Did you know the United Nations has a Forum on Forests? They do. And they have partnered up with the Jackson Hole WildlifeFilm Festival to launch something really big.
The Forests for People: UN International Short Film Contest has invited 200 million people in 193 countries to create and share a personal film up to 5 minutes in length.
And while that totally sounds like just another crowd sourcing project, the judging panel is distinguished. The group includes Emmy winners from National Geographic , Dereck and Beverly Joubert, acclaimed photographer Cristina Mittermeier, distinguished nature director Alastair Fothergill, and more. But perhaps the most exciting to us ad folks is an Aardman animator and Oscar winner, Nick Park.
If you're not familiar with his name you know his work-- he made two people named Wallace and Gromit come to life.
So if you have to compete with a bazillion other people, at least you know the judging panel kicks serious butt.
Winning films from Forests for People will be premiered at the United Nations Forum on Forests conference in April 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey, and screened at events worldwide, including the 2013 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
So what are you waiting for? Get cracking!
Traffic Concept and Film and Tomato, with footage and film resources provided by the National Geographic Society, BBC Motion Gallery and Footage Search, Inc.
United Nations Forum on forests