Links, Links, and More Links

I received a very lovely email today, from Heather of Howcast.com:

Your blog makes me laugh, and reminds me why I ran far from set work…It’s not easy! Although, the “There’s Always Someone Below You” post made me happy….it’s *not* easy, but it has its rewards for sure.

Anyway, I figure as a PA, you may already make your own films and videos or you may know lots and lots of PAs who do, and we’re launching a pretty cool contest this week — the How-To Video Challenge. We’re asking filmmakers, video artists, and DIYers to come up with a fresh, original approach to the how-to video.

First prize is $2000. We’ve got awesome judges lined up — Peter Baxter, Slamdance Film Festival; Jeff Cooperman, The Colbert Report; Charles Merzbacher, Boston University; Katherine Sharpe, ReadyMade Magazine; Tim Sullivan, Magical Elves (Project Runway, Top Chef). And, the top submissions will be showcased across online, mobile and off-line platforms.

The contest is the perfect opportunity for us to reward the creativity of the filmmakers we work with and to challenge a whole new community of film and video makers and DIYers.

Here are all the links entrants need to get started:

The How-To Video Challenge…Knock our socks off. We dare you.
Guidelines.
Rules.

Thanks so much!

-Heather
Managing Producer, Emerging Filmmakers Program
Howcast Media

Heather didn’t know it at the time, but I’m actually already one of Howcast’s “Emerging Filmmakers.” I won’t tell you which one, of course.  🙂

It’s actually a pretty cool program. They give you a script and voice over (along with a nice little music library), and all you have to do is shoot whatever you want. Some of the how to videos are funny, some are straight forward, but they’re all pretty good. Plus, you get fifty bucks out of the deal, so I highly recommend it.

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While I’m linking to other sites, here’s a few more:

MIT has done a fantastic study as to why traffic jams happen.

Last week, On the Media interview the guy who created Tetris. You have to listen to the audio; the guy sounds exactly like Yakov Smirnoff.

And lastly, Rod Hilton has finally gotten around to writing his abridged script of Star Trek, making the ten thousandth lens flare joke since the movie was released.