A video made to help publicize a criminally underrated masterpiece. Alfonso Cuarón’s amazing dystopian vision “Children of Men” was completely ignored by Universal and dumped quietly at the box office despite glowing praise from critics. I made this short to help generate more buzz behind this overlooked masterpiece.

Here’s some of the press reaction from our grassroots viral campaign:

Fans Build Oscar Buzz Online
By JAMIN WARREN, Wall Street Journal
January 13, 2007; Page P2

Despite critical praise, the futuristic infertility drama “Children of Men” has grossed only about $14 million. Some worry that Oscar voters will overlook the film as they submit their nominations, due Saturday.
[Clive Owen]

But a five-minute Internet film lobbying for the film’s nomination gained quick popularity this week. Made by 28-year-old Los Angeles student Blair Erickson last Saturday, the video has been praised on popular Web sites like Digg and Defamer. “I was blown away that I hadn’t heard anything” about the film, he says.

Bolstered by the spread of video-editing software and the emergence of video-sharing sites like YouTube, amateur video editors’ work is becoming commonplace. Last fall, fans created tribute videos for candidates for college football’s Heisman Trophy.

Universal Pictures, which released the film, heard about the video last week and wasn’t involved with making it, says Adam Fogelson, president of marketing.

Says Mr. Erickson: “Getting nominated was not the real goal. Really, I just wanted more people to see it.”

HOW TO FIND IT: Search for “children of men nominated” on YouTube.com.
Write to Jamin Warren at jamin.warren@wsj.com

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