Official Rules

Primary creative roles (director, producer, cinematographer, editor) are REQUIRED to be youth (13-19). Other team members may be of any age outside of the core team members. We highly recommend a team approach to cover the 4 core roles, but the competition also allows a single teenager to act as all 4 core roles.

The competition is open to filmmakers who live anywhere in Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

All teams must register and submit the team leader form before the kick-off event. All other release forms must be submitted along with the final film submission at the end of the competition weekend. Find all of the team forms here.

At least one representative from each team must attend the kick-off event to receive the film title and genre, but the entire team is encouraged to attend.

Before your film starts, you are required to have:

• 5 seconds of black

• A title card with your team name, title, genre, and date

• The official Teen Film Challenge Logo (will be provided)

• 2 seconds of black

Not including credits, your film must be between 2 and 6 minutes in length. (Credits can be no longer than 1 minute)

You must have permission to use any music included, and it must be cited (Original music should be cited as well for awards consideration)

Credits must include Film Title, Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Screenwriter, Producer, Actors, and any other production roles.

Credits must include "This film was made for the 2026 Teen Film Challenge"

Films should be exported in 1080p HD (H.264 format). Films will be shown in 1080, if you give us a lower quality, it won't look good.

Aim for a PG rating. We would like to keep our premiere a place for young family members to attend and support our filmmakers. Excessive violence, gore, and F-words will mean you don't screen. If you  have questions about if something breaks our rules, just ask!

NO GUNS - You may know they are fake, but the public doesn't. This is a rule for the purpose of protecting our young filmmakers. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) elements are strictly prohibited from final film submissions. This includes all script writing, videos, pictures, sound, and editing. (If you have any questions about use for story telling purposes, contact the organizer for express permission of approved use. Any use of AI without express permission will result in disqualification.)