Fledgling filmmakers, phone it in: The Three Minute Masterpiece digital film contest returns

The Three Minute Masterpiece (3MM) digital-film contest is back — this year with a mobile twist.

The Seattle Times and Seattle International Film Festival invite you to shoot a short film on your phone. The best reader-submitted movies (as selected by our panel of judges) will see their entries shown at SIFF in May.

Here's how it works: Use your cellphone to make a film on any subject you like, as long as it's suitable for a family-newspaper audience. (No sex, violence or bad language, please.) It must be 3 minutes or less.

Here's how you enter: Make your movie with your phone (you may edit it on a computer), then visit www.seattletimes.com/3mm2010 for details on how to upload your video.

Very important: If you use music, you must have permission from whomever owns the rights to it.

Special category: Filmmakers under 18 are eligible for the J. Michael Rima award for young directors.

That's it. When you upload your video, make sure you include your name, phone number, e-mail address, age (if under 18) and movie title. If you are selected as a finalist, we'll contact you for a higher-resolution version of your film.

Winners will be shown on The Seattle Times Web site and at the Seattle International Film Festival. The grand-prize winner will get one full series pass to this year's festival, which begins May 20 (www.siff.net). The winner of the J. Michael Rima Award for directors under 18 will get screened as part of the FutureWave shorts.

Entries must be e-mailed to us by 11:59 p.m. April 26.

Seattle Times staff