1 Billion AI Film Award 2027 · Guide

How to win the 1 Billion AI Film Award.One film. Seven minutes. $1,000,000.

The rules, the scoring grid, the five themes and a week-by-week plan to 20 November 2026. Then write, storyboard and generate your film with Seedance in ScreenWeaver.
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  • Deadline 20 November 2026
  • 70% made with Seedance
  • Scoring grid explained
Lost Garden · Episode 2

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise this award and is not affiliated with the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official rules

Available today in ScreenWeaver: free screenwriting, and a storyboard generated from your screenplay with Storyboard Beta, $9.99 a month.

Rolling out: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, with the Filmmaker plan.

The rules on one card

What the 2027 award asks for.

The AI Film Award 2027 is run by the 1 Billion Followers Summit with TikTok and Seedance. It is the largest cash prize ever offered for a single AI film, and the rules are strict.
Grand prize
$1,000,000 to one creator
Deadline
20 November 2026
Running time
5 to 7 minutes, titles and credits excluded
Delivery
16:9, 1080p, MOV or MP4
AI requirement
At least 70% generated with Seedance
Language
Any, with English subtitles
Who can enter
Worldwide, 18 and over, one film each
Content
General audience (G), original, unreleased

Source: the award page, its FAQ and its Terms and Conditions dated 29 September 2026. The organiser can change them: check the official page the week you submit.

Key dates

Seven weeks to make the film.

Submissions opened on 30 September 2026. Count backwards from the deadline, not forwards from your idea.

  1. 30 Sep 2026

    Submissions open

    The form is live on the award site. Your progress saves on your device until you submit.

  2. 20 Nov 2026

    Deadline

    Last day to submit the finished film, with English subtitles and your AI disclosure.

  3. 15 Dec 2026

    Top 10 and public vote

    An expert committee picks ten films. The public then votes for its favourite.

  4. 25 Dec 2026

    Top 5 announced

    Five finalist films are revealed and shown to a global audience.

  5. 8 to 10 Jan 2027

    Premiere in Dubai

    The Top 5 premiere at the Summit on 9 January. The winner is announced live on 10 January.

How films are scored

100 points, four criteria.

The award publishes its grid. Half of the points go to story and creativity, and only 20 go to technical execution. A flawless render with a weak story cannot win.

  • AI integration

    30%

    Not how much AI you used, but whether the film could only exist this way. Use Seedance for what a camera cannot film: a world, a scale, a transformation. Then show the method in your disclosure.

  • Storytelling

    30%

    One character, one want, one change, in seven minutes. The committee lists originality, character development and structure among its selection points. Write the screenplay before the first prompt.

  • Creativity and aesthetic

    20%

    One visual idea held from the first frame to the last: a palette, a light, a way of framing. A consistent look reads as direction. A different style every shot reads as a demo reel.

  • Technical execution

    20%

    Faces that stay the same, hands that hold, sound that matches the image, clean subtitles, a 1080p master. Every glitch you leave in costs points here, and the screeners notice.

Responsible and ethical use of AI is not scored, it is required. A film that fails it is out before scoring. The organiser can adjust the criteria during judging.

Who decides

Three audiences, not one jury.

The organiser does not publish the jury and can change it at any time. What the rules do say is who sees your film, and in what order.

  • Preliminary screeners

    The rules allow screeners to shortlist before the jury sees anything. With thousands of entries, the first minute decides. Open on a strong image and a clear question.

  • The expert committee

    It picks the Top 10 on storytelling, originality, character development, structure, visual creativity and use of Seedance. Expect film people who have seen every AI cliché: avoid the robot uprising and the slow-motion montage.

  • The public vote

    The Top 10 then go to a public vote. An emotion everyone shares, a title people remember, a face they care about. The rules forbid you to release the film or reveal your shortlist yourself, so the film must win the vote on its own.

  • A creator audience in Dubai

    The Top 5 premiere before the creators of the 1 Billion Followers Summit. A film that works on a big screen and in a 30 second clip has an edge.

The five themes

Pick a theme, then make it small.

Your film must speak to one of five themes. The organiser says it wants stories that matter to humanity today and tomorrow, not visually impressive films alone. Under each theme, the angle we would take.

  • 01

    Society, community and humanitarian issues

    Inequality, bullying, loneliness, access to education or care, one act of kindness that changes a community.

