Last Summer we told you about  the Original iPhone Film Festival. The contest only had two rules of entry: the contestants must shoot their entire video with an iOS device, and the clip could not exceed 4 and 1/2 minutes.

Well it took a little while, but the winners of the Film Festival have finally been chosen. Continue reading to see the four videos that took home first place in their respective categories…(...)
Read the rest of These Videos Took First Place in the 2011 Original iPhone Film Festival

"These Videos Took First Place in the 2011 Original iPhone Film Festival" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com.
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Disney has created a new Facebook app that will let users buy tickets to see Toy Story 3 right on the site, while also inviting their friends along. The application is called Disney Tickets Together and is a brilliant example of social media synergy.

The app, which works in partnership with ticket-buying websites like Fandango.com, lets users pre-order tickets for the show and then invite others to join them. Users can also post what showing they are going to on their Facebook news feed.

This is the type of campaign that is a perfect fit for social media. Not only does the ability to buy tickets without leaving Facebook make impulse ticket buys more likely, but the social aspect makes group planning that much easier.

The nice thing about the Facebook app is that you can view what types of theaters are showing the film in your area (meaning 3D, stadium seating, IMAX 3D, etc.) and you can also invite along non-Facebook friends by entering in their e-mail address.

Tickets aren’t available for pre-order at all theaters but many more will be added next week.

As we noted yesterday, movie studios are increasingly using social media — and especially Facebook — in the promotional campaigns for feature films.

Toy Story 3 has already used social media, setting up a college tour using Facebook and uploading faux-vintage toy commercials to YouTube. What is different about this campaign is that it has a direct monetary link. This is a way that the studios can use social media to directly increase and promote ticket sales.

We hope that Disney employs this app for more of its films and that other studios take notice. What do you think about how Disney is using Facebook to sell movie tickets? Let us know!

Tags: facebook, movie tickets, Movies, toy story 3

Universal Studios has just released the second trailer for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World on its Facebook page. The trailer was originally going to premiere in front of the comedy, Get Him to the Greek, but the studio offered to release it online first if the film could get 100,000 Facebook fans.

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly integrated into promotional campaigns for feature films. For instance, Disney premiered the first trailer for Alice in Wonderland on Facebook and also used the social network to serve up exclusive character posters.

For the upcoming release of Toy Story 3, Disney/Pixar has gone all out, even creating faux-vintage toy commercials for YouTube.

Universal’s strategy with Scott Pilgrim is unique in that it asked users to become fans of the film before it launched the trailer. The director of the film, Edgar Wright, announced this incentive on his Twitter account.

You can check out the second trailer for the film below:

What do you think about how movie studios are using social networks to promote films and to build buzz? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: facebook, Film, Movies, scott pilgrim vs the world, trailers

Not content with the glorious victory that was Betty White hosting Saturday Night Live, the denizens of Facebook have now turned their eyes to still more lofty goals: the Emmys and the Oscars.

As of right now, “Getting Betty White to Host the Academy Awards” is the most popular page, with 53,023 members at the time of posting. Then there’s “Betty White to Host the Oscars,” with 12,600 members. Both pages appear to be fan labors of love, much like “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!”, and they’re already garnering copious amounts of media attention.

And then there’s “Betty White Must Host 2010 Emmys!”, which was launched by blogger Abe Gurko and has a little more than 2,000 fans. Gurko told us his reasoning for nominating the Golden Girls star: “I think that the Emmy awards shows over the years have been horrible. Bad writing, coupled with bad timing by the hosts. As these award shows have decreased in ratings, who better to put on hosting — or even co-hosting duties with Jimmy Fallon — than Betty. To give the show a much needed boost. Betty IS television.”

Just a few days ago, the Los Angeles Times covered this trend, pronouncing in the headline: Hipster Culture is Having a Senior Moment. While I would assert that the affinity for elderly stars etc goes far beyond the “hipster” set, I would agree that older folk — and especially White — are, indeed, becoming what amounts to an Internet meme.

Fans are enjoying the power they have come to wield, even when striving for goals that initially seem rather lofty (like having an older, less culturally relevant star host a major awards show). See also: Can This Onion Ring Get More Fans Than Justin Bieber?

Sure, White does have legit fans who want to see her succeed (Gurko and Co. seem extremely sincere), and, yes, she kicked serious ass on SNL last weekend, but, in the end, getting behind Betty seems like it’s becoming a bit of a trend.

It remains to be seen how effective campaigns like this will be as more and more continue to launch.

Tags: facebook, humor, pop culture, television