A couple of months ago I got this weird idea to make a short video about Santa Claus getting angry. The image of Santa going Ninja, swinging candy cane nun chucks popped into my mind, and made me laugh. I convinced some co-workers to help me make it. Over the period of a couple of days in November we shot the video at the warehouse where I work. The 3 1/2 minute production premiered at the annual Logistics Christmas party and got a lot of laughs.
I heard that Amazon Studios was planning on holding a Trailer Fest in the new year, so I thought I'd search their website for angry Santa screenplays to see if we could possibly contribute our skillfully acted video as a trailer. To my surprise I found a script, entitled, A Claus Worth Fighting For, and it was a perfect match for our footage (although in this screenplay when Santa got angry he ran around like Rambo with two AK-47s). I was encouraged by the fact that part of the screenplay I found took place on an Air Force Base, much like where we shot ours. I spent a couple of days re-editing the footage to match the project, and uploaded it as a trailer.
A Claus Worth Fighting For (trailer)
A few weeks later the very script we uploaded the trailer to was chosen as one of five finalist for the best November screenplay award, with potential to win a $20,000 prize. The finalist scripts were to be judged by a couple of Hollywood producers. This was out of a field of over 5000 competing scripts. My jaw dropped open. Suddenly, our angry Santa video catapulted to the first page of the Amazon Studio Comedy trailer listings.
Sadly, A Claus Worth Fighting For, didn't win as the best script in December, but our movie trailer is still in the running. January and February 2012 Trailer Fest is taking place at Amazon Studios, and as of today, our little video continues to rank on the first page for comedy trailer listings. Amazon Studio fame could possibly be within our grasp.
