Canon, Ron Howard tap Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson in new film project

In 2011, Canon launched a marketing effort called “Project Imagin8ion,” a collaboration with director Ron Howard. The campaign revolved around a fan-submitted photo contest, in which eight winning photographs were chosen as inspiration for a short film directed by Howard’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. Then in 2012, Canon and Howard followed up with “Project Imagina10n,” which revolved around 10 films produced by five consumers and five celebs that included actor Jamie Foxx, actress Eva Longoria, designer Georgina Chapman, musician James Murphy, and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone – all, again, based on fan-submitted photographs. The campaigns were created to promote Canon’s professional filmmaking products, such as its high-end DSLRs and Cinema EOS products.

For 2015, Canon and Howard are taking the project into its third evolution, and, thankfully, they’ve dropped the numbering nonsense and are now simply calling it “Project Imagination: The Trailer.” This time, actor Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games movies will be involved. A new contest, which launches on February 24, will serve as the base of a short film, starring Hutcherson. Users of all skill levels are invited to submit homemade movie trailers of their everyday lives. Hutcherson and Howard will select the winning trailer that will inspire the short film.

“I encourage people to really have fun with their storytelling; who knows, the kid’s birthday party might end up looking like a horror film or a trailer for a fantastic thriller that could truly captivate us,” Howard says in a release.

Submission can be made through the Project Imagination website when it opens on February 25. The website, which is live now, has tips from Howard on how to shoot and make a trailer look good, as well as rules and instructions. Watch the first film, directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, below.