Director Ron Howard is launching another Project Imagin8ion

Canon U.S.A. Inc. has created another partnership with director Ron Howard for Long Live Imagination. The partnership kicks off on May 7, 2012 with a digital campaign, and is a sequel to Howard and Canon’s successful Project Imagin8ion – a user generated photo contest that produced a Hollywood production-style short film.

For Long Live Imagination, a Canon TV commercial will debut on May 14, 2012 and will showcase the eight winning photographs of Project Imagin8ion, and will preview “Ron’s Next Project.” Viewers will also be encouraged to visit www.youtube.com/imagination, which will feature a message from Howard taken from the set of his current film, Rush. The print campaign will launch on May 28, 2012 and details of the new consumer contest will be revealed in summer 2012.

If you’re not familiar with Project Imagi8ion, last year Howard and Canon invited photographers from all over the world to submit their own photographs based on a series of movie themes for a user-generated contest. The contest entry categories represented eight distinct story-telling elements – such as setting, character and goal – that would ultimately shape the film.

They received nearly 100,000 submissions with Howard selecting eight winning photographs to inspire his next production, which was directed by daughter Bryce Dallas Howard. When you find me, was shot using Canon cameras including the C300 and DSLR cameras and lenses. After its world premiere in November 2011, the film screened at Sundance, South by Southwest and Tribeca film festivals. It was also shown in theaters across the country including the hometowns of the eight local winners. The 30-minute film will make its exclusive television debut – commercial free – on IFC on Monday, May 21 at 8PM, ET/PT.

“I loved the concept behind Project Imagin8ion, a very pure experiment that showcased the power of still images on narrative story-telling,” said Ron Howard. “I’m excited about what’s on the horizon as I partner with Canon for year two of this fantastic creative adventure.”

Grey New York, Canon’s agency partner for over thirty years, is developing the creative and digital elements of the multi-phase campaign. Alliance, the activation and public relations division of Grey, is managing the partnership with Ron Howard as well as the promotional, event and public relations efforts.