    Go small and specific: one child, one street, one gesture. A character beats a statistic. Show the effect of bullying, never the violence, or the film loses its G rating.

  • 02

    Truth, fake news and misinformation

    A rumour that spreads, deepfakes, algorithms that amplify, the gap between perception and reality.

    Show the rumour moving through faces and objects, not screens full of text: AI video garbles writing. Never use a real person's face: deepfakes of real people break the rules.

  • 03

    Humans and AI

    Being human in the AI era, AI companions for lonely people, a child whose closest friend is an AI.

    The most crowded theme, since every entrant uses AI. Stand out with a tender, low-stakes story instead of robots against humans. Ask the question, do not answer it.

  • 04

    Climate, nature and our changing planet

    Extreme weather, communities forced to move, vanished wildlife, cities in fifty years.

    Disaster spectacle is costly in shots and hard to keep G. Follow one family and one place that changes. The “next generation discovers lost nature” direction suits AI visuals well.

  • 05

    Human relationships

    Parents and children, siblings, friendship and betrayal, divorce, letting someone go.

    Universal, and cheap to stage: two characters and few locations keep faces consistent across a hundred shots. Probably the strongest theme for the public vote.

The 2026 winner

What Lily teaches.

The first edition was won by Lily, by Zoubeir Jlassi, a 9 minute film made with Google Gemini models. A lonely archivist in a rain-soaked city finds a doll trapped on his bumper after a hit-and-run he caused. The doll leads him to confess and to return it to the child in hospital.

  1. 01

    One object carries the story. The doll is the witness. A concrete object also gives the AI a stable anchor from shot to shot.

  2. 02

    A moral arc with a real ending: guilt, confession, reunion. Juries and audiences want the loop closed.

  3. 03

    One atmosphere for the whole film: rain, grey city, night. A held look reads as direction.

  4. 04

    It answered its theme literally. 2026 asked for “the secret life of” everyday things. Lily is the secret life of a doll.

  5. 05

    The rules changed for 2027: 5 to 7 minutes instead of 7 to 10, Seedance instead of Google tools, five new themes. Copy the lessons, not the recipe.

From script to screen

Lost Garden: one scene, six shots.

The opening of Lost Garden, episode 2, an animated series made by the ScreenWeaver team with Seedance. The screenplay page as you hear it in the film, then each shot as a storyboard frame and as the final image.

Logline. A newborn knight whose inner light is leaking away crosses a world that has stopped hoping, to find the one blacksmith who can seal his armor.

Screenplay · episode 2 · page 1

INT. UNDERGROUND CAVERN - LOWER PATH - CONTINUOUS

Blue mushrooms the size of houses. LANTERN, a small knight with a lantern for a helm, walks alone.

He presses a hand to his chest. Sparks of light slip between his fingers.

SERRURE

Hold on. You're losing something.

Serrure lifts the edge of the cloak. A gash in the armor. Blue light leaks out like smoke.

SERRURE

That's your energy. What keeps you standing.

He grips Lantern's shoulder. Two knights alone among the crystals.

SERRURE

A suit that leaks goes out. Eventually.

Under the giant mushrooms, the road climbs into the dark.

SERRURE

So. We follow the road.

Serrure points the way. Lantern follows.

CUT TO:

  1. A small knight with a lantern helm stands by a giant glowing blue mushroom in a crystal cavern
    Storyboard frame of the same wide shot, in grey
    01

    Wide · the world

    Wide shot, Lantern alone by a giant glowing blue mushroom, crystal cavern, roots, drifting spores, cold blue light

  2. Close-up of an armored chest under a cream cloak, a gloved hand, a spark of light
    Storyboard frame of the chest close-up, in grey
    02

    Close-up · the chest

    Close-up on Lantern's chest, his gloved hand pressed to the cloak, a spark of light escaping between the fingers

  3. A torn gash in an armor plate leaking bright blue light, a finger pointing at it
    Storyboard frame of the wound insert, in grey
    03

    Insert · the wound

    Extreme close-up, Serrure's finger near a torn gash in the back plate, blue light leaking out like luminous smoke

  4. Two armored knights side by side, one with a hand on the other's shoulder, in a crystal cavern
    Storyboard frame of the two-shot, in grey
    04

