The University of California Office of the President has teamed up with Directing Change, a contest that encourages students to submit videos that will positively impact campus life.
Participants can submit 60-second public service announcements in two categories: “Suicide Prevention” and “Ending the Silence about Mental Illness.” The new deadline for UC students to submit entries is March 21, 2014.
Winners will get cash prizes and will be recognized at a statewide award ceremony in Sacramento this spring. All entries by UC students also will be entered to win a 30-minute Skype session with Scott Budnick, producer of “Due Date” and “Starsky and Hutch.”
The winning videos also will be shared with higher education partners in the California State University system and the California Community College system, and used as education and awareness tools at UC locations.
Previously, this contest was open to high school students only. Based on last year’s success, the University of California was invited to join and is now the first higher education system to open this contest to their students.
The contest is funded through the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) Student Mental Health Initiative, also known as Proposition 63. Speakers at last year’s award ceremony were Bradley Beucker, director of the television show Glee, and California Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, co-author of Proposition 63.
See last year’s winning videos:
• “Hey, I’m Allen”: www.directingchange.org/hey-im-allan/
• “Messages”: www.directingchange.org/the-messages/
Judging process and prizes:
Round 1: One (1) first place winner and one (1) honorable mention winner will be selected in each category from each UC campus by a panel of judges.
1st place prize: $500
Honorable mention prize: $300
Round 2: The finalists (two winning videos from each campus in each category) will move on to a systemwide judging round. A new panel of judges will review and score the videos and determine one (1) first place winner and one (1) honorable mention winner in each category.
1st place prize: $1,000
Honorable mention prize: $500
The systemwide winners in each category also will be invited to attend the award ceremony in Sacramento during Mental Health Awareness Month in May.