2024 Festival Categories

BROADCAST CATEGORIES

All broadcast categories (PSA, Feature Story, and Broadcast Show) are open to SCHOOL PROGRAMS ONLY and must be submitted by the program's instructor.  Fees are waived for qualifying school programs.

Submit one show that aired between July 1, 2023 - April 10, 2024. One entry for each school.  The show must have aired to your school population.

Entry Time Limit: 15 minutes or less

Schools only, 1 submission per school

*please note this previously said the timeline was July 1, 2023- February 2024 but was extended to April 10, 2024.

A video package, containing interviews, b-roll, natural sound, interviews, voiceovers, and optional reporter stand-ups, presenting an interesting look at an event, community occurrence or person. Features should contain less of a news angle and need not be timely, rather be driven by human interest. The story should be an in-depth look at a particular subject, event, or location that keeps the audience’s attention throughout, delivering a compelling narrative to create a lasting impression. 

Entry Time Limit: 3 minutes or less

Schools only, 2 submissions per school

A 60-second creative piece meant to highlight a current issue in society. These should include a mention of the issue, a statistic to support why it is a societal problem and a call to action. These can involve actors and live action, or can be completely made up of graphics. 

Entry Time Limit: Exactly 60 seconds

Schools only, 2 submissions per school

FILM CATEGORIES

 All film categories (Silent Film and Short Film categories) are open to all junior high and high school students who live or attend school in the Santa Clarita Valley. Fees are waived for qualifying school programs. A fee of $20 will be applied to individual students. 

A story with no synchronized sound, but may include copyright free music. The music should be an essential part of the story, providing the audience emotional cues for the action taking place on the screen. The action should emphasize body language and facial expression, so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen. Proper lighting, framing and sound will be considered. Title slate and credits (Name of contest, name of school, title of contest entry and names of students involved) are required and count toward your total run time.

Entry Time Limit: 5 minutes or less

A short-form movie with a clear, compelling story that can be any genre (drama, comedy, horror, live-action, animated, documentary, etc.) form of filmmaking. Like feature films, short films tell closed-ended stories with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Title slate and credits (Name of contest, name of school, title of contest entry and names of students involved) are required and count toward your total run time.

Entry Time Limit: 5 minutes or less

RULES

Entries that do not follow the Rules & Regulations are subject to a scoring penalty by the NextGen MediaMakers Festival-appointed judges. All decisions by the judges are final. NextGen MediaMakers Festival and SCVTV reserve the right to change or amend these rules and regulations at any time.

  • The NextGen MediaMakers Festival is an event produced by SCVTV, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

  • School programs are limited to two entries per category except for Broadcast Show which is just one entry.

  • Individuals are limited to Silent Film and Short Film Categories only.

  • Videos are eligible for entry if produced and aired between July 1, 2023 - April 10, 2024. For the purpose of any contest, “aired” means broadcast or cablecast, or shared with an audience of students, or presented to the community via closed-circuit or other playback device, or streamed on the internet.  

  • All content must be student-produced and generated.

  • All music/media must be copyright-free. 

  • Contest entries are subject to United States Copyright Laws and may be disqualified by SCVTV for disregarding these laws.

  • Entries that have issues with playback or are not submitted correctly (i.e. not made public to viewers with the link) will not be judged.  

  • Entries may be used by the NextGen MediaMakers Festival and SCVTV for marketing and promotional purposes. All videos sent by contest participants become the property of SCVTV.

  • Winning entries may be compiled for broadcast by SCVTV at its discretion. Schools agree to release rights to their winning entries for unlimited duplication and distribution, in any medium, worldwide, into perpetuity, without compensation.