$1,000 Video Challenge

You might think creating videos is hard… or you’re not interested because it’s something new to learn and you don’t have time. But we’re here to say: It’s fun, it’s easy, and – with a $1,000 GRAND PRIZE carrot hanging in front of you — it’s a lucrative thing to do in your spare time and on your travels, too.

Tom sells his videos for an upwards of $70,000 a year (and that’s doing it part-time!), but for the sake of this challenge we’re starting small – with videos that sell your hometown in one minute or less.

Your video should be made up of short clips of all the fun and memorable things to do in your hometown (or a place you love).

Here are some rules…

You must be an amateur videographer to enter the Video Challenge. “Amateur videographer” is defined for our purposes as a videographer who has earned less than $1,000 from their videos.
You must be 18 years of age (or the minimum age required by law at the time of entering) to participate. Employees and contractors of GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING and its affiliated companies are not eligible.
You MUST create a 60 second or less video of your hometown. One entry per person. Duplicates will be deleted and removed from the competition. Entries longer than 60 seconds will be deleted.
You must hold the copyright to any video you submit. (If you took the video, you automatically own the copyright.) If a videographer violates copyright law, his or her video will be disqualified.

Note: The copyright remains the property of the videographer. By entering this challenge you are giving Great Escape Publishing unlimited rights to publish your video on our website, in our newsletter or in print. Any video submitted to the challenge may be used to promote this challenge or to educate our readers about videography. There are no exceptions to this. Stating that you want to enter but that you do not give us permission to post your video on our website or announce you as the winner means we must disqualify you from the contest. These are the contest rules.

We reserve the right to reject unsuitable images, which may be seen as pornographic, vulgar, hateful, threatening, or otherwise in violation of laws. Please don’t submit any videos containing nudity. No exceptions.
To enter, send your submission to GEPassignments@gmail.com with the subject line “Video Challenge Submission”. If your video is too large to send through email you can send the file through https://wetransfer.com/ or www.dropbox.com.
GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal value should the advertised prize become unavailable due to circumstances beyond our control.
GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or incomplete files.
If, for any reason, the challenge is unable to run as planned — due to infection by computer virus, tampering, technical failures, or other causes beyond our control — GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING reserves the right to cancel, modify, or suspend the challenge.
All entries for this video challenge must be received no later than midnight EST on September 18. To participate, simply send your submission to this email address along with your first name, last name and phone number so that we might reach you if there are questions or problems with your entry. It’s also how we’ll contact you if you win.

The Grand Prize is a $1,000 check. Taxes are your responsibility.

Here are some tips…

Hold phone or camera sideways instead of vertical
Hold each clip for longer than you think you need — you can always shorten but you can’t add
Vary your clips — closeups, far away, high up, low to ground
Include panning and vary the pan — right to left and left to right
Include movement — people walking, jumping, cars passing, opening things, closing things

Here are some examples…

This is a fun challenge – a chance to look at your town or local beauty spot with new eyes. Shoot by day, by night, or at dusk – it’s up to you. Whatever you think makes your town, city, or that national park look best. The only limit is your own creativity.

I’m looking forward to seeing your finished video.

Good luck!