The 10th Annual Rookie Awards is an annual contest open to young creatives in film, animation, games, virtual reality, motion graphics and 3d visualisation. You can win prizes and studio internships by simply sharing your best creative media work with our legendary judging panel. Entering the contest will give you an official skills ranking, help build your confidence sharing work, and allow you to see how you compare with other aspiring artists from around the world.
Anyone can win a prize this year
During previous Awards we have always given prizes to category winners. This year we are changing things up! 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 who submits their work.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ok, where do I sign up!
The Rookie Awards kicks off again today (March 7th, 2020). Follow the link below to access the contest pages. We can't wait to see what you've been working on!