Atlanta AI Ad Fest 2026 · Guide

How to win the Atlanta AI Ad Fest.Sixty seconds. One idea. Before 25 October.

The rules, the 40% weight on the idea, the four brand briefs and a day-by-day plan to the 25 October 2026 deadline. Then write, storyboard and generate your ad in ScreenWeaver.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Entries close 25 October 2026
  • 30 to 60 seconds, any AI tool
  • $10 to register, $2,500 in prizes
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise the Atlanta AI Ad Fest and is not affiliated with SouArt Alliance or Bloomway AI. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official site

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 first AIAF asks for.

The inaugural AIAF is an advertising contest, not a film festival. It asks for a 30 to 60 second ad or short film answering one of four brand briefs, and it scores the idea before the finish.
Entries close
25 October 2026, US Eastern time
Length
30 to 60 seconds, 200 MB maximum
Cost
$10 registration, no submission fee
Cash prizes
$2,500 guaranteed
Divisions
Youth, University and Open
AI tools
Any tool, models and platforms disclosed
Who can enter
Worldwide, teams of up to five credited members
Awards night
22 November 2026, Atlanta

Source: the AIAF home, awards, creators, jury and FAQ pages, read on 1 October 2026. The FAQ says the Official Rules and the Creative Brief are the source of truth, and one page still said registration was not yet open: check that the form works before you plan around it.

Key dates

Twenty-four days left.

This is the first edition, so there is no past calendar to lean on. The dates below are the festival's own, <b>all in US Eastern time</b>.

  1. 15 Sep 2026

    Registration opens

    Open worldwide. The $10 fee includes 5,000 Bloomway Sparks, the credits of the festival's technology partner.

  2. Late Sep 2026

    Brand tracks launch

    Four official briefs: three Featured Brand Partners and one Presenting Brand Partner. Every entry starts from one of them. The brand names were not on the site when I read it.

  3. 25 Oct 2026

    Entries close

    The global call ends. Publish your work with the official hashtags first, then submit it.

  4. 10 Nov 2026

    Finalists announced

    The Official Selection and the finalists are named. Selected works are shown on the big screen at the awards night.

  5. 22 Nov 2026

    Awards night, Atlanta

    Finalist screening, ceremony and the live vote for Best of Festival, one vote per verified attendee. Venue to be announced.

How ads are scored

100 points, idea first.

AIAF published its weights in August: the idea alone is worth as much as craft and impact together. The awards page adds that technical novelty alone does not win.

  • Idea

    40%

    The festival's test is “Can it make us think?” Write the idea as one sentence a stranger could repeat. If it needs the visuals to be understood, it is not yet an idea.

  • Craft

    30%

    “Is it exceptionally made?” The Best Visual Craft prize asks for a finish that looks intentional, not generic generation. One look, a clean edit, sound that fits, and no glitch left in.

  • Brand

    20%

    “Does it make the brand matter?” Your film must answer the brief you chose and its brand guidelines. The brand has to be needed by the idea, not stamped on at the end.

  • Impact

    10%

    “Does the world respond?” This is the ability to travel beyond the jury room, and your entry needs a public social URL. Real reactions help. Manipulated metrics do the opposite.

What lowers a score, per the awards page: tool-demo energy without a human idea or brand purpose, generic AI aesthetics, an incoherent edit and unlicensed IP. Manipulated or fraudulent social metrics may lead to disqualification.

Who decides

Advertising people and AI artists.

AIAF has named five jurors for its first edition. A separate founding advisory board shapes the standards but does not judge.

  • Strategy and branding

    Oscar Betancur chairs Advertising and Branding and Social Strategy and Management at SCAD. Jordan Atchison is co-founder and CMO of an agency specialised in performance marketing and AI-enabled advertising. They will ask what the ad is for.

  • AI artists

    WildPusa and Xuesong Zhu are AIGC artists, the first called one of China's most influential AI visual creators. Xin Yu is an AIGC creative leader and Fortune 500 APAC Design Director. They will notice generic generation at once.

  • Jurors who also make films

    Some jurors are commissioned artists in the festival's own program, making films that answer “What Comes Next?” The home page shows works by WildPusa and Xuesong Zhu. Watch them: they show the house taste.

  • The room in Atlanta

    Best of Festival, worth $1,000, goes to a live audience vote at the awards night, with finalists from all three divisions in the running. Build an ending that works in a theatre.

The categories

Six ways to be remembered.

The official theme is “What Comes Next?” and every award below can go to the same film or to six different ones. Pick the one you aim at, then write toward it.

  • 01

    Best AI Commercial

    The strongest overall commercial: idea, craft and brand working as one film.

    The all-rounder. It rewards a clear brief answer and a clean finish more than a daring stunt. Do not chase it without a strong idea.

  • 02

    Best Creative Idea

    The clearest, bravest idea, memorable even before production polish.

    Write it on one line before any prompt. A rough film with a great idea can win here, and a polished film with a weak idea cannot.

  • 03

    Best AI Cinematography

    A distinctive camera language, light and motion, where AI expands cinematic control.

