Hollywood Legend Michael Douglas is Guest of Honor and Advisor at Fourth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- It was announced today that Academy Award-winning actor and filmmaker Michael Douglas will serve as Guest of Honor and Advisor at The Fourth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, the premier platform for young visual artists around the world. Douglas, whose legendary career spans 50 years, will appear during the festival's 2022 virtual awards ceremony to announce the Grand Prize winner and offer inspiring insights to young filmmakers. For the first time, the ceremony will be organized through Japan-based Meihodo's U.S. headquarters in New York City, and stream on YouTube for U.S. audiences on Tuesday, February 22, at 3 p.m. EST.

The theme of this year's festival will be "Dreaming Big in the Digital Revolution." After reviewing thousands of entries from more than 100 nations worldwide, Meihodo will introduce a new element, awarding top winners with custom NFTs and cryptocurrency, and bestowing a Grand Prize of $20,000 to one standout work.

"This year, as we celebrate the next generation of film artists, and employ new awards features like NFTs and crypto, we're incredibly honored and excited to be joined by Michael Douglas," said James Zhang, Vice Chairman of Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival. "We're focusing on innovation and possibility. Michael has always done that in his career, and he has boundless wisdom to share with the cinema stars of tomorrow."

An American icon whose many classic roles include Gordon Gekko from "Wall Street" – for which he won a Best Actor Oscar – Douglas is a fitting choice to be the star of Meihodo's first ceremony hosted by its New York headquarters. Part of a family of showbiz royalty, he's worn many hats in the industry and continues to explore media platforms: He famously produced "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at age 29, and today stars in everything from Netflix's "The Kominsky Method" to Marvel's blockbuster "Ant-Man" franchise.

"I've had the good fortune to work in the film business for decades, and I'm both humbled and excited to connect with young filmmakers at the Fourth Annual Meihodo Festival," Douglas said. "From a young age, thanks to my father, I've had a front-row seat to watching films be made and it's a pleasure to not only share some of that wisdom but also learn from a new wave of artists."

The Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival is welcoming back other notable figures from film, entertainment and the arts, including: 

• Special Advisor Tan Dun, the Academy Award-winning composer for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music; and
• Honorary Chairwoman Yue-Sai Kan, an Emmy-winning television producer who People magazine called "the most famous woman of China." 

Other special guests will soon be announced.

This year's festival will be newly divided into three categories: Drama / Feature; Documentary and Music Video, the latter of which will be judged by Tan Dun. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be awarded in each category, with the total prize money for winners exceeding $100,000.

For the prize money, Meihodo will use Bitcoin, which was chosen for its global popularity as the premier form of cryptocurrency. All prize money winners will have the option to choose between Bitcoin or traditional cash rewards. For the Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, Meihodo will mint official NFT trophies through the Open Sea NFT Marketplace. The trophies will be singular digital renderings of the submitted posters of the winning films and will also be stamped with the official signature of Michael Douglas.

In the past four years, Meihodo has become one of the largest short film festivals in the world, with previous Guests of Honor including Academy Award winners Juliette Binoche and Yōjirō Takita, a Japanese filmmaker who received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for his 2008 drama "Departures." This year, 2,431 entries were received from 110 countries. All finalists will be announced before the end of January and be available to view on Meihodo's YouTube channel and Meihodo's website. 

ABOUT MEIHODO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH VISUAL MEDIA FESTIVAL

One of the largest short film festivals in the world, MEIHODO International Youth Visual Media Festival is an independent visual media festival sponsored by MEIHODO, a Japanese corporation aiming to support young visual artists worldwide. Founded in 2018, the annual Festival was created by MEIHODO, Inc. as a grand exchange event for the exhibition and selection of works by young visual artists. Each year, the festival culminates with an evaluation and celebratory award ceremony.

SOURCE MEIHODO International Youth Visual Media Festival