Vimeo Festival + Awards Blog

Going Pro

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:35:00 -0400

So, you want to do this for a living, huh? The gap between serious amateur and budding professional can look quite large, so we brought in some new and seasoned pros to share their perspectives.

At the 2012 Vimeo Festival, Vimeo’s Senior Curator Jordan McGarry got down to business with experts Kevin Iwashina, Lana Kim, and director Nima Nourizadeh to get the scoop on making the leap.

Building Your Audience

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:04:38 -0400

You’ve spent lots of time, energy, and money making your film, and once it’s done you want make sure it doesn’t end up like a wallflower at the online video party—you need to actively seek out watchers.

At the 2012 Vimeo Festival, Vimeo’s Blake Whitman, director Philip Bloom and designer Nick Campbell got down to some serious talk around how to grow and maintain an audience for your work.

Sundance Channel presents the Vimeo Festival + Awards winners!

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:42:00 -0400

The one and only Sundance Channel, our abundantly awesome Broadcast Sponsor for the 2012 Vimeo Festival + Awards, is gearing up to air a selection of this year’s winners!

”Umbra” by Animation Category winner Malcolm Sutherland will be premiering TONIGHT. Tune in at 9:55 PM Eastern and Pacific time to catch it, and keep your eyes peeled for more winning shorts!

2012 Grand Prize Winner: Everynone

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:44:27 -0400

At the 2012 Vimeo Awards, “Symmetry” by Everynone won the Lyrical category and took home the Grand Prize. We sat down (and stood up) with the filmmakers to learn how they collaborate and see what went into creating their split-screen masterpiece.

Just how cool was the 2012 Festival?

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 10:39:51 -0400

The Vimeo Festival was two days of riveting conversations, inspiring workshops, scintillating screenings, and one truly outstanding closing party. We opened up dialogues, lobbed provocative questions, and gave creators a forum in which to discuss stuff they care about. People of all skill levels participated in educational workshops with the industry’s leading creators. We projected our favorite submissions and unveiled some exclusive premieres.

Long story short, the 2012 Festival was awesome. Check out what happened at the 2012 Vimeo Awards here >

Don't worry about your gear

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:26:45 -0400

Do you yearn to express your creative vision, but don’t have access to the latest and greatest gear? Don’t despair! At the 2012 Festival, Casey Neistat showed us how to make awesome videos while maximizing equipment most of us already have at our disposal. If you’re just getting into the world of video, this highly practical workshop is the perfect launchpad for your ideas.

Learn the fine art of getting paid

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:13:12 -0400

If you want to make a living doing what you love, you need a plan. At the 2012 Vimeo Festival, fundraising expert Brian Newman and maverick filmmaker Ryan Koo sat down for a practical discussion designed to help career-minded creators. Their candid back-and-forth touched on lots of moolah-related topics, including where the money is, how to make smart sacrifices, and what self-promotion skills come in handy as you try to drum up dollars.

Eliot Rausch opened up about his new film "LIMBO"

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 10:57:00 -0400

In addition to premiering his new film, “LIMBO,” at the Festival this year, Eliot Rausch talked with Festival Director Jeremy Boxer about how winning the Grand Prize in 2010 changed his life and made this new work possible. This session also includes screenings of “LIMBO” and “Last Minutes with Oden,” the film that won Eliot the Grand Prize.

TED Media's June Cohen tackled the new viral video

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:55:00 -0400

Videos with millions of views come in many flavors, but they have a common thread: They inspire us to share with others. Lately, viral videos have undergone a transformation, and in this conversation, TED Media’s June Cohen posed a big question: How have viral videos gone from ephemeral content to ideas worth spreading?

Scott Belsky predicted the future of creative careers

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 11:03:11 -0400

The landscape of creative work is changing. Much of the friction that once inhibited independent careers has been removed, and the distance between idea and execution is smaller than ever. In his Festival conversation The Future of Creative Careers, Behance CEO Scott Belsky explored the ways in which our professional output is powered by the latest technology and shaped by the new ways in which we collaborate. Watch the full talk right now:

Director Profiles: Steve James and Lucy Walker

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:57:40 -0400

Who best to interview a master of interview techniques? Another interview master, obviously. In a very special event, documentarians and unparalleled question-askers Steve James and Lucy Walker took the stage to grill each other on their careers, their creative processes, and how they get their subjects to open up on camera.

Ed Burns and Ted Hope talk about failure

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:46:19 -0400

During this hour-long Conversation in the Main Hall on Friday, Ted Hope and Ed Burns discussed the importance of embracing failure in artistic work. The pair candidly cover a wide range of topics, from personal setbacks to the need to take risks to the power of Jon Bon Jovi.

