Calling all would-be Judd Apatows, Martin Scorseses and Coen brothers. Your cinematic ambitions may be supported by an unlikely patron, based not in Hollywood but in Redmond, Washington.

That geographic clue gives away the sponsor: Microsoft, which is underwriting an online moviemaking contest in an effort to stimulate sales and burnish the reputation of Windows Vista, its operating system. The product has met with mixed reviews since its introduction last year.

The contest is another example of the popular marketing trend known as user-generated subject matter. It is intended to promote the higher-end version of Vista — Windows Vista Ultimate — among videophiles, early adopters of technology and filmmakers.

The contest, which was to start on Thursday, is called the Ultimate Video Relay and has its own Web site (ultimatevideorelay.com), a spinoff of the Windows Vista Ultimate Web site (ultimatepc.com). The relay reference comes from the invitation to computer users to complete a story titled The Cube in

several stages. The tale, a humorous cross within The Matrix and The Office (or Office Space), begins with a six-minute clip that can be watched on the relay Web site. The clip is directed by Kyle Newman, the director of Fanboys, a coming movie about Star Wars aficionados.

The online clip is labeled Act I of The Cube and ends abruptly.

Contestants are supposed to finish the story by providing first a middle (Act II) and later an end (Act III). The entries will be judged by visitors to ultimatevideorelay.com.

Microsoft is teaming up for the contest with TriggerStreet.com, the Web site of a production company owned by the actor Kevin Spacey that is aimed at aspiring moviemakers and screenwriters. TriggerStreet.com and Microsoft were brought together by Omelet, a Los Angeles company that works on advertising, entertainment and branding projects with marketers that in addition to Microsoft include Anheuser-Busch,…

Orginal post by Top Tech News