$10,000 in Prizes are Up for Grabs in FXhome’s 1-Minute Halloween Short Film Contest

After getting blown away by your spooky submissions in last year’s “Scare Us in 20 Seconds!” Halloween contest, our friends at FXhome are coming back bigger and better this year.

So in this contest, they more than doubled the prize money, offering 3 winners a total of $8,500 in cash prize and a total prize pool of $10,000.

The task is to create a 1-minute Halloween short film with the theme “Your Worst Nightmare,” and the contest is open to everyone, no matter what software or gear you use or your skill level.

Before getting into the rules, let’s see the fantastic prizes.

Prizes

Since money can make a big difference for all creators, whatever stage in their life you’re in, FXhome are giving away huge cash prizes to spend on whatever you need, whether it’s gear, funding for your passion project or even paying your rent for a month,

There will be 1 winner and 2 runner-ups, plus special goodies will be given away.

All 3 first-place winners will get

• 1-year Artlist music and SFX subscription
• 1-year subscription to the Artgrid Junior plan
• The Full HitFilm Suite, which includes the editing program HitFilm, the image editing software Imerge Pro and the VFX plugin bundle Ignite Pro

And now for the cash prizes:

• 1st Place will win $5,000
• 2nd Place will get $2,500
• 3rd Place will receive $1,000

Now for the contest rules.

Rules

• Your video should be between 30 and 60 seconds.
• Sign up for the competition here. Fill in your email, and you’ll receive an SFX pack from Artlist. You need to use at least one asset from the pack.
• Your film must start with someone waking up and end in a cut-to-black. There should be no titles and no credits, as all submissions will be edited into one supercut, where each person wakes up from the other’s nightmare.
• Your film needs to be Halloween-themed, but you can explore any genre you want, action, comedy, romance, it’s up to you.
• Since the contest is open to everyone, please keep your submission PG-13 without any overly disturbing imagery or gore.
• The deadline for submitting your film is October 24th, 2021.
• Send your entry to [email protected] with the subject line “Your Worst Nightmare” along with your name and age.

Join the FXhome livestream on October 28th, where the winners will be announced.

The supercut video will be released on Halloween showing how creative the FXhome community really is.

What makes a winning short film?

Your Halloween-themed short will be judged on the following criteria:

• Storytelling: How you use those precious 60 seconds to tell a complete story.
• Atmosphere. Whatever genre you decide on, we want to see how you build up to a moment.
• Uniqueness: How much of your personality you’ve placed into this project.
• Direction and overall quality: How all elements (lighting, camerawork, editing, etc.) tie together.

The panel of judges includes the FXhome team as well as some high-profile guest judges:

• Ryan Connolly from Film Riot.
• Ben Franklin and Anthony Melton from Bloody Cuts
• Peter Serafinowicz, actor (Guardians of the Galaxy, Shaun of the Dead), producer and HitFilm user

Throughout the competition, the guys at FXhome will be holding weekly workshops designed to help in your project. They’ll be talking about production, how to come up with ideas, the editing process, everything you need to know to create the best film you can. They’ll also have designated Q&A sessions, where you can ask any question you’d like about your project.

On top of that, you can come to FXhome’s Discord, where you can talk to other creators, ask questions, share your work as it comes along, and get involved in their fantastic community.

Looking forward to seeing your Halloween shorts and hoping to see you in the workshops and Q&A.

Until then, get creative, and good luck!