Vimeo Festival + Awards :: Let The Voting Begin

Public voting is now open for the 2012 Vimeo Festival + Awards! Vimeo have whittled down the 15,000 submissions to a shortlist of 12 videos per category, which are currently being watched by a luminary panel of judges including James Franco, Colin Greenwood and Nick Knight.

Needless to say... There's SHITLOADS of cool stuff, but also some few things I felt quite less. But that's the magic of the awards, right yes indeed han-han.

We won't push for any video here, forget your after-work tiredness and take a couple of hours and go make your own choices.

"We wanted to shake things up this year,” said Jeremy Boxer, Director of the Vimeo Festival + Awards. “We felt it was important for anyone and everyone around the world to be a part of this process—especially since we saw amazingly creative work across five continents."

The judging panel for each category is composed of industry experts and the category winner from the 2010 Awards, with special consideration given to the community vote. New judges announced today include professional surfer Alana Blanchard in the Action Sports category, acclaimed directors/producers Mike Figgis and Peter Greenaway in Experimental and filmmaker Casey Neistat in the Narrative category. These judges join James Franco, Colin Greenwood of Radiohead, Lucy Walker, Nick Knight, Steve Lazarides, and more. See the complete list of judges at vimeo.com/awards/judges.

Vimeo is also opening up the voting to the community to help you choose the winners. Anyone can create a Vimeo account and vote for their favourite videos at www.vimeoawards.com. Voting closes on 30 April 2012.

The Vimeo Festival + Awards will take place from 7-9 June, 2012, in New York City. Film and video luminaries such as Kyle Cooper, Ted Hope, and Philip Bloom will gather to address critical themes such as storytelling, creativity, building an audience, and fundraising. Vimeo will host conversations with industry leaders; educational workshops for beginners, enthusiasts, and professionals; and a wide range of video screenings, which include this year’s winning videos and the premiere of Limbo, a new film by 2010 Grand Prize Winner Eliot Rausch, made using grant money from his award.

The event will kick off with the Vimeo Awards ceremony, held on 7 June in New York City, where Vimeo will recognise the best videos online by revealing the 2012 winners. The show will combine innovative projection, staging, sound, and sensory-reactive technologies with live performances and special surprises.

Attendees can choose from a two-day ticket package (including access to the Closing Night Party) for $60, a one-day package for $40, or a screening pass for $20. A limited number of tickets to the Awards show are available for $25 each there.

For additional information, visit the Vimeo Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Vimeo) or follow Vimeo on Twitter (@Vimeo and @VimeoFestAwards). The official hashtag for the 2012 Vimeo Festival + Awards is #VimeoFest.