Check out the film resources section of our website where we’ve outlined tips for making a successful film, sources for royalty free music and imagery, and lists of free editing software. 

Yes, films can be made and submitted by individual film makers, by small groups of film makers, or even as a class project.

Yes, but we will not accept more than three submissions by a single filmmaker each year.

We accept submissions from any students who is in Elementary/Middle School, High School or College at the time the film was made. We judge each age groups films separately from those entered by our filmmakers in other age groups. Some students worry that they’re too young to enter the competition, but some of our top films have come from students in elementary school.

Each of the films is graded by three marine scientists and educators using our film rubric. The top-scoring films are then sent to a panel of at least three PhD-level scientists, who each rank the films based on the rubric, but also on the accuracy of the films’ scientific message. The elementary/middle and high school films that receive the highest overall ranking award the prize for Best Scientific Message.

No, it is free to enter the Youth Making Ripples competition!

Yes! We have compiled a database of the top films we’ve received over the years that schools and other organizations can use to design and host their own Youth Making Ripples film festival. If you’re interested in hosting a festival, please contact us and we will follow up with you with more information.

We make all of the films in our database freely available to students and teachers. While we will also provide our films to other organizations (museums, aquariums, etc.) at no cost, we ask that larger organizations hosting a festival consider making a donation to Youth Making Ripples whenever possible.

Absolutely! Youth Making Ripples is a federally registered 503c3 non-profit organization that relies on grants and donations to keep the program going. If you’re interested in helping to support our mission, you can make a donation here or contact us at youthmakingripples@gmail.com.

You can also set your non-profit to Youth Making Ripples when you shop at smile.amazon.com. Amazon will make a 0.5% donation on purchases made to Youth Making Ripples.

All films must be on a marine-related topic and must be less than 5 minutes in length. For the full details please see our Call for Submissions. There is NO submission fee for the Youth Making Ripples Competition. Films for our festival should be submitted prior to the deadline. Films may be submitted here. You can also mail in your submission by sending a DVD or flash drive with the file to the address listed below. If you are having trouble submitting your film, please email us at youthmakingripples@gmail.com.

Drs. Lauren Toth & Philip Gravinese
Youth Making Ripples Directors
1416 22nd Ave N.
St. Petersburg, FL 33704

All submissions should include the authors last names and grade level category in the subject heading (for example: Smith and Johnson middle school YMR submission).

All Youth Making Ripples Submissions Should Include:

• The student’s name and address
• Student’s school of attendance
• Student’s and legal guardian’s email address
• Student’s and legal guardian’s phone number
• Teacher’s email address
• The Youth Making Ripples Film Release Form, which must be signed by a legal guardian if under the age of 18

Before you submit – Please review Copyright Issues prior to submission. Media (i.e., images, music, etc.) used from the internet MUST adhere to copyright laws to be considered for submission to the film festival. For information about where to find public domain media, check out our list of Free Music & Imagery.

Films may be submitted about any marine science topic that you are passionate about. Below is a list of some topics for consideration:

• advocacy
• call to action
• Coastal development
• Coral reefs
• Environmental changes impacts on marine species/animals
• Impacts of Algae Blooms
• Importance of Marine Reserves
• Ocean acidification
• Plastics
• Pollution and Eutrophication
• Pollution in our water
• Restoration
• restoration projects
• Seagrass ecology
• Shark conservation
• Students Making a Difference
• Tidepools

Our annual film competition is divided into 3 categories. Student films are judged and scored using the following film rubric.

• High School
• Elementary / Middle School
• Viewer Choice