MediaMagazine Production Competition 2026 - 'Reflections'

We’re back for our legendary MediaMagazine Production Competition, now into its 13th year

What’s the competition about?
Our Production Competition is all about celebrating some of the amazing production work you’re making, either in school/college or in your own time. All we ask is for you to send us your work, together with this entry form and we’ll do the rest.
From your entries, we’ll select a shortlist of the most exciting productions for a showreel which will be screened at BFI Southbank on Friday 10th July to your friends and family. There will be trophies for the most accomplished, original or watchable entries, and an after-party to celebrate your work and meet other filmmakers.

Reflections
Every year, we provide you with a very broad idea or theme you could use to focus your work. This year’s theme is Reflections. It might be useful in getting you started, but you don’t have to use it – anything goes! The door is wide open – it’s your chance to be as creative, original, personal, critical or entertaining as you like. We’ve included some suggestions below but they’re only suggestions, and yours will probably be better!

THE RULES:

Entries must be no longer than 5 minutes. And they can, of course, be much, much shorter – often short is sweet, and a well-edited 2-minute sequence can often showcase your skills more effectively than a longer piece. We won’t shortlist films that exceed 5 minutes so if your piece is longer, edit it down before you send it to us.
This is definitely not just about your school or college coursework. We want to see whatever you’re making, whether it’s part of your NEA coursework, made in a youth group or film club, out of school, for TikTok, Instagram or other social media, or just for fun with your mates.
The choice of form or media genre is yours! It could be:
A video diary, digital essay, reportage; a documentary or narrative short film; a campaign or a music video; animation; a spoken word poem or audio-visual montage with sound and still or video images, a comedy sketch – in fact any moving image format or genre which allows you to communicate your ideas, experiences, or learning in a creative way.
You can use anything and everything to tell your story – live action, animation, a sequence of still images, Lego, Barbies, other toys, household objects, people, photographs, animals - any resources you can find which will help you tell your own story. Make the most of the chance to produce without restrictions - nothing is out of bounds!
You can submit work as an individual, a pair or a small group – but remember to indicate in your entry form a brief summary of your intentions, and the role/s you took in the production.
As in previous years, a professional judge from the film and television industry will select the most inspirational videos to be shown at out showcase event at the BFI on Friday 10th July. All shortlisted entrants will receive certificates and the winning entries will go online on the MediaMag website.
1.Full name(Required.)
2.School/college/other
3.Email contact (ESSENTIAL - if we can't get hold of you, we can't shortlist your video)(Required.)
4.Title of your entry(Required.)
5.Context: group work or individual?
6.If your work is animation, please state which software programmes or web tools you used
7.Context: school/college coursework or work produced in your own time?
8.Describe your video in 100 words including genre and intended audience
9.I confirm this is my own work
(Required.)
10.I consent to my video being viewed by MediaMagazine staff and the competition judges
(Required.)
11.All participants in the video consent to it being entered and are aware that if it is shortlisted, it will be screened at the BFI and shown on the EMC website(Required.)
12.I have read and agree to the terms and conditions below:

Terms and Conditions

1. The work must be the original work of the entrant/s.
2. All material must be accompanied by the official entry form with email address included.
3. We regret we will be unable to return entries, so please keep a copy!
4. MediaMagazine reserves the right not to award the prizes or publish the production in the event that no entries meet our criteria.
5. MediaMagazine will delete all work not selected for screening at the end of the academic year.
6. The winning videos will be displayed on the MediaMagazine website from July 2025.
(Required.)
13.Please state how you are submitting your video. Tick a box and click on a link but don't forget to come back to Survey Monkey to submit this form!