reported by Tina Murray, CyberScreenwriter.com

People who have always wanted to be a part of entertainment history now have their chance.

The Third Screen Film Festival (TSFF) invites viewers to select their favorite short films from hundreds that have been submitted during the first phase of Hollywood's first wireless film festival.

Presented by Columbia College Chicago, TSFF encourages people to view their favorite film entries and decide which filmmaker deserves to win the $10,000 film grant at www.ThirdScreenFilmFestival.com.

Viewers who watch festival entries on their Nano-equipped cell phones, portable devices or online can vote via text messaging, powered by Mozes.com.

Bridging leading-edge technology, creativity and education, the festival showcases films for the "third screen," which includes mobile phones as well as WiFi and broadband-enabled hand-held devices. It is open to student filmmakers as well as amateurs and professionals.

The entries are vetted for quality and commercial licensing by Semester in L.A. students as well as professionals in short film distribution. On the festival web site, each film can be shared virally via email or blogs. The first of three semi-final voting rounds begins today.

Student winner's work will air on mtvU -- MTV's 24-hour college network broadcasted to more than 730 campuses and 6.8 million students nationwide -- as well as the network's all access broadband channel, mtvU Uber at mtvU.com, as well as mtvU Wireless. Winners who are professional or amateur filmmakers will also have their films shown on Nano on Demand, which is available in more than 16 million households.

The TSFF prize pool is valued at more than $20,000, including the top prize of a $10,000 filmmaker grant with additional cash prizes for the Jury Prize, to be selected by our panel of industry experts, finalist prizes and a viewer award. The top five winners will also receive Avid Liquid editing equipment valued at $600, and costumes and props from PremiereProps.com, the world's largest memorabilia store, including items from the upcoming film "Running with Scissors" (TriStar Pictures), in theaters October 27.

The winners of the $10,000 Grand Prize Award, and other awards including Viewer Award and Jury Prize Award, will be announced at a final awards event October 26 on the CBS Radford studio lot, home to Columbia College Chicago's Semester in L.A. program. The event will also feature a guest panel of TSFF judges who will comment about the future of wireless entertainment.