Have you ever had a unique idea and thought to yourself, “I want to make that into a movie!” But then real life kicks in and you begin to think, “Yeah, I would never get the budget for that.” However, as long as the concept is there producing something bigger than what is originally thought to be possible can still happen.

All it takes is a little creativity which is why I thought we could create a forum for those ideas. Which in the end, could possibly lead to some more ideas and networking for those of you out there who are looking to start something with a little bit more uhmf behind it.

So tell us, what are your concepts? What are you ideas? What have you always thought would be cool to shoot?

It has been difficult to ignore the increase in viral video ad campaigns lately. If you haven’t noticed, viral videos have become a powerful advertising strategy for many corporations. Volkswagen created The Fun Theory, MicroBilt sponsors I Love Local Commercials, and Evian’s creepy roller skating babies helped make their Live Young campaign a viral success. A cleverly disguised T-Mobile advertisement does a great job at mimicking those low-quality, flash-mob-caught-on-tape videos. It takes two and-a-half minutes of watching the video before you realize you’ve been duped into watching an advertisement.

So, is this it? Is this the end of homemade viral videos? Can we even begin to compete with the millions of dollars that go into making and promoting these corporate viral video ad campaigns? Should we even bother?

Time Magazine’s recent article, YouTube Effect: Making Money from Viral Video, discusses the recent success people have had with their homemade viral videos. The makers of Keyboard Cat and David After Dentist, among others, have seized various opportunities to further market their successful videos, enabling them to earn tens of thousands of dollars each.

It’s becoming quite obvious that video-sharing sites and social media have become great tools for raking in the dough. And yes, corporations have figured this out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should just give up and allow Keyboard Cat to play us off, does it?

Everyone needs to make a little extra cash now and then. Similarly to how the web revolutionized the viewing of video, the web is also starting to revolutionize the way videographers find work as well.

The idea of most of these sites is similar, a national clearing house for people who want videos made about their businesses, combined with a nationwide network of competent videographers. If there’s a business in your area that wants a video, the company contacts you and gives you a commission. You shoot and edit the piece and once the client approves, you get paid from the company.

The work isn’t exactly highly paid (most gigs going for $200-$500), but one of the biggest hassles when you’re freelancing is drumming up work. The big benefit to this system is that you have people drumming up work in your area 24×7 for you.

Turn Here & Studio Now both aggregate video production projects from major companies, to local advertisers, and are always on the lookout for new filmmakers to join their networks.

There is of course, a vetting process, you will need to have access to some decent production gear, and provide samples of your work. However regular Videomaker readers should have no problems passing the tests. So take a look at the sites, and start letting the internet find work for you.