    Two-shot · the bond

    Medium two-shot among crystals and roots, Serrure's hand on Lantern's shoulder, faceless armors, emotion through posture only

  5. Two small knights walk beneath two giant glowing blue mushrooms
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    05

    Wide · the scale

    Wide low angle, the two knights tiny beneath two giant glowing mushrooms, blue crystals in the foreground, mist

  6. Seen from behind, a tall dark knight points ahead while the small lantern knight looks on
    Storyboard frame of the over-the-shoulder shot, in grey
    06

    Over the shoulder · the road

    Over-the-shoulder from behind, Serrure points ahead into the cavern, Lantern beside him, roots framing the path

Lost Garden, episode 2, 21 minutes, three times the length the award asks for. An animated series by the ScreenWeaver team, made with Seedance; episode 1 was a finalist at the AI London Festival. The player opens on this scene.

The script

A 6 minute film in five movements.

Aim for 6 minutes so the edit has room on both sides of the limit. That is about 6 screenplay pages and 80 to 110 shots of 3 to 5 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 0:30

    The hook

    One image and one question. The screeners decide here.

  2. 0:30 to 1:30

    The world and the want

    Who we follow, what they want, what is missing in their life.

  3. 1:30 to 4:00

    The turn and the climb

    Something breaks the routine. Each scene raises the cost.

  4. 4:00 to 5:15

    The choice

    The character decides. This is the scene people will retell.

  5. 5:15 to 6:00

    The new world

    One last image that answers the first one. Then the credits.

With Seedance 2.5, one generation can hold several shots of the same scene. Plan by scene, not by shot: it keeps light and characters consistent and divides the number of generations.

Week by week

From the blank page to the submit button.

Seven weeks from 1 October. The film is made in weeks 5 and 6. Everything before that decides whether those two weeks go well.
  1. 01

    Week 1 · by 7 October

    Theme and logline

    Write ten loglines across two themes. Tell them to five people. Keep the one they repeat back to you.

  2. 02

    Week 2 · by 14 October

    The screenplay

    Six pages, few lines of dialogue. Write it for free in ScreenWeaver, in industry format, and read it out loud.

  3. 03

    Week 3 · by 21 October

    Characters and locations

    One reference per character and per set, approved once. They carry into every shot, which is what keeps a face the same for six minutes.

  4. 04

    Week 4 · by 28 October

    Storyboard every shot

    Generate the shot breakdown and the storyboard from the screenplay, then adjust framing, angle, movement and duration shot by shot.

  5. 05

    Weeks 5 and 6 · by 11 November

    Generate the footage

    Scene by scene with Seedance, from the storyboard and the references. Keep every prompt and every version: the organiser can ask for them.

  6. 06

    Week 7 · by 18 November

    Edit, sound and subtitles

    Cut to 5 to 7 minutes without titles and credits, add the official intro, licensed music, English subtitles, a 1080p master.

  7. 07

    By 20 November

    Submit with your disclosure

    List every AI tool and version, the share of the film each one made, and the source of every non-AI element. Keep your files for 24 months.

Disqualification traps

Eight ways to lose before the jury.

Most of them are in the Terms and Conditions, not on the front page. Read them before you write.

  • A film that is not G rated

    No violence beyond mild, no disturbing images, no smoking, alcohol or gambling. The film must also respect UAE content standards: no politics, nothing that mocks a religion. A thriller that works elsewhere is out here.

  • A real person on screen

    No celebrity, no public figure, no deepfake. Any identifiable real face or voice needs a signed consent. Invent your characters.

  • Brands and logos

    Product placement and third-party brands are banned. Video models add logos on their own: check every shot for cans, cars and screens.

  • A film already released

    It must be original, made for the award, never published or entered elsewhere. And you cannot post it until the winner is announced.

  • Less than 70% Seedance

    Live action and other AI tools are allowed in support only. Count your seconds before you mix sources.

  • No proof of process

    On request, you have 7 days to send prompts, project files, shot logs and generation history. Without them, you can be disqualified.

  • Removed watermarks

    Watermarks, provenance data and content credentials added by an AI tool must stay. Removing them breaks the rules.

  • The wrong specs

    Outside 5 to 7 minutes without credits, not 16:9, under 1080p, no English subtitles or no official intro: rejected before anyone watches.

Why ScreenWeaver

The award wants Seedance. ScreenWeaver runs on it.

