The video contest directory OnlineVideoContests.com (OVC), which gathers all video contests on one great site (“#1 most updated video contest site on the web!“) and newsletter, has started the “OVC Spotlight” series. It’s an ongoing series of two-and-a-half-minute YouTube videos that describe different video crowdsourcing platforms (eYeka, Mofilm, Poptent ProjectED, Tongal, Zooppa…) is a clear, short and crisp manner. Marissa from OVC told me that:

We decided to create these Spotlight videos as a service to our community, so our creators could better understand all the video crowdsourcing platforms in the space

As you will see in the videos, Marissa objectively explains where the companies that run the platforms are based, how the platforms work, what advantages creators might get from “working” for these platforms etc. I would have appreciated a higher focus on the communities (or “crowds”) of filmmakers, as different platforms have different audiences all over the world (most platforms target US filmmaker, for instance). Even though OVC has commercial ties with some of these companies (the site is financed by advertising), the tone is objective and unpartial, which is cool.

We write and produce each video ourselves. They are purely editorial in nature, and our existing relationships with our advertisers do not affect the content of the videos

… Marissa told me. She also made clear that the companies OVC features never see the final video until it’s posted publicly on its YouTube channel, which has 5,000+ subscribers. The expertise and the experience that the OVC team has in the online video contest field make these videos very valuable to newcomers, and I think they are even better than some of the platform’s own explainer videos! What’s also interesting is to read the YouTube comments under each videos, where creators express their opinion about the featured platform.

So far, all comments are very positive: “I’ve been Tongaling since they launched. They always have something fresh and are ever-evolving. Lots of opporunity, lots of fun,” one user says, “Project ED is an excellent opportunity for film makers all around to put their skill to the test against other upcoming film makers!” or “I L-O-V-E MoFilm. They have helped me grow as a filmmaker and their competitions push me with new, innovative, and challenging ideas and creative briefs from the brand sponsors” are the type of comments we see. This is cool, but I’d definitely be curious to see what discussions the first negative comments will usher.

Would you like to see the videos? I’ve embedded them below, they are listed in chronological order of upload to YouTube.

The OVC spotlight about Tongal (uploaded on July 1st 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Poptent (uploaded on July 15th 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Project ED (uploaded on August 12th 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Mofilm (uploaded on August 26th 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about FilmFights (uploaded on September 9th 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Zooppa (uploaded on September 23rd 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about eYeka (uploaded on October 21st 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Genero (uploaded on December 16th 2013):

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The OVC spotlight about Userfarm (uploaded on August 4th 2014):

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The OVC spotlight about Magisto (uploaded on Septembre 9th 2014):

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Congrats for the great work, Marissa (and team)! Here’s the list of platforms that OVC should feature over the next months. I don’ think all of them equaly deserve to be featured as interesting video contest providers (Current has been purchased by Al Jazeera; Tunected, Womadz and ContestCentral don’t seem to be very successful) and new video production models are emerging (ProductionParty, StudioNow, Vidaao, Whooshii…) but OVC is sole master onboard, they will figure it out.

I will update this post as she and OVC adds videos to the spotlight series, and I’m looking forward to watching more!