YouTube and Ridley Scott team up for YouTube film festival

(CBS/AP) YouTube has decided to venture into the world of film festivals, launching its own showcase this spring online that will ultimately send 10 finalists to the Venice Film Festival.

"Your Film Festival" is taking submissions of short films up to 15 minutes in length between Feb. 2 and March 31. Ridley Scott and members of his production company, Scott Free Productions, choose the 50 semifinalists and allow YouTube users to pick the top 10.

The finalist will then head over to Italy to attend the world's oldest film festival - the Venice Film Festival - where their films will be screened in August. From there Scott will lead a jury in selecting a winner who will receive a $500,000 grant from YouTube to produce a work with Scott Free.

YouTube has held film contests in the past, but the global "Your Film Festival" is on a much larger scale. International films will have subtitles added.

"Short filmmaking is exactly where I started my career 50 years ago, so to be helping new filmmakers find an entry point like this into the industry is fantastic," said Scott.