ScreenWeaver is the AI production pipeline built for films and series: screenplay, storyboard and footage in one connected project.

  • Powered by Seedance 2.0 and 2.5

    The footage pipelines run on Seedance, the model the award requires. List ScreenWeaver and the Seedance version in your AI disclosure. In doubt about a tool, ask the organiser before you submit.

  • Your process, already documented

    Each shot traces back to its scene, its storyboard frame and its prompt, because the pipelines are connected to the script. When the organiser asks how the film was made, the answer is in the project.

  • The same faces for six minutes

    Characters, locations and references carry from shot to shot. That is the difference between a film and a hundred clips that do not match.

  • Start for free today

    The Screenwriter plan is $0 and does not expire. Storyboard Beta is $9.99 a month. Video generation comes with the Filmmaker plan, now rolling out.

Real productions

International festival-recognized films have been written and produced with ScreenWeaver.

ScreenWeaver is already being used as a creative workspace for real AI film productions, from cinematic shorts to animated series pilots selected, nominated, and awarded by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place Dreamina

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • Award Winner

      Seoul International AI Film Festival

  • Video thumbnail for Les Fils du Vinnana

    Les Fils du Vinnana

    AI short film

    Festival recognition

    • Honorable Mention

      Top Quark Film Festival

    • People's Choice Nominee

      Illuminate Oneness of Humanity

    • Nominee

      ALTFF Supershort

  • Video thumbnail for Lost Garden

    Lost Garden

    AI animated series pilot

    Festival recognition

    • Finalist

      AI London Festival

See what creators are building

The pipeline

Write. Board. Produce.

  1. ScreenWeaver screenplay editor: acts, sequences and beats above the formatted script of The Yellow Umbrella

    01The screenplay, enriched

    An industry-standard screenplay editor, and more: a visual outline and beat editor, your writing inspirations (notes, photos, audio) kept next to the page, and an AI researcher to support your writing, not replace it.

  2. ScreenWeaver storyboard: shot S3 of The Yellow Umbrella with characters, shot settings and the script beside it

    02The storyboard, made easy

    Shot breakdown generated from your screenplay, manual control over every shot (frame, angle, movement, duration), and generative AI previsualization in one click.

  3. ScreenWeaver production canvas: shots S3 and S4 as connected nodes carrying their storyboard panels and prompts

    03AI production, with finesse

    Footage generation pipelines connected to your screenplay and storyboard. Optimized out of the box, fully editable workflow.

More AI film festivals

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for festival films

FAQ

The 1 Billion AI Film Award, your questions

How do you win the 1 Billion AI Film Award?
Films are scored out of 100: AI integration 30, storytelling 30, creativity and aesthetic 20, technical execution 20. Sixty points go to story and creativity. Then the Top 10 face a public vote. Write a simple, emotional story with one character and one change, and keep one look from start to finish.
Can I make my film for the award with ScreenWeaver?
ScreenWeaver's footage pipelines run on Seedance 2.0 and 2.5, the model the award requires. Declare ScreenWeaver and the Seedance version in your AI disclosure. The organiser decides what complies, so if you are unsure, write to hello@1billionsummit.com before you submit.
What counts toward the 70% Seedance rule?
At least 70% of the final film must be generated with Seedance as the main video tool. Other AI tools, post-production and original live action can support it. Measure it in seconds of screen time before your final cut.
Who is on the jury?
The organiser has not published the names and can change the jury at any time. Screeners can shortlist first, an expert committee picks the Top 10, the public votes, and the winner is announced at the Summit in Dubai on 10 January 2027.
How long must the film be?
Between 5 and 7 minutes, not counting opening titles and closing credits, in 16:9, 1080p, MOV or MP4, with English subtitles.
Can I enter a film I already posted on YouTube?
No. The film must be original, made for the award and never released or entered in another competition. You also cannot publish it until the winner is announced.
Do I keep the rights to my film?
Yes. You keep ownership and grant the organiser a non-exclusive licence to screen and promote the film. After the award, you can distribute and monetise it yourself.
Which theme gives the best chance?
None is favoured in the rules. Human relationships is the most universal for the public vote; Humans and AI will be the most crowded. Pick the theme where you have a personal story.

Seven weeks. Start with the page.

Write the screenplay for free today. Storyboard it, then film it with Seedance.
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