Winner, 2009 Taxlsayer commercial contest. Prize: $25,000

The other contestants were befuddled because well….that’s a really weird video! It’s funny but obviously it wasn’t something taxslayer could actually put on tv. And that’s why so many of the other contestants were confused. The year before, Taxslayer aired the winning entry as-is. (click here to watch it) So contestants assumed that Taxslayer would be doing that again and many of them sunk a lot of time, money and production values into their submissions.  I actually entered this contest and it was my first video contest loss. (winning was pretty easy back in 2007 and 2008.) In the days after Happyjoel’s video was picked I followed the reaction and let me tell you, people were PISSED. I’ve seen a lot of angry youtube comments in my day but damn, the other contestants flipped the fuck out.

Taxslayer explained that what they liked about Happyjoel’s video was the idea and they weren’t actually going to air the commercial. Instead, they were going to have professionals re-shoot it. I only spent about 80 bucks on my entry but I remember some really slick submissions. (here’s the one I was positive was going to win) If Taxslayer had let everyone know they were looking for “ideas” and not ready-for-tv ads, they would have saved a lot of filmmakers a lot of money.

Fast forward to tax season 2010. Happyjoel’s re-made video has finally hit the airwaves:

I’m glad that happyjoel actually got to play the part he created in his contest entry. But you know what? I think I prefer the original version. The (somewhat) fancy re-make is a bit stiff and the orginal was watchable because of how super weird it was.

Speaking of super weird, Taxslayer apparently decided to re-shoot a second entry from the 2009 contest. Here’s the re-make:

Yeah…that was pretty lame. But the weirdness deepens. Check out the entry that commercial was based on:

The orginal was funnier and more interesting than the remake! Whoever posted the re-shot version to youtube added this note: “Tax Slayer 60 second spot. This commercial was derived from contest creative. The spot was toned down to not look like an abduction, but rather a spoiled brat not wanting to conform.”

I cannot for the life of me figure out why Taxslayer chose that ad to remake or why they turned it into something that was thoroughly not funny.  Whoever wrote that remake forgot the oldest rule in comedy; abduction victims are way more hilarious than spoiled brats.

If you’re like really, really new to the concept of making money and winning prizes by entering multiple video contests, Happy Joel is a guy you should study and Films4prizes.com is a site you should bookmark and check every, single day.  Joel’s won like a billion dollars by entering video contests (correction: figure is closer to $200,000) and shares his secret to winning in the above interview.  Spoiler alert: His secret tip is just to put the work in and enter ‘cause you never know when you might win.  That’s simple but excellent advice.  I know a ton of filmmakers and I tell them over and over that they should give video contests a shot.  Some seem tempted and I’ve even helped a few people find contests and plan entries but in the end, the chicken out.  They don’t want to risk spending their time, money and effort on something that might not pay off.

And that right there is why video contests ARE worth the time, money and effort.  Though they’ve really grown in popularity, there are still a ton of video contests that are getting very few entries.  So don’t be a wuss.  Get over to films4prizes.com, pick a contest that sounds fun and go for it.

The ghost of happyjoel

This next contest we heard about thanks to super-video contest winner HappyJoel. In fact, it’s HIS contest. After having some fun doing an imitation of Rodney Dangerfield for Conan’s “Please blow up my car” contest, Joel decided he needed to encourage others to also channel Rodney.

The rules of the contest are amusing so I’ll just post them straight from Joel’s site. After years of being frustrated by the limiting rules of other contests, Joel decided to keep the restrictions on his own pretty loose:

“You must submit a video of your best Rodney Dangerfield impersonation.

ALL THE JOKES MUST BE ORIGINAL! YOU CANNOT USE ANY OF RODNEYS OLD ROUTINE! Just jokes IN THE STYLE of Rodney Dangerfield.

Post YOUR video as a response to MY video by midnight October 4th, 2009. Winner announced Monday, October 5th. Here’s the link for my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Hm-UFvWtQ

1st PRIZE: $50 iTunes Gift Card

2nd PRIZE: $25 iTunes Gift Card

3RD Prize: My intern and I will call you and say hi.

Since it’s my own video contest, I’m finally going to run one the way I wish they all were run. The winner is to be determined by me and me alone. There is no time limit minimum or maximum. I am picking based solely on which one I think is the funniest. I don’t care about production value, I don’t care if it was filmed with a webcam, cell phone or HD CRX-500 or whatever the hell it is. NO age limit. Any Nationality. Just make it funny, make it watchable, and make it feel like Rodney.”

So far, only 2 people have entered and one of them is Joel’s personal assistant for hire from India! The assistant’s entry cracks me up but I think it’s ineligible to win. Still, it’s funny so I’ll post it as inspiration.

So there are two itunes cards up for grabs and only one entry so far! This one definitely qualifies as “ripe for the plucking.”  You know what I like best about this contest?  That the winners will be announced the day after the contest closes.  Joel understands that in any video contest, the waiting is the hardest part.