The Designer Wedding Challenge Event Will take place September 29-30, 2006. The Challenge features multiple Competition categories, including Videography, and top selections will receive monetary awards.

It is the intent of The Designer Wedding Videography Challenge to highlight for discerning brides quality videography for their wedding event. The Competition is designed to increase bridal awareness to the industry’s top videographers. The top three selections will be awarded $2500, $1500 and $1000 for first, second, and third places, respectively.

Videography Competition entries will be judged by a distinguished panel of industry leaders. Entries will be evaluated by:
Rick Henshaw, Cineastfilms
Jenny Lehman, Jenny Lehman film & video
Spencer Lum, Iris Cinema
Joel Peregrine, Wedding Films
David Robin, Boulevard Video Productions
David Williams, DVideography

For more information visit www.designerweddingchallenge.com (http://www.designerweddingchallenge.com), Videography-Competition specific details and information on the judging panel can be found at www.weddingfilmartists.com (http://www.weddingfilmartists.com)

We look forward to showcasing your finest work.

Please post any comments below, I would be happy to address your questions. Thanks, M.J.

Do you need to live within the US to enter?

The competition is open Internationally. I personally know several talented Videographers in the Phillipines, Australia, and the UK, and we want to showcase the best of the best. Worldwide entries are welcome. Winners will be paid in USD, however.

can copyright music be used in submissions without clearence?

The Videography Challenge has no specific rules concerning the use of copyrighted music. We leave that decision to the discretion of each contestant.

For the record, submitted entries will not be used except at the event and for certain promotional purposes.

I've been asked to post the following:

"We would like to offer our sincere gratitude for those videographers expressing interest in the Designer Wedding Challenge 2006 Videography Competition. It is with great disappointment that we must now announce the cancellation of this revolutionary competition. The idea was simple – to award videographers for their outstanding creativity in wedding film productions. For the first time ever, the top three winners would not only be recognized for their artistic efforts but would also receive a monetary prize valuing their winning entry.

We recognize the expressed concerns regarding the validation and integrity of the competition and its process. To offer the transparency deserved by all entrants, the competition has been respectfully closed until the concerns and complete process can be fully fledged out.

Additionally, we appreciate the distinguished panel of judges for volunteering their time to evaluate the entries. We have the utmost respect for these industry leaders and cannot thank you enough for your integrity and enthusiasm to be a part of this unique venture.

The role of weddingfilmartists.com was simply to spread the word about the competition and to facilitate any questions for potential entrants. We applaud their efforts for “spreading the word” and appreciate all those involved during this learning process.

Thank you again for expressing your views. We will be sure to address all concerns and questions to ensure a competition this extraordinary succeeds in the future."

(on behalf of) - Shante Crockett, Designer Wedding Challenge

Well that sucks. Any specific reasons for cancellation?

-pasty

That's been a pretty common response to this announcement, and I concur. Basically, there was a bit too much confusion over the rules of entry, the use of copyright and submitted footage, and we had a rapidly approaching deadline that was limiting the ability to make corrections and changes in the rules. It was decided that the competition could not proceed in good faith.

As I stated on another forum, the entrants and judges deserve a competition that we can all stand behind with full certainty of the commitment and integrity of proceedings. You won't see this particular videography competition resurface until we can deliver that with certainty.

You'll know when it's ready to fly...

Cool, hopefully they can get everything worked out for next time around.