Guillermo Del Toro Wants You To Scare Him In New Contest From Legendary Pictures and YouTube

Guillermo del Toro could well be the busiest man in Hollywood — it is rare a day goes by where his name is not attached to an upcoming film or television show. Despite his backlog of projects, the filmmaker has announced that he will preside over a rather cool contest put together by Legendary Pictures and YouTube. The two companies have partnered for the YouTube House of Horrors: A Legendary Halloween contest, which seeks to discover the next great mind in horror cinema. Read on for the details.

According to Variety, the YouTube House of Horrors: A Legendary Halloween contest encourages eligible filmmakers in the YouTube Partner Program to craft their own horror short films using YouTube Spaces production houses. Located in London, Los Angeles, Tokyo and New York, YouTube Spaces will provide working sets converted to resemble different haunted house-style environments inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s films (the header photo above is a computer rendering of one of the sets). Filming and post production work will run from Sept. 22 to Oct. 27, and the completed shorts will be posted to YouTube soon after for the public to see.

The real draw of the contest though is the opportunity to be advised by Del Toro himself, who will provide “a personal rough-cut creative consultation” with selected creators. The winning filmmaker will also have the chance to secure a development deal with Legendary to bring their horror concept to fruition in the possible form of a feature film.

Check out the video below of Del Toro announcing the contest, along with the full press release:

YouTube Space House of Horrors: A Legendary Halloween

“Halloween just got a whole lot scarier as YouTube Spaces, Legendary Entertainment and master filmmaker Guillermo del Toro are teaming up to deliver horror-inspired content onto the biggest video sharing platform in the world.

Legendary Entertainment is committed to elevating the horror genre with their signature blend of filmmaking craftsmanship and fan-focused passion. As part of 2014’s Halloween holiday celebration, Legendary and YouTube Spaces are partnering to provide the ideal setting and resources to connect with one of the most creative filmmaking communities in the world and seek out the brave new voice in horror.

YouTube creators will have the opportunity to create original videos on terrifying cinematic sets inspired by Guillermo del Toro at YouTube Spaces in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and New York, as part of a special global programming event on YouTube.

From September 22 – October 28, 2014, YouTube creators will write, shoot and edit their scariest videos at the YouTube Spaces. As well as appearing on individual creator channels, all content will appear on the YouTube Spaces channel, the official Legendary YouTube channel and promoted through social media platforms. Videos are slated to go live between October 21 and Halloween.

In celebration of his return to horror with the upcoming Crimson Peak, master of ceremonies, Guillermo del Toro, will select his scariest videos to come out of each region and provide a personal rough-cut creative consultation with the creators.

The program’s finale will see Legendary offer one lucky YouTube creator a development deal to realize the full potential of their idea.

The effort is part of YouTube Spaces’ tent-pole programming initiative that furthers the Spaces’ mission to bring together the most creative people in the world around celebrated cultural events.