You may or may not have heard about the Relentless Short Stories Competition. Created by the same folk who bring you Relentless Energy Drink, Extreme Sports festivals of the same name, Apps and all sorts of goodies. Yes they’re a global brand, conglomerate and in so being you wouldn’t be wrong to question whether they’d sold their souls to the devil in a big empire bundle of lawyers, spin-doctors, consultants and media-savvy-professionals. Let’s face it, in this day and age who hasn’t. But I reckon it’s probably a pre-requisite that they have to be adrenalin junkies at the weekend. What these films say to me is that the Relentless brand is staying true to its roots, loving, caressing and post-coital-cuddling extreme sports  fans. So without further ado and with a big thumbs-up from me, I give you Short Stories.

Now in its 2nd year, Short Stories is a challenge to filmmakers around the world to explore, reveal, celebrate and define the ‘No Half Measures’ attitude through the medium of film.

The competition rewards directors who can visually convey this year’s theme – ‘Focus’. Short Stories asks Directors to portray this using script, voiceover, actions and attitudes of individuals who live and breathe their passions – from the worlds of core sports (skate, surf, snow, BMX) to music (rock, metal, dance, punk, drum n’ bass).

Open to amateur and professional directors, entrants must be 18 years minimum and need to submit their showreel to be selected (The window for this has now closed)

For Short Stories 2011 a selection of 30 film makers were invited to provide a document pitch for the story they wished to tell. From these pitches, eight directors were selected to make their film. The Directors hail from the UK, Germany and Ireland.

The eight films will be judged on the following things: how engaging is their narrative; whether it’s inspiring and motivational; if it provokes a fresh, new outlook; believability and honesty; technical craft; and compelling film-making. Quite a bit to keep in mind when filming then. Wow.

The winner will be awarded £10,000 plus a contract and funding to shoot another film project for Relentless Energy.

The 2011 judging panel are  being finalised, but for 2010 featured editors and publishers from Sidewalk Skateboard, Dig BMX, Surf Europe, Whitelines and Huck magazines, plus the director of Lives of the Artists films. As soon as I know who the 2011 judges are, I’ll post their names here for y’all. In the meantime, take a look at the latest competition film releases.

Film Release 1 – The Road http://ilivextreme.com/the-road-a-short-stories-film.html/

Film Release 2 - All In  http://ilivextreme.com/all-in-a-short-stories-film.html/

Film Release 3 – Good Morning Gravity  http://ilivextreme.com/good-morning-gravity-a-short-stories-film.html/

Film Release 4 will be coming soon.

Take a look at last year’s winner, a film entitled Dark Side of the Lens by surf photographer Mickey Smith and filmmaker Allan Wilson of the Astray Collective. The stunning short went viral instantly on release, clocking up over a million views, winning prestigious awards from The New York Surf Film Festival, Canadian Surf Film Festival, Surfer Poll Awards and more.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.  http://vimeo.com/14074949