Categories: Press Releases

Firefox Flicks video contest winners announced

Community Video Competition Kicks Off Ongoing Firefox Flicks Campaign

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – April 27, 2006 – Mozilla today announced the winners of its Firefox Flicks video contest at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The winning videos were selected from nearly 300 submissions created by Firefox enthusiasts from around the world, who responded to the opportunity to help promote Firefox through short film.

The grand prize winner, “Daredevil,” will be short-listed for the NY Festival of Advertising’s 2006 International Advertising Awards in May, and the finalists’ Firefox videos will be incorporated into Mozilla’s 2006 marketing activities. The contest and today’s announcement of the winners wrap up the initial launch of the Firefox Flicks campaign, which will continue throughout 2006.

The winning submissions are:

Grand Prize
“Daredevil” by Pete Macomber
http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=19326

Second Place
“Wheee!” by Jeff Gill
http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=19542

Third Place
“Fox Fever” by Andrew N. Green
http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=21146

Honorable Mention
“This is Hot” by Danny Robashkin
http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=20674

Honorable Mention
“Give Me the Soap” by Chris Wedding
http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=19836

“Daredevil” was directed by Pete Macomber, who creates music videos, commercials and screenplays from his Venice, Ca. home when he is not out chasing waves. With “Daredevil,” Macomber captures, in documentary-style, the youthful energy and approach to life of a girl whose “other browser is a surfboard.”

“The coolest thing about the Firefox Flicks contest is that everyone wins,” Macomber said. “Aspiring directors showcased their skills before a wide audience, inspired by a revolutionary organization, and now Mozilla has more than 250 sweet spots for Firefox.”

Accomplished entertainment and advertising judges — including the talents behind Charlie’s Angels, American Pie, and Six Feet Under — had the difficult job of selecting the winners. Mozilla announced the winners following a screening of selected Firefox Flicks and a panel discussion on the emergence of community-powered video on the Web, which included speakers from Butler, Shine & Stern, Creative Commons, Current TV, and Revver.

“The response to Firefox Flicks has been fantastic with entries from as far away as Australia, but the unifying theme has been passion,” said Asa Dotzler, Mozilla community coordinator. “This contest provided a unique way for our community to become a part of the Mozilla project. We thank everyone who participated for helping us launch the ongoing Firefox Flicks campaign with such a big bang.”

“The energy and enthusiasm of our community continues to inspire us as we roll out grassroots marketing campaigns to bring Firefox, and the better Web experience it delivers, to people everywhere,” said Mozilla’s Vice President, Marketing, Christopher Beard.

In November 2004, Spread Firefox volunteers designed and underwrote a two-page ad in the New York Times to announce the release of Firefox 1.0. The New York Times campaign kicked off Mozilla’s unique approach to grassroots marketing. Today, tens of millions of people worldwide are enjoying the better Web experience offered by Firefox. This year, the community has raised the bar with Firefox Flicks, the first large-scale community-produced video campaign for a software product.

To view the Firefox Flicks videos, visit: http://www.firefoxflicks.com

Firefox is available as a free download at: http://www.getfirefox.com or through the Mozilla Store at http://www.mozillastore.com.

About Mozilla Corporation

Mozilla Corp. is charged with the development and deployment of Mozilla technologies and products around the globe. The corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, and continues to further the mission of the Mozilla project to preserve choice and innovation on the Internet. For more information about Mozilla, please visit: www.mozilla.com.