An Indie Booksellers Indie Film Contest

Participating in the American Booksellers Association's Fourth Annual Winter Institute, and aspiring to be an indie filmmaker, too? Well, ABA has a contest for you ... something in the vein of Sundance, the ultimate indie film festival ... maybe.

All ABA member booksellers who attend Wi4 are invited to take what they learn in Salt Lake and creatively express it in video format. Booksellers may build on any theme offered in the ABA education program and present it in a way that reinforces what they learned.

ABA's education team will judge all entries, and the winner will be announced and screened at BookExpo America 2009. The winning bookstore will win a free trip (reasonable transportation and up to a three-night hotel stay) for one staff member to attend ABA's Fifth Annual Winter Institute (date and location to be announced).

Entries will be judged on creativity and on the efficacy with which the video reinforces the lesson learned. Production value will not be considered. Maximum video length is five minutes, and there is no limit to the number of entries per bookstore. The deadline for entries is Friday, May 1, 2009.

All entries will be posted on a special ABA YouTube channel and may be used in future ABA education on www.bookweb.org or through other ABA education vehicles. Videos may not contain copyrighted material such as images or songs.

Visit the ABA YouTube channel for examples of educational videos.