Awards & Prizes
- 1st Place: $500
- 2nd Place: $300
- 3rd place: $150
- Audience Choice Award: $100
An environmental film competition for Southern California high school students
SoCal high school students: grab your cell phones, video cameras, and laptops — your voice and creativity can change the planet!
The GreenShorts environmental short film contest is a platform to showcase your ideas, commentary, and vision for our city and the world. You may submit one short film for each category. Films must be less than 3 minutes long — creative liberty is encouraged! Films are encouraged to feature the Southern California area.
Film Submission Categories
Create your film about one of these categories! Remember, your film should be 2-3 minutes long! Some filmmaking resources you can use may be found below.
Free Filmmaking Workshops
Screenwriting Workshop
Join us for a screenwriting workshop hosted by 826LA Saturday, February 27 (Part 1), and Sunday, February 28 (Part 2) from 11am - 1pm PT (1pm - 3pm CT).
Workshop leader, screenwriter, and teacher Yásaman Madadi will teach students about the basic components of screenwriting for a documentary or narrative short film. Upon completion of parts 1 and 2, students will create a completed fiction or non-fiction script.
Space is limited to the first 20 people who register to attend! We will have a waitlist once all spots are filled.
RSVP to attend by Thursday, February 25!
ABOUT WORKSHOPS AT 826LA
Our mission for Workshops is to build community while supporting students in exploring new and creative ways to use writing to discover themselves, practice self-care, hone their storytelling skills, support college access, and apply their STEM abilities. The goal is to redefine student's relationship to writing so that it can be seen as a fun and useful tool, rather than an academic chore.
Video Production Workshop
On Saturday, March 6 @ from 10am - 12pm PT (12pm - 2pm CT) our partners at MY HERO Project will host a video production workshop to give students pointers and tips on how to film short environmental videos. We'll help guide student story ideas in pre-production, give at-home filming tips for production, and give ideas on the many ways they can edit their film in post-production.
RSVP to attend by Thursday, March 4!
The MY HERO Project uses media, art, and technology to celebrate the best of humanity, one story at a time.
Awards, Rules, Judging Criteria and Terms
Rules
- Films should be 2-3 minutes
- Films may be created by an individual or a team (please be safe and healthy!)
- Individuals or teams are limited to one film per category
- Participants must be enrolled in high school and under 19 years old
Judging Criteria
- Films will be judged on how well they relate to the submitted category. For example, for the Ready, Set, Action! category, a film that truly discusses solutions to environmental problems will rank higher than a film that only loosely discusses solutions.
- Films — both fictional narratives and documentaries — should include scientific facts about the environment and/or sustainability.
- Fancy equipment, b-roll, and camera moves will not necessarily score you more points. What’s most important is your film’s overall message.
- Films will be judged by the content of the film, its ability to educate, inspire, and raise awareness of the film’s chosen topic.
Terms
- Finalists are required to attend the award ceremony Thursday, June 10, 2021.
- Through film submission, UCLA IoES is granted the right to use the film for promotional, but not commercial, purposes.
Writing and Production Workshops
Writing and Production Workshops
We are partnering with 826la.org and MY HERO Project to host two virtual workshops next year — one on screenwriting and the other on film production.
Further details to be announced.
Get Inspired
My Hero Project
Our partners at MyHero Project have complied collections of excellent films to inspire your work.
2020 GreenShorts Film Festival Virtual Ceremony
2020 GreenShorts Film Festival Virtual Ceremony
High school students across Southern California and Louisiana submitted 61 short films tackling environmental issues for the 4th annual GreenShorts film competition. We received wonderful, amazing films this year, and it was hard to narrow them down. Winners were announced on June 11th during a virtual ceremony on YouTube Live. Congratulations to all of the winners!
Learn about Film Production
Video Editors
Online Tutorials
- The MY HERO Project: Digital Filmmaking & Media Arts Resources
- YouTube Creator Academy
- Introduction to Documentary Video Storytelling
- Learning Cinematography: 1 Narrative Fundamentals
- Video Foundations: Interviews
- Video Foundations: Cameras and Shooting
- Shooting video with iPad
- Smartphone video tips
- Creating video with iPhone
- The Scientist Videographer
- MY HERO Video Storytelling Pocket Guide
- MY HERO Audio/Visual Planner – Storyboard
- MY HERO Audio/Visual Planner – Shotlist
Stock Video and Photo
Royalty-Free Music
Audio Tutorials
Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to the people and organizations whose support ensures the success of this project. The Skyscrape Foundation, along with Tina and John Quinn — your vision and generosity give young scientists and creatives across California a boost forward. Thank you.