Right now VCN has three regular sponsors, Poptent, Mofilm and Tongal.  Whenever I’m feeling lazy I just head to one of those sites and whip up a post about one of their current or recent contests.  I try not to do that toooo much though because I don’t want VCN to feel like one big commercial.  But Tongal, Mofilm and Poptent are constantly generating a lot of interesting Video Contest News!  So I’ve decided to compromise with myself and start a new feature: The Sponsor Spotlight.  Every two weeks I’ll post the best recent results from Mofilm, Tongal and Poptent competitions OR I’ll highlight a new, notable contest from each site.  Just for the record, no one is paying for this column and all the contests and videos featured in the Sponsor Spotlight are chose solely by your boy Beardy.  In this installment of the Spotlight, I’ll be highlighting three REALLY fantastic new contests/assignments; two of them award trips to the winner and the the video that wins the third one will air on television!

Oh burn!

MOFILM’S BURN ENERGY DRINK CONTEST: There are five different brand categories in Mofilm’s current London-themed ad contest and I think the most attractive of those brands is Burn energy drink.  Burn doesn’t want a traditional commercial.  Instead they want “stories that illustrate the “Free State Of Crea4vity.” Consider what you know of the creative process and bring it to life in a short story. Creative expression can take many forms, though Burn is most prominent in the snow, skate, surf, electronic music, street art, and BMX communities, so stories about these passions are ideal.“  The brief for this contest says you don’t even need to show characters drinking Burn.  So this is a nice opportunity for filmmakers who want to make a wild, fun short film.  Top Prize:  $8,000 + a trip to London.  Due Date: 10/1/12  Click here for more info.

Marvel-ous! (get it?)

TONGAL’S MARVEL SUPER HEROES CONTEST:  Usually Tonal runs their video contests in different phases but right now the site is hosting two “straight to video” competitions.  Both contests are for Marvel and DC comic-themed LEGO playsets.  From Tongal: “Make all your favorite heroes and villains come alive in a 1 to 3 minute animated video, and you could be on your way to hang with fellow Comic-heads in the city that never sleeps. “  If you can’t come up with a fun idea for a short video about Lego superheroes you might want to get out of the video contest game. Oh and by the way, if you have a DSLR, Stop-Motion animation is actually pretty easy to do.  In fact, I think I’ll post a little tutorial on that topic next week.  Top Prize: $10,000 + a trip to the NYC Comicon.  Due Date: 9/14/12  Click here for more info.

drink me.

POPTENT’S BOLLA WINE ASSIGNMENT: This is a notable contest for two reasons. First off, the purchased ad will air on TV. Having your work air on television is almost better than any cash prize since since a TV credit can really help you get future work. But there’s another reason you should consider entering this contest…it’s for a wine company which means that a lot of Poptent members won’t be able to create ads since you have to be at least 21 to participate in the assignment. Here’s what the company is looking for: “Bolla is a well know Italian wine that is looking for a relevant consumer message to dialogue with its target consumer in a modern contemporary way.” Top Prize: One video purchased for $7,500. Due Date: 9/4/12 Click here for more info.