One of the toughest thing for online filmmakers to do is get noticed in the sea of content bombarding audiences everyday. Shira Lazar’s Partners Project treats the web not as a niche medium but as a new media frontier, pioneers and all. Her channel feels a bit like MTV in its infancy. Check out her list of the top 5 filmmakers to watch in 2012 on YouTube.

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The list is effects and gimmick heavy, which I suppose is what’s selling on YouTube. While not all of the work mentioned here may be the right fit for all audiences (myself included), the online filmmaking community needs more pieces like this in order to mature. Shira is doing great work.

For a bonus video, check out my interview with Shira from last February.