Scott Launches Online Film Competition

Sir Ridley Scott is launching a new online competition to send 10 buddingmoviemakers to this year's (12) Venice Film Festival.

The Alien director has joined forces with video-sharing website YouTube.com to launch the campaign, asking fans to create their own 15-minute films and post them on the site.

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 alsoreceive a $500,000 (?312,500) grant to create a movie with Scott.

The legendary director says, "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".

Submissions are being accepted online until 31 March (12).