Applications are now open for BAYMN’s Rise to the Occasion Youth Media Festival, hosted at the Kaiser Center in Oakland on October 13, 2012, 2-5pm.

Deadline for submission: August 27, 2012

For its first public festival, the Bay Area Youth Media Network (BAYMN) is seeking youth-produced videos that tell stories or highlight issues of social change. Two issues of specific interest are:

1. The 2012 Presidential Election
2. The High School Dropout Crisis

Prizes will be awarded in both of these categories as well as in the general competition.

So what constitutes social change? Issues that affect people in your community, nationally and globally. Issues such as gang violence, drug abuse, bullying, college access, unemployment, affordable housing, medical care, teen pregnancy, racism, sexism, financial inequity… you get the picture. Any issue that you feel passionate about and want your voice to be heard. We want to hear it. And so do your peers.

We are now accepting submissions from youth ages 12–24 who have made video projects in school, in an after-school program, in a summer program, or independently. The video must be self-contained and able to stand alone (e.g., not a segment of a larger project). Digital media presentations that are not film or video (e.g., PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.) will not be accepted. Projects must be published on a video-hosting site such as YouTube, SchoolTube, or Vimeo. Videos may not exceed 15 minutes and must have been produced AFTER June 1, 2011.

Download our criteria for selecting entries to the Rise to the Occasion Youth Media Festival.

Youth whose entries are accepted to the festival will receive iTunes gift cards. Grand prizes include Apple mobile devices.

SUBMISSION

Before submitting your project, post the video on a video-hosting site such as YouTube, SchoolTube or Vimeo, and make sure that your video is public (we will not be able to view or judge a project that is set to private). To submit your project, fill out our online entry form below. Please read the guidelines completely BEFORE filling out the form. You can download a copy of the entry form HERE to review it.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Rise to the Occasion showcases the work of youth media makers (ages 12-24). If you are younger than 13, please have a parent, teacher or instructor submit your project. All communication will be sent to the email listed in the form, so please be sure it is active and checked often.
2. Teachers: For classroom projects, please submit only the “best” one or two for consideration (e.g., if your students are all creating similar projects on air pollution, please submit no more than two for consideration for the Festival).
3. Create a complete, high-resolution copy of your project. This is required for all projects that are selected for the Festival.
4. Entries must be received by 11:59pm PST, August 27, 2012.
5. Entries must represent work that was completed after June 1, 2011.
6. All entries must be submitted online using a preferred web-hosting partner or other media-hosting provider (e.g. SchoolTube, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). All entries MUST have a valid, public URL that our judges can access.
7. If your project includes copyrighted material, please follow the Center for Social Media guidelines for Fair Use or view the post on KQED Edspace and be sure to cite your sources in the end credits.

Please contact mwilliams@kqed.org with submission questions, or if you need an alternate submission option.