Next 50 Video Entries Being Accepted Through 9/1

Time is running out for videographers to submit their winning entries to two Next 50 video contests. Deadlines for Next 50 Innovation Video Contest and A Story Runs Through It Film Project are Saturday, Sept. 1. Both contests offer attractive prizes for winning entries.

Next 50 Innovation Video Contest, sponsored by the Washington Economic Development Commission, seeks to capture the excitement and anticipation of future possibilities so prevalent in 1962. Suggested video topics include creative thought, scientific discoveries, entrepreneurs and business solutions. Contestants may highlight the advances that currently shape the way we live, work and play; or they may introduce new technological paradigms for approaching future opportunities.

Acceptable two-minute video submissions will be screened for public voting live and online during September’s Commerce and Innovation Economy Month. The creator of the winning video receives $5,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Seattle for two. Four runners-up will receive prizes of $1,000. A panel of subject matter and technical experts will serve as the final arbiters, judging video submissions on content, creativity, quality, imagination, entertainment and popularity. For contest information and rules, visit www.N50Contest.org.

A Story Runs through It, organized by Next 50 Civic Action Committee with support from Seattle International Film Festival, the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Swedish, and MSN Postbox, aims to capture Seattle’s civic fabric, engage and train communities in the art of filmmaking as a means to develop their own future narratives, and establish closer ties between Seattle neighborhoods. Participants will develop short videos of up to three minutes, with minimum running time of at least 60 seconds.

Citizens of all ages from the greater Seattle area are invited to participate in A Story Runs Through It. Filmmakers may approach their topics through a variety of techniques including interviews with subjects, histories of events or locations, mythologies, fictions, examples of good works or local agents of change, and neighborhood needs or improvements. Filmmakers may also feature any region of the city, regardless of their residential address. Submission requirements, rules, prizes and more are available at the project’s website, www.thenextfifty.org /filmproject. For more information on the project, contact Karin Butler (Karin.butler@seattle.gov).

The Next Fifty continues through Oct. 21 with events, attractions and family activities focusing on Arts, Culture and Design, History, Learning, Commerce and the Innovation Economy, and Civic Action. For more information on The Next Fifty and Seattle Center, visit www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200.

About Seattle Center and The Next Fifty

Since its beginning 50 years ago, Seattle Center has served as a cultural and civic gathering place at the core of our region. In 2012, The Next Fifty at Seattle Center celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair and the physical legacy it left. The 74-acre Seattle Center campus exists to delight and inspire the human spirit in each person and bring together our rich and varied community. The 12 million visits to Seattle Center each year generate $1.15 billion in business activity and $387 million in labor income for King County.

Next 50 premier partners include: Bartell Drugs, Bill & MeLinda Gates Foundation, Coca-Cola, Grousemont Foundation, Microsoft, Samsung, Seattle Center Monorail, T-Mobile, TPN (The Production Network) and World Vision. Funding and participating partners include: 206 Inc., 4Culture, City of Seattle, Global Health Nexus, Hill & Knowlton Strategies, KOMO 4 TV, KUOW 94.9 Public Radio, One to the World, Safeco Insurance: A Liberty Mutual Company, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Washington Economic Development Commission.