Pooky Amsterdam has tapped me about this, and I’m happy to slip-in this post for her.

This year marks the 5th annual Machinima Expo, a three day virtual machinima festival which bridges Second Life and the real world. The Expo will be held over the weekend of the 17th-18th November 2012, and submissions are now open for those wishing to participate.

There is no maximum running time for entries to the event, but a couple of rules must be adhered to:

Entries must comprise at least 50% machinima

Entrants must not have previously submitted the film to the Expo.

Note that films do not have to be filmed in Second Life (or any other virtual world – although entries created in any virtual world are obviously welcome), just so long as they are at least 50% machinima. The closing date for submissions is September 30th 2012, and you can find the entry form on the Expo website.

A look at a couple of entries from last year’s event

The Expo itself will take place largely inside Second Life during the weekend of the 17th-18th November (venue to be confirmed) and films will be simultaneously streamed in-world and to the Expo website. As well as showing this year’s entries, the Expo will comprise:

An awards ceremony featuring a grand prize, plus three Jury prizes. This year’s prizes include sound effects collections, a full license of Lightwave 10, copies of iClone5 Pro and much more

Panel discussions, live filmmaker interviews, a keynote address and live presentations on the craft/art of making machinima

Workshops.

Additional details on events and event streaming will be posted on the Expo website nearer the weekend.