of amateur filmmakers against each other for a lackluster prize. There are many of them out there, and new ones are being invented all the time. There are good reasons for this, but having participated in a few they all leave me feeling used.

Now, in truth, my entire life and future career are embroiled in one sort of competition or another right now, and in many respects that's all the job market is anyway; one big biased competition. Thus, even though I find these sorts of little video competitions lame (the previously mentioned Campus Movie Fest being at the top of the list), I can sometimes still respect the success of those who do manage, for whatever reason, to come out on top....but usually only when I know the people involved.

Like my friends Hetty and Kyle, who participated in a contest put on in Atlanta by a local car dealership and a Christian radio station. "What?" You may be rightly asking yourself. "What do a local car dealership, a Christian radio station, and video contests have to do with each other?"
I'm not entirely sure, other than I know the radio station hosted the contest, open to everyone, to produce a thirty second ad for the dealership. The entries would then be voted on by the station's listeners (and obviously friends and family of the contestants). The end result would find the winners with 5 grand, the dealership with a quality commercial on the cheap, and I guess publicity for the radio station.

In all fairness, the contest was a smart move on the part of the dealership because they got to review quality (and not so) videos to choose which one they would have as a commercial instead of the gamble of hiring some local production company to straight up make a piece that would inevitably shame all those involved. It's science.

So these good, Atlanta based amateur filmmakers Hetty and Kyle took on the challenge, and produced a really nice looking short that won (thanks in no small part to canvassing Facebook for votes.) I've known the two winners for a while now, and actually was in school with Kyle. His projects were always quality and it comes as no surprise that the duo pulled of the win. Here's a look at the piece:


Hetty and Kyle work for this website: Tomorrow Pictures.
I can't really describe the site, so just check it out.