Student Film Competition

If you have a story to tell about a marine or aquatic topic, we want to hear from you! Have you learned about an ocean conservation issue in school? Did you visit the ocean and see something with your own eyes? Do you have an idea for a solution to an ocean conservation problem? We want to know what you are passionate about, and we want to help you share your story with the world.

The Youth Making Ripples Film Competition is an opportunity for K-12 and College students to create short film that engage the public about the importance of marine conservation. Students can submit short films (<5 minutes) on any marine science topic of their choice.

The top films will be eligible for cash prizes, will be screened at our premiere festival, will be featured on our social media, and will be included in our database of films that are shown at satellite events to audiences across the country.

There is no submission fee for the Youth Making Ripples Film Competition.

Submit Your 2023 Student Film By March 1st!

SUBMIT YOUR FILM

Since 2021, Youth Making Ripples is participating in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) initiative. As part of that effort, we are partnering with the #DrawYourDecade campaign to challenge students like you to share your vision for what you want the ocean to look like in the next 10 years. Entries into the Youth Making Ripples competition that speak to the UN Decade themes will be eligible for an additional award and to be featured as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development initiative.

See below for more information.

2024 Winning Films

All Years Winning Films

Additional Information

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Entry Rules

  • Students must be enrolled in Elementary, Middle, High School or College at the time of submission.
  • All films must be less than 5 minutes in length.
  • Films must be submitted by submission deadline.
  • All entries must adhere to copyright laws by using only original footage and audio or by using copyright-free media with proper attribution. See Copyright Issues for more information.
  • Films can be submitted by individuals, groups of students, or by schools or clubs.
  • A liability waiver is required for each student who participated in the film (all filmmakers or any person under the age of 18 who appears in the film), which must be signed by a parent or guardian for students under the age of 18.
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Prizes

  • All of the films entered into our competition will be eligible for the Best Scientific Message Awards, which come with a $200 mini-scholarship, and are awarded to the top film in the Elementary/Middle School and High School categories.
  • Finalists that do not win the Best Scientific Message Award will be automatically entered into the online Viewer’s Choice Award, which comes with a $50 mini-scholarship.
  • Films entered under the “UN Decade” theme will be eligible for an additional $50 award.
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How Films Are Judged

Your film will be scored by at least three judges according to our film rubric and the top films will be chosen as finalists in the annual competition. All of the finalists will also be eligible for the Best Scientific Message Award at either the Elementary/Middle School, High School or College level. Each year, we select a panel of scientific judges to choose the top films and the winners will be announced at the premiere.

After the premiere, any finalist who does not win the Best Scientific Message Award, will be entered into the online Viewer’s Choice competition. The competition will be hosted on our website for one week following the premiere festival.

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UN Decade Campaign Details

For this campaign, we are asking you to create a film (<5 min long) to express your priorities for the ocean over the period of the Decade, answering the question, “what do you want the ocean to look like in ten years?”. Specifically, your film must be related to one or more of the seven goals of the Ocean Decade:

  1. a clean ocean
  2. a healthy and resilient ocean
  3. a productive ocean
  4. a predicted ocean
  5. a safe ocean
  6. an accessible ocean
  7. an inspiring and engaging ocean

In addition to your video, you’ll need to write two short summaries (3-4 sentences) of your video.

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Please email us your questions to youthmakingripples@gmail.com and be sure to check out our teacher and filmmaker resources.