Update for Stories w/STEAM Short Film Competition!  Deadline for Film Submission Extended and Prizes Announced!

Update!  The deadline for film submissions has been extended to February 14th, 2025!  Award details for the Stories with STEAM Short Film Competition announced!

Whether you are a seasoned or budding filmmaker, a student with a passion for something STEAM-related, an educator who would like to try a creative way to teach a topic, and/or someone who has never tried to make a film before but would like to give it a whirl – consider making a film for this competition! There are three categories open to anyone in the Appalachian Region:

• Middle School/High School Students
• Undergrad/Graduate (Higher Education) Students
• General Public in WV.

Submitted films should creatively engage STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and/or the Arts (e.g. performance, dance, theater, music, painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) related themes, ideas, characters, and stories. Films may be animation, fictional narratives, documentary, experimental or other. Films must be 5 minutes maximum (including title and credits) and suitable for all ages (rated G). Submissions are free!

Important dates include:
• November 22, 2024 – Competition Announced
• February 14, 2025 – Film Submission Deadline Extended!
• March 3rd, 2025 – Selected Films Announced
• March 12, 2025 – Awards Ceremony

For eligibility, competition rules, and a way to submit your film, visit the SWS Short Film Competition website created by the contest organizer, Marshall University’s Prof Tijah Bumgarner,  – also accessible via the QR code on the poster above created by Zorayah Jackson.

Cash prizes, as well as the opportunity to meet with Emmy nominated filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore (nominated for her film Brooklyn Castle) for a coaching session will be awarded to the winning films in each category as noted below as part of the “Stories with STEAM” (SWS) Appalachian Circuit featuring Dellamaggiore’s new film Small Town Universe screening event.

Prizes for each category:

• 1st –   $250 + a 1 hr consult w/Emmy nominated Director, Katie Dellamaggiore
• 2nd – $150
• 3rd –  $100

Selected films may be featured in our free, web based education platform STEAM Trek.

The awards ceremony will be held on March 12th, 2025 at 4:30 pm at Marshall University’s Joan C Edwards Performing Arts Center in Huntington, WV.

The competition is sponsored by WV All STAR and the West Virginia Film Office, and organized by Professor Tijah Bumgarner and the Marshall University Filmmaking Program, conducted in collaboration with our partners at Rescued Media, The Foundry, West Virginia International Film Festival, and Teen Screen .

For any questions about the film submissions, please email tijah.bumgarner@marshall.edu. Any questions about the “Stories with STEAM – The Appalachian Circuit featuring Small Town Universe” event, please email deanaw.wvallstar@gmail.com. Please share this opportunity with anyone you think might be interested!

We hope to be watching your film soon!

(Release 1/27/25)