It has been announced that Bryce Dallas Howard (“The Help” and “50/50”) has been invited by Canon and her father, Ron Howard to direct his latest film endeavor, “Project Imagin8ion.”

Ron Howard will executive produce the short film, in partnership with Francesca Silvestri and Kevin Chinoy of Freestyle, a full-service development and production company. “Project Imagin8ion” will mark the second time Bryce Dallas Howard has worked with Freestyle, the first being the Reel Moments short film program with Glamour magazine.

The initiative is the first user-generated photo contest to serve as the foundation for a Hollywood short film. Launched on May 22nd, “Project Imagin8ion” encourages photographers of all levels to submit photos based on a series of movie themes: Setting, Time, Character, Mood, Relationship, Goal, Obstacle and the Unknown. The contest pulled in over 8,500 photo submissions on the first day alone and aims to foster dialogue between Canon and a community of photography enthusiasts, inspiring everyone to achieve new levels of creativity.

Photo submissions are open until June 14, 2011 via YouTube. Ron Howard, Bryce Dallas Howard and Freestyle, as well as Canon experts and the Project Imagin8ion community, will select eight winning photos – one from each movie theme category – to become the basis and inspiration for a short film shot with Canon EOS DSLR cameras and lenses.

The script will be written once all eight photos have been selected. Production will begin this summer and fall and the film will premiere later this year in New York City. Naturally, the contest winners will attend the red carpet premiere and meet the famous father-daughter pair.

Howard will also make her producerial debut this September with the film, “Restless,” which is directed by Gus Van Sant.

It is so wonderful to see this incredibly talented father-daughter duo come together in Hollywood and embrace creativity from outside of Hollywood! I cannot wait to see the finished product as well as see Bryce Dallas Howard in a number of her films set to release later this year. It’s a great year to be a Howard!