Just before Christmas, Mofilm revealed the finalists in Chevy’s Route 66 Super Bowl commercial contest.  This mega-competition was open to filmmakers from all over the world and the winning ad will play during the 2012 SuperBowl.  The top filmmaker will also receive $25,000 Actually, there are a bunch of cash prizes at stake and there will be different winners from different regions of the globe.

So how are the winners determined?  A public vote…right?  Wrong!  Though the video gallery is full of ways you can “like” or share the finalists, views and votes will have no impact on which videos will win.  Judges have the final say in all stages of this contest which is the only way a contest like this should be run.  The only reason that companies bother with public votes is because it’s a free and easy form of publicity.  But Mofilm came up with a very clever way to get that cheap social media coverage without diluting the integrity of their contest.  They are running a side competition where the “Top Sharer” of the chosen commercials will win $10,000.  Basically whoever directs the most viewers to the contest site wins.  If you want to try and get in on that action, head here.

I’ve watched all 32 finalist commercials and they range from pretty bad to pretty awesome.  There are a few ads that seem like they only made it this far because they were the only decent entries that came out of a particular region.  But I’d say at least 80% of the finalist spots are very strong.  Here are two of my favorites.  Click the images to view:

Keys by Charles Hayes, USA:  From Mofilm:  Every key has a purpose…and every production has its challenges. Fim Fact: On day one our producer had her car broken into and all the props stolen. But, from the moment we came up with this we knew we had something touching, so through torrential rain, home made jibs and lots of favours, we pushed through and produced something we all love!

Cindy, I Love You by Jude Chun, Korea:  From Mofilm:  A man goes above and beyond, determined to finish one last item on a bucket list.

Keys is so professional that it could start airing on TV today and no one would ever suspect it was shot for a video contest.  Cindy, I Love You is pretty weird and the twist at the end is a little grim and heavy-handed but for some reason I just really like it.  Like I said, there are a bunch of good submissions and you should take a few minutes to scroll through Mofilm’s beautiful video gallery.  (Seriously, its classy and clean design puts Doritos obnoxious and loud Crash the Super Bowl gallery to shame.)  But if you only have time to watch one of these ads, watch this one:

Chevy Driving Academy by Kenneth Wales & Jason Lansing, USA:  From Mofilm:  A man is put to the test to see if he has what it takes to become a Chevy driver. Film Fact: The shoot was as intense as the Driving Academy – the actor almost threw up after multiple takes from flipping upside-down, it took 4 hours to hit the mark when shooting the Corvette and the Dealer was never meant to be bald…until they met Amazon!

Pretty damn good, huh?  I’ll be amazed if that one doesn’t win the top prize.  To view all of the Chevy finalists, head here: 

 

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