Sir Ridley Scott is looking for the next Ridley Scott, and the Oscar-nominated filmmaker believes he’ll find him or her on YouTube.

The Alien and Prometheus director is launching an online film festival through a collaboration with YouTube and the Venice Film Festival that will trigger a global competition to discover fresh, creative voices in a digital age. Beginning on Feb. 2, interested parties can begin submitting 15-minute, story-driven clips to Your Film Festival’s official YouTube Channel.

Entries are free, though they must be submitted by March 31, when Scott and his creative team will begin watching submissions and narrowing the field down to roughly 50 semifinalists. In June, online users will begin voting in the contest. The top 10 entries will open the Venice Film Festival in September, where the Grand Prize Winner will be selected and granted $500,000 to go make a new work produced by Scott.

This sounds like a great opportunity for emerging filmmakers looking for fresh avenues to get their work distributed and seen. Scott seems enamored with YouTube, having executive produced last year’s interactive documentary Life In a Day, which was compiled entirely from clips submitted by YouTube users. The innovative director really has found a way to open up the dialogue between storytellers and the Internet, and this Your Film Festival seems like the next logical step in the progression. Stay tuned to that YouTube Channel for entries and the voting process. And if you are so inclined, enter and try to win a slot in Venice. We wish you the best of luck!