Ridley Scott launches online film competition

Ridley Scott is to launch an online competition to send budding talents to the Venice Film Fest.

London: Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ridley Scott is launching a new online competition to send 10 budding moviemakers to this year`s Venice Film Festival.

The 74-year-old director has joined forces with video-sharing website YouTube to launch the campaign, asking fans to create their own 15-minute films and post them on the site, a daily has reported. "Short film-making is exactly where I started my career 50 years ago. So to be helping new film-makers find an entry point like this into the industry is fantastic," he said. The final 10 films, which will be voted for by the public, will all be screened at the Italian film festival, while the overall winner will also receive a USD 312,500 grant to create a movie with Scott. Submissions will be accepted online till March 31. PTI