This division is to honor documentary video storytelling in all its forms. Documentaries may have been made for any platform — broadcast, OTT delivery, streaming, or other release.
Please refer to the Guidelines section of the competition website for more details, and contact b[email protected] for more information or questions about the contest.
Documentary Long Form
A structured presentation with dramatic impact of an event, individual or situation of current, cultural and/or historical significance or a creative, in-depth treatment of a topic presented in a factual and informative manner. Can be filmed by one person or more. Must have debuted during the contest year. Higher weight will be given to documentaries with stellar photography or videography that elevates the presentation without distracting from the story. Long form has a run-time greater than 30 minutes.
Documentary Short Form
A structured presentation with dramatic impact of an event, individual or situation of current, cultural and/or historical significance or a creative, in-depth treatment of a topic presented in a factual and informative manner. Can be filmed by one person or more. Must have debuted during the contest year. Higher weight will be given to documentaries with stellar photography or videography that elevates the presentation without distracting from the story. Short form has a run-time of no less than 10 minutes and not to exceed 30 minutes.
Documentary Series
A multi-part series with dramatic impact of an event, individual or situation of current, cultural and/or historical significance or a creative, in-depth treatment of a topic presented in a factual and informative manner. Can be filmed by one person or more. Must have debuted during the contest year.
Entry must contain a minimum of three installments with five seconds of black between episodes. Please do not submit your entire 10-hour series, select the three or four best episodes from the series. Do not make any post edits, each episode must be as it was originally presented.
Entry will be weighted for both stellar photography and editing that elevates the presentation without distracting from the story and maximizes each episode.
Documentary Editor
A structured presentation with dramatic impact of an event, individual or situation of current, cultural and/or historical significance or a creative, in-depth treatment of a topic presented in a factual and informative manner. Can be edited by one person or a team. Must have debuted during the contest year. All lengths greater than 10 minutes.
Higher weight will be given to documentaries with stellar editing and editing choices (i.e.: music, graphics, effects & pacing) that elevated the presentation without distracting from the story.
Mandatory writeup for this category: You must notify judges of all elements you did not produce (i.e.: music, graphics, & effects)
Documentary of the Year
Selected by the judges from all of the documentary finalists.
This award recognizes a documentary or documentary series that achieved a high standard of quality in photography, editing and overall storytelling that is unmatched by any other documentary in the division. Selection as Documentary of the Year honors excellence and, most importantly, it serves to raise the standards of the industry.
