A huge congratulations to our 2024 Blackmagic Design Pitch Contest Winners! Thank you so much to our friends at Blackmagic Design for partnering with us. The two winners will receive an all-new Blackmagic Design PYXIS 6K Camera Package which they will use to produce the film they pitched, and the completed project will screen next year as an Official Selection at the 2025 Festival taking place October 17th-19th in New York City.

Finalists


"Reality" by Grace Julianelle, North High School, Denver, CO
"Bug Ugly Pitch" by Noah Wiseman, Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego, CA
"AAHSFF Pitch" by Finian Turner, Providence High School, Burbank, CA
"The Sardeli Tapes Pitch" by Ava Vanna, Vandegrift High School, Austin, TX
"Banana Business: 2024 Blackmagic Design Pitch Competition" by George McDonald, Ross School, East Hampton, NY
"A Returning Feeling of Inevitability" by Michael Clark, Medina Valley High School, Castroville, TX
"Vantage - Short Film Pitch" by Michael Wiltbank, Westlake High School, Orem, UT
"How to Rob a House Pitch" by Leonard Lim, Fort Lee High School, Fort Lee, NJ

Winners


"My First Day of School" by Jason Zhou, The Bear Creek School, Redmond, WA
"My Hero" by Paige Olsen, Rock Hill High School, Allen, TX

Contest Requirements

  • Winning teams must commit to creating and completing their proposed pitch by Tuesday, July 1, 2025 (AAHSFF Submission Deadline). 

  • Each team must use the Blackmagic Design equipment.

    • Blackmagic PYXIS 6K as the “A” camera.*

      • Note: Blackmagic Design is only providing the camera body and accompanying Blackmagic Design accessories, and teams will need to supply their own compatible lenses, media, and other accessories.

      • Certified media for Blackmagic PYXIS 6K can be found here: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/faq/59047 

    • DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading, editing, VFX and audio post.*

  • Films may not include any copyrighted footage or music. They also must not be plagiarized from other works. 

  • Films cannot include the visual use of drugs or sex/nudity. Language must be kept at a PG-13 level.   

  • Team’s will be required to participate in periodic check-ins during the production of their film. 

    • January 10, 2025: Screenplay and pre-production plan must be submitted. 

    • April 4, 2025: Production must be wrapped with post production starting.

    • July 1, 2025: Film must be completed and submitted via AAHSFF’s FilmFreeway submission portal.

      • *Training for equipment and software to be provided by Blackmagic Design.  

Additional Contest Details

  • Each team will retain rights to  their own content based on the AAHSFF Film Contest Rules and Terms. 

  • Films will premiere at the 2025 AAHSFF. Teams are not permitted to screen, distribute or otherwise publicly release their “Pitch Production” in any capacity before or during the 2025 AAHSFF. Following the official premiere at the 2025 AAHSFF, teams will be permitted to screen their films and to post their films to their individual social media, YouTube and Vimeo pages. All other uses will require prior written approval by AAHSFF. 

  • Films will be featured on the Blackmagic Design website, along with an accompanying press release around the 2024 AAHSFF and Blackmagic Design Pitch Contest  which will highlight the teams’ work. 

  • Teams must participate in developing the press release. (Examples of current press releases can be found on the Blackmagic Design website: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/archive.) 

  • Teams must provide high resolution behind-the-scenes photos of their production, including photos of the Blackmagic Design gear in action, as well as stills from the film and screenshots of work in DaVinci Resolve Studio during post production.  

Prizing

  • The winning teams will each receive the following prize package.

  • A Blackmagic PYXIS 6K – An advanced digital film camera with an incredibly versatile design that lets you build the perfect camera rig for your production. Will include Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF, Blackmagic PYXIS Rosette Plate and Blackmagic URSA Cine Handle (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpyxis) 

  • DaVinci Resolve Studio – Blackmagic Design’s professional editing, color grading, VFX and audio post production solution. (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve) 

    • Note: the prizes will be given to the team advisor/mentor. It is then up to the team advisor/mentor to determine how the prizes will be distributed within the team or school production program. The prizes must not be resold and they must be used to create the film (as outlined in the contest requirements above.)