A film submitted to the Commercial or PSA category should be a short film that promotes an existing or fictional product, organization, cause, concept, or perspective (no more than 60 seconds in length, not including credits).

Commercial or PSA

Judging of all films will be conducted by an outside third party, and the linked rubric above will be used to score each film, based on the following description.

Judging Information - Content and Impact portion criteria:

Purpose - Presents an explicit position on a clear product, concept, organization, cause, or perspective.

The audience and judges should have a firm understanding of the stance of the commercial, the focus of the stance, why the topic is worthy of conversation, and what is expected from them after having watched it (call to action).

Originality - Makes an appeal through an original format, displaying creativity and/or imagination.

Student filmmakers should strive to submit films that have a great deal of originality, avoiding the reproduction of videos that have been submitted in the past or other well-known productions.
Although it can be difficult to completely avoid common motifs and tropes, student filmmakers can still express their creativity and imagination through their own spin on characters and scenarios. Films that display this degree of originality will score higher than films that seem to "copy and paste" these elements from other sources.

Persuasion - Attempts to persuade the audience through various techniques and favors those efforts over comedic efforts.

Submissions in the Commercial category will benefit from displaying various persuasive techniques (bandwagon, endorsement, etc.) and considering modes of persuasion (logos, ethos, pathos).
Commercials and Public Service Announcements should be focusing on persuading the audience to act after having viewed them or changing the audience's attitude toward an issue. Student filmmakers should make sure that their submissions display this primary purpose instead of a desire to make the audience laugh.

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT

Use this checklist to be sure you have completed all requirements:

1) Was my film created AFTER last year's Film Festival submission date of March 6, 2026?

2) Is this the only film I'm submitting to THIS category?

3) Does my film meet the time limit requirements for THIS category (not including credits)?

4) Is my film appropriate for a K-12 school event?

5) Did I, or another student, do ALL the work on this film (brainstorming the idea, determining the structure, recording each shot, and editing the final product)?

Note: For K-2 students, teachers may offer direct guidance with these tasks; however, ultimately, the students are responsible for completing them.

6) Am I submitting my film to the correct category and division?

7) Did I include ALL required information in the film's credits (writer, director, actors, videographer, editor, cite all music and images, editing program)?

8) Did I verify none of the music I used in my film is copyrighted?

9) Does my film adhere to the Film Festival's AI policy?

If you answered "No" to any of the above questions, you should revisit that section before submitting, otherwise your film is subject to disqualification.