Are you an amateur filmmaker? Do you love to travel?  If you’d like to turn your passion for film and desire to see the world into an actual career, Gap Adventures and National Geographic have a contest that will probably interest you: They are offering one lucky young filmmaker the chance to film a travel documentary about sustainable tourism in the Amazon rainforest with industry veteran Trent O’Donnell. (h/t Gadling)

Do a good job, and National Geographic will even show your video on their Nat Geo Adventure Channel. Nice!

To enter, you need to wow the contest judges with a brief, 3-minute video based on the theme “Local Encounters.”  Further instructions, from the contest website:

“Your ‘local encounter’ may be from your travels or somewhere closer to home. You should explore how this encounter changed your perspective on the world…The documentary may be compiled from previous travel videos you’ve shot.”

Once you’ve compiled your masterpiece, upload it to YouTube and then add it to WorldNomads.com.  More detailed instructions can be found here.

To enter the contest, you do need to be over 18 and have a valid passport. If you don’t have one yet, or if yours is expired, you’ll need to work fast-the deadline is August 1st.

Generally, it takes at least 6 weeks for your passport to arrive if you renew it using the standard service. You should allow at least 3 weeks for the government’s expedited passport service.

If you need your passport in less time than that, you have two options: Making an appointment for expedited passport service at a Regional Passport Agency office, or using a private passport expediting company. Of the two options, the easiest way to apply for an expedited passport is to use a private company-there’s no need to make an appointment or drive out of your way to the passport office as the expediting service handles all of that for you.

Apply for your expedited passport today!