It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of short films and of aspiring talent trying to get eyeballs on their work. That’s the very reason that we shine a bright spotlight on a short film every day of the work week, and it’s the same reason that we’re partnering with Playboy, Bombay Sapphire Gin and Talent House for a short film contest that will see one winner taken to Sundance 2012, handed a nice chunk of change, and featured at a private event at the festival. So how do you enter this glorious contest? It’s incredibly, ridiculously simple:

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we celebrate the end of an era, talk to a first-time writer/director, discuss the fine art of short film creation with a seasoned hand, and hear from movie icon Wings Hauser. Wings Hauser, people. Max Winkler hit the festivals hard with Ceremony, his coming of age story starring Michael Angarano and Uma Thurman. Now it’s seeing a limited release, and he’s stopped by to discuss the benefits of getting your heart broken and the wrong way to crash a party. We featured the short film The Candy Shop on the site recently, and director Brandon McCormick was nice enough to share his production methods, talk about working with Doug Jones, and tell listeners how they can help fight sex trafficking in their own backyard. As if that weren’t enough, Wings Hauser joins us moments before a special screening of the 80s classic Vice Squad at the Alamo Drafthouse to talk about the confusing, wonderful nature of his latest co-starring role in Rubber and to generally be a badass. Plus, Erik Davis of Movies.com and Eric Snider from Film.com fight to the pain in our Movie News Pop Quiz (and join Scott Weinberg to talk about the end of Cinematical (as we know it) and what happened with HuffPo/Aol). Loosen up your tie and stay a while. Listen Here: Download This Episode

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk SXSW with the Reject team and find out why Netflix is doing what they’re doing. Gigaom site editor Ryan Lawler joins us to help makes sense of why Netflix would get into the distribution game with House of Cards and what it might mean for the future. Joe Nicolosi (who made that video of the girl retelling Star Wars without seeing it and that Super Mario indie short film the kids are talking about), discusses the perils of the SXSW softball game, how he got the job making all the bumpers that play before the movies, his creative process, and the beauty of film festivals. Neil and Rob dust off the SXSW from their chaps to tell us about their favorite films and the movies that will coming to a theater near you. Plus, Kate Erbland from Gordon and The Whale and Scott Weinberg from Twitch Film go head-to-head in our movie news quiz, and we all end up talking about Cameron Crowe and the power of nostalgia. Loosen up your tie and stay a while.

Today’s short is a spot-on parody of wildlife programs that would make the creators of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom tear up and applaud. Beyond its humor, the animation is clever and crisply done, and the educational value is immense. If you find yourself stranded in the desert, this video could save your life. Why Watch? It’s funny, yeah, of course. But it also uses an iconic movie monster as its scientific specimen. I would love to say which one, but the impact of that oh-so-British narrator’s voice saying it for the first time is far too good to ruin. What Will It Cost? Just five minutes of your time. Does it get better any better than that? Only if we gave you an ice cream sandwich to eat while you watched. So check out Monstrous Wildlife for yourself:

Since Roger Ebert doesn’t consider video games art, he can go suck a rattlesnake. Meanwhile, at Film School Rejects, we celebrate the cinematic qualities, and the John Hillcoat short film, of Red Dead Redemption.

If you live in Austin, educate yourself for when the nominees are called for Best Animated and Live Action Short during this year’s Oscars by checking them out all this week.