Watch the new film by 2010 Grand Prize Winner Eliot Rausch

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:39:44 -0400

In 2010, Eliot Rausch won the Grand Prize at the first Vimeo Festival + Awards and received a $25,000 grant to make a new film. That new film is “LIMBO,” a powerful documentary told from the perspective of three undocumented students living in the US without legal status. We premiered “LIMBO” to a packed house at the 2012 Festival this past weekend, and now the whole world can watch it on Vimeo:

Dr. Reginald Watts delivered the 2012 Keynote Address

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:34:07 -0400

The illustrious Internetologist Dr. Reginald Watts returned to the Vimeo Festival + Awards this year to discuss his latest theories on the tubes, wires, and webs that connect us all. His talk addressed a key question: How do you know whether you’re at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

What was it like to attend the 2012 Vimeo Awards?

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 11:53:59 -0400

In short, it was absolutely amazing. Hosted by Reggie Watts and Beardyman, the evening celebrated the world’s best videos — and their creators — using a combination of insane technology, mind-melting musical performances, and good old-fashioned human emotion. Words don’t really do it justice, though, so check out some of the highlights:

Day 2 of the Festival is now underway

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 10:42:11 -0400

Up and at ‘em, Vimeans! It’s Day 2 of the Festival and we’ve got tons of great Workshops, Talks, and Screenings for you. For all the deets on today’s happenings, check out the full schedule.

You should also follow us on Twitter for the latest updates, and be sure to share all your awesome Festival + Awards pictures, comments, and virtual high-fives by using the hashtag #VimeoFest

As you frolic about the Festival, don’t forget to recharge your batteries (not just your camera batteries) in our refreshing beer garden, sponsored by Heineken. And if you love a good shindig, strap on your dancing shoes and join us for our monumental Closing Party tonight!

Friday Screenings

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:04:00 -0400

As the sun sets on today’s talks and ‘shops, it’s almost time for our first crop of Festival Screenings. Here’s what we have on deck for tonight:

World Premiere of ‘Limbo,’ the new film by 2010 Grand Prize Winner Eliot Rausch 6:45pm | Main Hall
After winning the Grand Prize and a $25,000 grant at the 2010 Awards, director Eliot Rausch partnered with the Dreamers of Los Angeles to create this 19-minute film that explores the lives of three students living in the US without legal status.

Imaginary Worlds 7pm | Root 3
These fantastic flights of animation and post-production sorcery enable their creators to design alternate universes and take audiences on impossible journeys.

WTF? 8:45pm | Root 3
This screening collects the most unexpected, eye-widening, LOL-inducing, and must-share-now videos from our pool of Vimeo Festival + Award submissions. They’ll leave you awestruck — or simply wondering “What the f%#k?”

The Winners 8:30pm | Main Hall
As its title so clearly states, The Winners is a showcase of our amazing 2012 Vimeo Awards winners! We started with 14,567 videos and ended up with these 13 tremendous works.

For a full list of screenings, click this magic link >

Watch all the winning videos now

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:33:00 -0400

The 2012 Vimeo Awards totally happened last night in New York City! We’ll give you a full recap of the show soon, but in the meantime we want you to know who took home the hardware. Watch all the winning videos right this instant and/or aim your eyes below to get intimate with the Grand Prize winner: “Symmetry” by Everynone. Huge CONGRATS to all our winners!

The Vimeo Festival starts today

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:38:18 -0400

The Vimeo Festival has begun! Our first Workshops kicked off just a few moments ago, so grab a cup of joe and power walk over to Vimeo HQ to register on the double! Reggie Watts’ Keynote Address starts in the Main Hall at 10:30am, and we want to see you there in the shadow of his hair. This is what the Main Hall looks like right now!

There’s lots going on today, and you can keep track of all the Workshops, Conversations, and Screenings using this handy Schedule. Browse the full list of events and click “Add to My Schedule” when you see something you want to be at. You can revisit your Schedule over the course of the day to make sure you hit everything on your must-see list.

For live updates on Festival happenings, tune in to our Twitter account, and if you see a Vimeo Staff member in the crowd today, say hellooooooo! You can recognize us because we’ll be wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the word STAFF on the back, and we will most likely be distributing high fives with wild abandon.

Are you ready for the best night of your life?

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:32:56 -0400

The Awards are just a handful of hours away, and Vimeo HQ is buzzing with last minute preparations. Were loading confetti cannons, practicing our high-fives, and grooming our unicorns to ensure that tonight is extra special.

Advance tickets to the show have been snatched up, but if you’re dying to partake, put on your freshest threads and hang out in the standby line outside NYU Skirball Center. Make sure to arrive before 7:30pm for the best chance of getting in!

For our faraway friends, tune into the Vimeo Festival + Awards Twitter account for live updates from the show.

If you’re joining us tonight, prepare yourself for an unfathomable abundance of magic and fun. See you soon!