    Choose one move, one light, one lens feel and hold it. A single bold camera idea beats a catalogue of effects in sixty seconds.

  • 04

    Best Storytelling

    Narrative economy and emotional truth within 30 to 60 seconds.

    One character, one want, one turn. Spend your seconds on a face and a reaction, not on setting. Emotion is cheap to stage and rare in ads.

  • 05

    Best Visual Craft

    World-building, design systems and a finish that looks intentional rather than generic.

    Fix palette, textures and costume in references first, then generate. Consistency is the craft when every shot comes from a model.

  • 06

    Best Product Advertising

    A product or offer made desirable without sacrificing idea or taste.

    Show the product solving the idea's problem, close and well lit. Models garble logos and text, so add the pack shot and the line in the edit.

From page to screen

Voidborn: a sixty second cut in six shots.

Atlanta wants an idea you can say in one line, then a finish that backs it. This is the opening of Voidborn, episode 0, an anime short made by the ScreenWeaver team: the screenplay page, then each shot as a storyboard frame and as the final image. Every shot earns its seconds, which is the discipline a 60 second ad demands.

Logline. Every seven years, the Rift opens and swallows the world’s dreams. A swordsman sworn to a blind seer escorts her through its levels, toward a promise they made to a girl left behind.

Screenplay · episode 0 · English subtitles

EXT. RUINS OF THE FIRST LEVEL - NIGHT

Broken towers under a violet sky. SIM, a swordsman in a black cloak, walks beside LADY MARIA, blindfolded, all in white.

SIM

Tell me, Maria... do you think Leia believes we are still alive?

MARIA

We made a promise... the two of us.

A line of white automatons rises from the ruins.

AUTOMATON

The Rift will wait for no one.

SIM

What are machines doing at this level?

One automaton steps forward. Its face is blank.

AUTOMATON

We must return to the surface.

Its eyes ignite red.

SIM

I am Sim, guardian of Lady Maria... and I will proceed with your execution.

Steel meets steel. Lightning runs down the blade.

CUT TO:

  1. A swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded woman in white walk through ruins at night
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    01

    Wide · the pair

    Wide shot, a bald swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded red-haired woman in white walk through night ruins

  2. Medium two-shot of a bald swordsman and a blindfolded red-haired woman
    Storyboard frame of the two-shot, in grey
    02

    Two-shot · the promise

    Medium two-shot, the swordsman and the blindfolded seer side by side, violet night sky, broken towers

  3. Three white humanoid automatons stand in night ruins
    Storyboard frame of the automatons shot, in grey
    03

    Wide · the machines

    Wide low angle, three white humanoid automatons standing in the ruins, cold blue moonlight

  4. Close-up of a white automaton with a smooth blank face
    Storyboard frame of the blank face close-up, in grey
    04

    Close-up · the blank face

    Close-up on an automaton's smooth faceless head, black eye slots, cables at the neck, ruins behind

  5. A white automaton's eyes glow red
    Storyboard frame of the red eyes close-up, in grey
    05

    Close-up · the red eyes

    Same framing, the automaton's eyes ignite red, the swordsman's shoulder out of focus in the foreground

  6. A swordsman strikes with a katana wreathed in lightning and sparks
    Storyboard frame of the clash shot, in grey
    06

    Action · the clash

    Dynamic low angle, the swordsman strikes with his katana, lightning running along the blade, sparks, cape flying

Voidborn, episode 0, 13 minutes. Awards so far: 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place Dreamina at the Mondial Chroma Awards, and an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival. An ad cut would keep two close-ups, the red eyes and the clash, about 45 seconds in all. The player opens on this scene.

The script

A 60 second ad in five movements.

You have 60 seconds at most, so every second is a decision. Aim for 50 seconds: one screenplay page and 10 to 14 shots of 3 to 5 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 0:05

    The hook

    A face, an object or a question. Viewers on a feed decide before the first cut.

  2. 0:05 to 0:15

    The problem

    What the person wants and what is in the way, in three shots.

  3. 0:15 to 0:35

    The turn

    Where the brief's brand enters the story, and why it changes things.

  4. 0:35 to 0:45

    The payoff

    The image the ad exists for. Give it two full seconds of silence or one clean sound.

  5. 0:45 to 0:50

    The line

    Brand and one short line, set in the edit and not generated.

Ads grow in the edit, so cut the opening before you cut the ending. Add the logo and any text as a layer, since video models misspell both.

Day by day

From today to the 25 October deadline.

You have 24 days. That is enough to make a 50 second ad if the idea is settled in the first week. The site mentions no grace period, so plan to finish on the 24th.
  1. 01

    1 to 3 October

    Register and read the brief

    Register, pick one of the four official tracks once its brief is live, and read the Official Rules and the brand guidelines. The rules win over this page.

  2. 02

    4 to 7 October

    Twenty ideas, one survivor

    Write twenty one-line ideas for the brief. Keep the one a stranger repeats back to you after a single hearing.

  3. 03

    8 to 11 October

    A one page screenplay

    Write it in ScreenWeaver, free, in the standard screenplay layout. One page is about one minute. Mark the brand beat and the final line.

