Submissions for the 24 Hours Animation Contest for Students are open

Long Beach, California — This year’s 24 HOURS: Animation Contest for Students will be hosted online, from Friday October 14th to Saturday October 15th. This free event challenges students around the world to compete in teams of five to produce a 30-second animated film in under 24 hours. Now celebrating its 20th year, this international competition is hosted by animation professor, Aubry Mintz, at California State University, Long Beach.

The final 30-second films will be judged by a volunteer panel of esteemed animation professionals. Interested in joining this year’s challenge? Students can register their team of five online.

“I am thrilled to announce we are in our 20th year and more than 10,000 students from 130 schools have benefited from participating through the years," said Aubry Mintz. "The challenge has featured participants from 20 countries:  Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan, UK and the USA!"

This year, industry supporters are getting behind this contest with additional prizes and funding efforts to support students in new ways. An example of these new initiatives is an equipment request program for underserved students, which will not only allow them to participate in this year's 24 HOURS challenge, but provide tools to aid in their virtual learning and production of art. Eligible students are encouraged to apply to the program.

Generous supporters include Toon Boom, Wacom, Illumination, ASIFA-Hollywood, Bento Box, Animation Magazine, TAAFI (Toronto Animated Arts Festival International), CSU Summer Arts, CTNX, TVPaint, Digicel, CRC Press, Eclipse Tech, Mac Hollywood, Stuart Ng Books, Your Animated Journey, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, Pixar, Sony Pictures Animation, Walt Disney Animation, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and more!.

Curious to see the top-placing films from previous years? You can find a playlist of previous entries on YouTube.

How does it work?

As we are in the midst of a pandemic, we will allow all students to each work from home, but they must still register in teams of five. We still ask that each team have a faculty advisor from their home school. This ensures that all teams are currently students and that this contest falls in line with each school’s student learning outcomes. Teams at the same school are permitted to share faculty advisors. 

All teams start at the exact same time, and submit a YouTube link of the completed films to the contest before the deadline, Saturday October 15^th at 4PM PST. Late submissions are not accepted. Teams need to plan ahead and troubleshoot issues, including unsent emails and broken YouTube links. Finished films will be judged by a panel of industry experts and prizes will be awarded to the top 7 teams. 

How did it start?

In 2002, Aubry Mintz challenged his students to work through the night to see how much they could accomplish. Five students remained when the sun rose, and Mintz was impressed by what they were able to produce. 24 HOURS Animation Contest for Students was born, and Aubry Mintz decided to continue to offer this contest once a year to students in search of a challenge. 

“It brings out the best in students,” said Aubry Mintz, after watching entries from 291 teams in 2019. “It pushes them to their limits but teaches them to make creative decisions in a severely limited time. Working with a team of five challenges artists to learn how to work collaboratively. Sometimes this creates tension and obstacles that the teams must work together to overcome. It’s a rapid speed lesson in animation production.”

“Although this contest sounds crazy, the model seems to work. The top films are as good as some completed student films that take several months to produce. I think it's their chance to set personal goals and work outside of the classroom structure on a creative project.”

---

• For questions about the contest, contact Aubry Mintz by email at 24hourscontest@gmail.com.
• Interested in participating? Be sure to join the Facebook group and review the FAQs.