Snap’s New AR Incentives; Canon Courts VR Filmmakers

Snap is launching a new series of contests with cash prizes to entice creators large and small. On its face, it’s likely a smart move to stay attractive next to other video-focused social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

I’m sure Kaya will have more to say about it and other changes for Snapchat’s biggest stars in today’s Creator Economy newsletter (subscribe here), but as with most things from Snap these days, there’s an AR element to this too. The contests—pitched as challenges—are designed to build Spotlight, Snap’s public video sharing feature. Each challenge will prompt entrants to create the best Spotlight content featuring a certain topic, song or AR Lens. Snap will then judge the 50 top-performing videos and dole out cash to select winners for each challenge. Clearly, Snap wants to see its AR used with Spotlight more and more.