They were friends since the age of eight.

They grew up in the snowy Northeast, shoveling their front walks.

They were local boys, living in the shadows of universities like Harvard.

In the beginning, they struggled as actors, but throughout their short careers, they've acted in more than five movies together. Combined, their filmography includes more than 45 films.

In their spare time, they wrote a screenplay. It was started by one in 1992 as a simple college assignment, but it ended up changing both of their lives — and it won them the 1998 Academy Award for best original screenplay.

The story behind the creators of the 1998 film Good Will Hunting is as touching and bankable as the film itself. Now in their late twenties, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have what is arguably the most publicized friendship in Hollywood.

Damon's and Affleck's newest project together is off-screen. The two men, along with Good Will Hunting's co-producer Chris Moore, Miramax Films and HBO, have launched what they call Project Greenlight.

"After our great experience with Good Will Hunting, Greenlight is a chance for us to give something back to aspiring filmmakers," Damon and Affleck said in an HBO press release.

Project Greenlight is a contest through the Internet developed to give an unknown filmmaker the "green light" for his or her film to be made.

The contest, which began on Sept. 25, calls for any American citizen over the age of 18 to submit their original screenplay electronically to www.projectgreenlight.com.

Screenplays will not be accepted past Oct. 22, at which point a filtering process will begin — first with the top 250 films chosen. Those will eventually be narrowed down to one film, which will be announced on March 1, 2001.

The winner of the contest will get to direct the film based on his or her screenplay. Miramax Films will finance the $1 million production and release it in theaters. Damon, Affleck and Moore will be the executive producers of the movie and an HBO cinema-verité series.

The 13-episode documentary TV-series will show behind the scenes footage of the making of the movie.

"We want people to see the real story — the incredible up and downs of a first time director — and the drama that takes place behind the scenes," Moore said of the series, which is slated to air in the beginning of January 2002.

Those who would like to be involved with Project Greenlight but are not filmmakers can also participate in the contest. Anyone over 18 years old can participate in the script selection process by registering to become a reviewer on the Web site.

"We know how tough it is to get your foot in the door," Damon and Affleck said in a press release. "We want to be able to help an unknown writer out there make their movie, and at the same time, create an online community for everyone who loves films and filmmaking."