The Crystal Awards

Over the last year, it has become more and more apparent that a primary mover of culture on our planet is the short video. The most famous catalyst in this transformation has been YouTube.com, but it has been joined by AOL, Yahoo, and many others.

It’s hard to over-estimate the power of this phenomenon. The daily news cycle is driven by it (police incidents, politician’s faux pas, etc.).   Artists, musicians and filmmakers achieve exposure via these videos.

In contrast to earlier related art forms like film and television, this is very much a ’Peoples’ movement. That is, a large budget or studio is not necessary. Anyone with a video camera (or even a video-capable cellphone) can enter the game.

This has led to a change in the way that entertainment is delivered whose effects are hard to measure. YouTube alone receives thousands of new videos every single day.

Because of the ease with which these works can be produced, a large percentage of them are dull, amateurish, and not worth watching.

Which begs the question: How can the quality short videos be separated from the chaff? Out of the multitude of mediocrity, how can the gems be extracted? How can truly original and compelling work be encouraged?

Enter the ‘Crystal Awards’. We seek to reward and recognize quality short Internet videos. We do this not only through presentation of our awards in March, but also by periodically screening noteworthy films in front of a live audience at the Royal theater. During these screenings we hold discussions, with both audience and auteur invited to participate. This provides a communal aspect to the normally solitary computer video watching experience.
   To learn how to submit a video, go to the next page.