  4. 04

    12 to 15 October

    Storyboard and references

    Generate the shot breakdown, adjust framing and duration shot by shot, and approve one reference for each character, set and product. Ten to fourteen shots are enough.

  5. 05

    16 to 21 October

    Generate and cut

    Scene by scene from the storyboard, then cut to 50 seconds. Note every model and platform used: the entry form asks for a tool disclosure.

  6. 06

    22 to 24 October

    Publish and prepare the materials

    Post the ad with the official hashtags on a public account. Prepare 3:4 and 16:9 posters, a synopsis and the team details. The file must stay under 200 MB.

  7. 07

    24 and 25 October

    Submit before the close

    The deadline is 25 October in US Eastern time. Submit on the 24th and keep the 25th for a broken link.

Ways to lose points

Eight ways to waste a good ad.

Some come from the awards page, some from the FAQ. Read the Official Rules before you shoot.

  • Ignoring the brief

    Every entry begins with one of four official brand briefs. A lovely ad for no brief scores low on Brand and cannot win the Brand Choice Award.

  • Tool-demo energy

    The awards page names it as a reason for a lower score: a showcase of what the model can do, with no human idea or brand purpose behind it.

  • The wrong length or size

    Ads run 30 to 60 seconds, and the file may not exceed 200 MB. Under 30 or over 60 is outside the rules.

  • Unlicensed material

    Unlicensed IP lowers the score. Music, voices, brands and characters need clear rights. The FAQ allows any tool if the idea is yours and the rights are clear.

  • Nothing published

    You must publish the finished work with the official hashtags and give a public social URL. A private account leaves the jury with nothing to check.

  • Buying reach

    Impact is scored, but manipulated or fraudulent social metrics may lead to disqualification. Let real viewers react.

  • Surprise on rights

    Per the FAQ, creators keep attribution but the copyright is owned by AIAF and the brand featured in the work, as set out in the Official Rules. Do not enter an idea you want to keep.

  • No tool disclosure

    The FAQ asks you to disclose the models and platforms you used, and the form has a tool disclosure field. Keep a log from the first generation.

Why ScreenWeaver

The grid starts with the idea. So does ScreenWeaver.

ScreenWeaver builds commercials as well as films, from screenplay to storyboard to footage in one connected project. AIAF imposes no tool, and Bloomway AI is optional, so you can make the ad where you like.

  • The idea gets 40 points, so write it first

    The screenplay is free and in industry format. A one page ad script forces the single sentence the jury is looking for, before a credit is spent.

  • Ten shots that match

    Characters, locations, products and references carry from shot to shot. That is the difference between an ad and a loop of unrelated clips.

  • A tool log made as you go

    Every shot links to its scene, its frame and its prompt, so your tool disclosure is already written. Check the Official Rules for the eligible tools before you generate.

  • Start for free today

    On the Screenwriter plan, writing carries no price and no expiry. Storyboard Beta is $9.99 a month during the beta. Seedance video generation comes with the Filmmaker plan, which is 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 ads and festival films

FAQ

The Atlanta AI Ad Fest, your questions

How do you win the Atlanta AI Ad Fest?
Entries are scored on four weighted dimensions: Idea 40%, Craft 30%, Brand 20% and Impact 10%. Seventy points go to idea and craft. Write one clear idea, answer your brand brief, and finish it with one consistent look. Best of Festival is then a live audience vote in Atlanta.
Who can enter, and what does it cost?
Creators worldwide, alone or in teams of up to five credited members, in one of three divisions: Youth (grades 6 to 12, with parent or guardian consent under 18), University or Open. Registration costs $10 and there is no further submission fee.
Which AI tools are allowed?
The FAQ says any tool is fine if the idea is yours and the rights are clear, and that you must disclose the models and platforms. Bloomway AI is the festival's technology partner, and using it is optional.
How long must the ad be?
Between 30 and 60 seconds, with a file of 200 MB at most. You also submit 3:4 and 16:9 posters, a synopsis, tool disclosure, team details, a public social URL and the official hashtags.
What are the prizes?
$2,500 in guaranteed cash: a $500 Grand Prix in each division and $1,000 for Best of Festival. Gold, Silver and Bronze are also awarded per division, and winners may receive extra Bloomway Sparks, up to 100,000 for Best of Festival.
Who owns the rights to my ad?
Per the FAQ, creators keep attribution and credit rights, while copyright is owned by AIAF and the brand featured in the work. The Official Rules set out the detail, so read them before you submit.
When is the deadline?
Entries close on 25 October 2026. Finalists are announced on 10 November and the awards night is on 22 November 2026 in Atlanta. All times are US Eastern.
Who is on the jury?
Five jurors are named: Oscar Betancur (SCAD), Jordan Atchison (co-founder and CMO of an advertising agency), and the AIGC artists WildPusa, Xuesong Zhu and Xin Yu. The site says more names may follow, so check the jury page.

Twenty-four days. One idea.

Write the one page script for free today. Storyboard it, then generate it.
Start writing for freeBack to the demo