By: Jennifer Saba There's a good reason Google coughed up $1.6 billion to buy out the wiz kids who started YouTube: Everyone loves clever videos. And the popularity of do-it-yourself showmanship has not gone unnoticed by the folks at The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee.
Hoping to capitalize on the craze, the paper launched an extensive short-film contest called "Show Us Your Shorts." Californians are invited to submit videos no longer than four minutes, with the stipulation that the Bee or its Web site must make at least a cameo appearance.
Marketing Manager John O'Neill stresses that the Bee is not looking for on-the-cheap commercials hawking the paper: "That is the last thing we want. Hopefully people will look at us in a new light." In a commercial spot touting the contest on a MySpace page, one man beats another with a rolled-up newspaper.
All entries will be made available for public viewing in November. A panel of judges including the Bee's film critic Carla Meyer will narrow the field to five films. Come December, the public will be asked to vote on their favorite short. The winner will receive $1,000, while two runners-up will be awarded $250 each.
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