This just in from Samantha at AMD, a contest which explicitly accepts machinima submissions, and appears to be open to the entire world (not just US/Canada as some of these contests are):

Hello,

I work with AMD and we put together a contest with FiringSquad.com to promote their new graphics technology (with prizes like the ATI Radeon HD 5870 and ATI Radeon HD 5770, and more).

Anyone 16 years or older can enter by submitting a creative video or comic strip around the theme, “How will DirectX 11 change your life?” (from the point of view of a favorite video game character).

The contest is currently open and will close on December 15th, with winners being announced on December 17th. For more information about the contest and full rules and regulations, visit the contest page at: http://links.amd.com/LifeAfterDx11/

Feel free to pass this contest along!

Some pretty decent gear up for grabs there. Can't you just see Niko and Roman from GTA4 talking about how much they'll enjoy the graphical enhancements? (Niko for the car chases, Roman for the ladies, of course.) Or maybe this is a great chance to wet your beak with that new DragonAge toolkit? Or maybe you make use of iClone4 or Moviestorm or Second Life + CrazyTalk instead?

If there's anything the Expo made plain, it's that there is some tremendous directing talent out there. Wouldn't it be neat to see one of the directors screened at the Expo really clean up in a contest like this?