The Rookie Awards is an annual contest open to young creatives in film, animation, games, virtual reality, motion graphics and 3d visualisation. Entrants can win weekly prizes and studio internships by simply sharing their best creative media work. Entrants also receive an official industry ranking, become confident presenting their work and can see how their skills compare with other aspiring artists from around the world.
Why should I enter the Rookie Awards?
The real question here is, why are you not entering the Rookie Awards? Seriously, if you are an aspiring artist trying to break into creative media industries then this is one of the best opportunities out there for you.
Even if you're not ready to apply for jobs, this contest is a great opportunity for you to build confidence and get your work in front of some of the biggest names in creative media and entertainment.
It's not all about winning. It's about getting your work seen by industry professionals and figuring out how you stack up against other artists and start growing your professional network.
Who can enter the Rookie Awards?
The Rookie Awards is open to all aspiring young artists. You can be a student, self-taught artist, or even a hobbyist. If you have more than 12 months professional experience in any related field that puts you at a distinct advantage over emerging artists, your entry will be disqualified. No work completed at a professional studio can be shared.
Please contact our support team if you are not sure about your eligiblity by using the live chat located bottom-right of every page of our platform.
Important Dates
Please refer to the following dates to make sure you don't miss out on this great opportunity. (Tip: Download our Google Calendar with all the keys dates.)
March 7, 2020: Submissions Open
Eligible entrants are asked to create an entry page and upload their best work for the judges to review.
June 1, 2020: Submissions Closed
No extensions are ever allowed. This is a solid date, just like a production deadline. Don’t miss it!
June 30, 2020: Finalists Announced
Our Judging panel reviews every entry, awarding them an industry ranking and selecting top people per category.
July 16, 2020: Winners Announced
All judging completed and winners of jobs, internships, scholarships and People’s Choice are announced.
Success Stories
Some of our biggest success stories are from entrants that were just like you! They thought they didn't have any chance of winning. But they were discovered just by showing their work on The Rookies website.
Entry Categories
Rookie of the Year
Categories open to individual artists to showcase their skills.
2D Animation, 3D Animation, Visual Effects, Concept Art, Game Development, Immersive Media, 3D Motion Graphics, Product Design, Architectural Visualisation.
Film of the Year
Categories open to individual artists and teams to show their films.
2D Animation, 3D Animation, Visual Effects.
Game of the Year
Categories open to individual artists and teams to show their games.
Immersive Media, Mobile, PC & Console
Studio Internships
Categories open to individuals looking to launch their careers right now.
Weta Digital, Epic Games, Lightfield, Ninja Theory, BVN REAL, Unbnd, Outpost VFX, Crater Studio, Unbnd, Binyan Studios.
Specialty
Additional categories open to younger audience and schools.
Young Guns, School of the Year
*Schools don't actually enter, winners of this category are calculated based on the performance of entries submitted to Rookie of the Year Categories.
Anyone can win a prize this year
Over the years we have always given away prizes to the winners of each category. This year we are changing things up a bit. The category winners still get some incredible prizes, but for the first time we are giving away the Ultimate Creative Starter Kit worth over US$18,796 to one random entrant to the Rookie Awards 2020.
The goal of this prize is to encourage entrants to share their work, even if you don't think you can win a category prize. We understand that not everyone is ready for a job and we want to make sure those of you have an incentive to share your work online - no matter what level it is. All artists struggle with sharing work publicly, but it's a major part of improving your skills and growing confidence so hopefully this epic prize will motivate you to get involved.
As always, we have far too many prizes to mention so please use the link below to visit the contest prize page and check out what is on offer by our incredible sponsors.
Why should my school get involved?
The Rookie Awards is open to both self-taught artists and students. However, one of the core reasons we started the Rookie Awards was to help promote the amazing work that schools around the world are doing to help aspiring artists. There are so many great programs out there, but there are also some that should be avoided.
This is why we encourage both students and schools to get involved and show your skills. We want to see the projects that you have created, both individually and as teams. Not only is this an incredible opportunity to promote how good your curriculum is, but it also gives students a free location on the web to share their work with other aspiring artists - and not be intimidated by the professional focused industries out there just yet.
If you are looking to start your education and need some help selecting the right school for your budget, location and career goals please contact our team here at The Rookies as we can help.
Supported by big names
It's always good to know someone has your back. The Rookies and these beautiful list of companies has your back too. Please take a moment to check out all the sponsors and research what they do for artists and the industry. Our creative industries would be a pretty dull and uninspiring place without the technology, passion and creativity displayed by these companies.
A massive shout out to these incredible companies and the teams that work behind the scenes to not only support The Rookies and aspiring artists, but the creative media industry as a whole.
Autodesk, Unreal, Adobe, Pixologic, Substance, Chaos Group, Foundry, Maxon, SideFX, Unity, Wacom, Weta Digital, 3D World, Axis Studios, BINYAN, Crater Studios, Epic Games, Flipped Normals, Flying Bark, Lightfield, Model Farm, Ninja Theory, Outpost VFX, Rig-it, Sini Software, Sketchfab, Toon Boom, Unbnd, Ziva.
2020 Posters
We have released a bunch of posters using amazing artwork from 2019 entrants. Download a PDF poster and help us promote the Rookie Awards 2020 by putting them up around your school, public noticeboards and anywhere else with a bit of foot traffic.
Videos you need to watch
We have two videos worth watching that will make sure you create a great entry to the contest. The first video explains everything you need to know about the contest. We breakdown each of the categories you can enter, we give tips and tricks about how to enter and also provide some insight about common mistakes that we don't want to see again this year.
The second video is a walkthrough demonstration on how to create an entry. This is a great video to watch before you submit you work, not only will it better prepare you, but it will also make you feel more confident if you haven't submitted work to The Rookies platform before.
Social Media and Hashtags
To make sure you don't miss any announcements make sure to follow us on any of our social media pages:
Facebook: therookiesco
Twitter: therookiesco
Instagram: therookiesco
Youtube: therookiesco
LinkedIn: therookiesco
#rookieawards2020
This is the official hashtag for the Rookie Awards 2020. To help us track engagement, please remember to include this in any posts or announcements.
Ok, where do I sign up!
The Rookie Awards kicks off again March 7th, 2020 which means the contest platform is accepting entries yet. However, you can still head across to the contest homepage and start reading the category briefs and preparing your entry.
Can't wait to see what everyone has been working on!