Rules and Guidelines

All entries must be submitted in digital format.

Students may be located anywhere in the world.

Students outside of the United States must fill out the parent/guardian participation consent form following GDPR guidelines. The Consent Form is to be signed by a parent/guardian and uploaded with their video submission.

Students must currently be in grades 6 to 12 (in the U.S.), or the international equivalent, to enter the contest and be eligible to win.

Students in middle school or under the age of 13 must attach a signed parent/guardian participation consent form with their video submission in order to be eligible for the contest.

All entries must either be submitted in English or, if in another language, include English subtitles.

Students may work together in groups or submit entries as individuals.

The video should not be longer than 60 seconds. The 5-second title screen does not count towards this time limit.

Please begin your video with a 5 second full-screen “title screen” and include the following information:

Lead Producer’s name
School name
School city, state/country
Title of video
Video running time (not including the 5 second title screen)

Resource: Title Screen Template

Plagiarism of any kind will result in disqualification.

All information presented in the video must be cited, giving credit to the original source. It is not a requirement to include all of your citations in your video but you should cite resources as requested by the author.

If chosen as a finalist, you must submit a list of your sources, properly cited.

Each video must have one Lead Producer to serve as the main point of contact.

Recognition and prizes will be given to all producers listed on the entry form.

There is no entry fee.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis from the opening of the contest on Tuesday, September 3, 2024 – Wednesday, March 5th, 2025.

Each entry must focus on ONE of following global topics and how population growth impacts that topic.

• Child Wellbeing
• Rainforest Ecosystems
• Sanitation

No copyrighted materials (music, images, video clips, etc.) may be used for this contest unless you own the copyright or have a license to use the material for this contest.

Written permission must be obtained and provided upon request for all copyrighted materials. All other images and resources should be cited as requested by the author.

No professional assistance is allowed. Adults may assist with production but are limited to verbal guidance only.

Adults are allowed to be actors or cameramen but not content contributors.

All portions of the online entry form must be completed when you upload your video for it to be eligible.

IF CHOSEN AS A FINALIST you must submit a signed/completed Video Release Form and a signed/completed Actor Release Form for each person appearing in your video.

Forms can be scanned/emailed to: [email protected]; faxed to 202-332-2302; or mailed to: World of 8 Billion contest, 2120 L Street NW #500, Washington, DC 20037.

Content must comply with all local and national laws of the country of origin and the United States. Content must not

1) Promote illegal behavior
2) Support racial, religious, sexual or other invidious prejudice
3) Advocate sexual or violent exploitation
4) Violate rights established by law or agreement
5) Invade the privacy of any person
or 6) be otherwise inappropriate as determined by Population Connection in its sole and conclusive determination.

The judges’ decision is final. Entries will be judged by topic, with winners in each of the three global topic areas.

Decisions will be made based on the World of 8 Billion Judging Rubric.

The only compensation for submitting a video is the opportunity to be awarded a prize if the entry wins. Population Connection will pay filmmakers no additional compensation nor be liable to the filmmaker under any circumstances.

Students may submit as many videos entries as they wish. However, only 1 first place prize will be awarded per student/team, and no student/team may receive more than 2 awards total per contest cycle.

Awards will be presented as follows:

Global Finalists

Videos that were chosen as global finalists for each topic will be awarded a $80 prize for high school and $50 prize for middle school.

Students should keep at least one copy of their video. Population Connection is not responsible for any films that are lost, damaged, or that do not upload properly.

Ownership of the underlying intellectual property of the project remains with the entrant, with the following exceptions.

Entrants grant Population Connection the right to use, reproduce, reprint, distribute, perform, and/or display the entrant’s project video without further compensation or notification to the entrant.

Students may submit as many videos entries as they wish. However, only 1 first place prize will be awarded per student/team, and no student/team may receive more than 2 awards total per contest cycle.

Population Connection maintains the right to reproduce, reprint, distribute, perform, display, or exhibit the project for advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes on their website, at conferences, or at any other venues.

By accepting the prizes, winners agree to hold Population Connection and all Population Connection employees harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of use of such prizes. Winner assumes all liability for any injury or damage caused from participation in the contest or use/redemption of any prize.

Entrants agree to be bound by the official contest rules and decisions of the judges.