Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival Hits Viral Red Carpet

Online, February 3, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The latest promotion from Virgin Radio Vancouver hit the sweet spot of user-generated content and publicity after gaining global notoriety from Yahoo News!, Mashable.com, the London Evening Standard UK and even Hollywood film directors. The Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival is a unique promotion that encourages fans to recreate their favourite movie in 60-seconds or less for a chance to win $10,000.The best part of it is that Virgin simply organized a festival - and users generated the content and promoted it... globally.

The one-of-a-kind contest inspired 197 amateur film enthusiasts to don their cameras, recruit family and friends as actors and channel their inner Steven Spielberg. Aside from creating entertaining 60 second video segments, the contest also required contestants to promote their films through various communications channels, including YouTube, blogs, websites, Facebook, Twitter and traditional media. Some of the films even gained the attention of the original film directors, who tweeted about the spoofs and promoted them online.

"The reaction to this campaign has been outstanding, we can't keep up with the coverage - both traditional and digital!" says Crosby McWilliam, Promotions Director at Virgin Radio. "Asides from providing a radio station with great online content it has proved to be one of the most valuable brand building assets our company has. Through the power of social networking our brand was introduced to hundreds of thousands of new users. It addition to the obvious marketing benefits, we are also thrilled to provide a creative outlet for aspiring film makers to showcase their talent and, as seen in some cases, get noticed by Hollywood directors."

The Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival panel of cinemaphiles, consisting of local media, film critics and Virgin Radio staff, reviewed the submissions and picked a winner based on accuracy, quality and strength of promotion on Friday January 28. Scott Pilgrim Vs. 60 Seconds was awarded the $10,000 grand prize at the Fake Film Festival Wrap party on January 28 where the top 10 films were screened in front of a live audience. The wrap party also featured the band, Sweet Thing and gave away a VIP trip to LA for the best Hollywood costume.

All submitted videos can be viewed on Virgin Radio's website at http://vancouver.virginradio.ca.

About Virgin Radio 95.3
Virgin Radio 95.3 is an Astral Radio station. Astral Radio is a leading Canadian media company, active in specialty and pay television, radio, outdoor advertising and iMedia. Astral's solid and dynamic presence in the country's major markets resets on its commitment to offer a unique combination of high-quality, targeted media for its audiences.

Media contact:
Lindsay Nahmiache / Jive Communications
[email protected]

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