Vigloo Short Drama Festival 2026 · Guide

How to win the Vigloo Short Drama Festival.Three minutes. Vertical 9:16. $10,000 for the grand prize.

The rules, the four-line grid, the finalist deal and a ten-day plan to the 11 October 2026 deadline. Write and storyboard a vertical drama that hooks in its first seconds, then generate it with the tool you prefer.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Deadline 11 October 2026
  • Vertical 9:16, 3 minutes
  • Every element AI-generated
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise the Vigloo Short Drama Festival and is not affiliated with Vigloo Studio or SpoonLabs. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official rules

Available today in ScreenWeaver: writing at no cost, and a storyboard drawn from your screenplay with Storyboard Beta, $9.99 a month. Both fit inside the ten days you have.

Rolling out: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, with the Filmmaker plan. Vigloo restricts no AI tool, so that footage would fit, but for 11 October you generate with a tool you already use.

The rules in brief

What the festival asks for.

Vigloo Studio is an AI creation platform run by SpoonLabs. Its festival wants a three-minute vertical drama that people keep watching, made entirely with generative AI, and it allows any AI tool.
Prizes
$20,000: one $10,000, two $3,000, two $2,000
Deadline
11 October 2026, 23:59 Korea time
Length
3 minutes maximum, titles and credits included
Format
Vertical 9:16 only, MP4, MOV or WebM, 300 MB
Resolution
Shorter side between 480 and 1080 px
AI rule
Every element generated, no live action
Language
Korean or English, or subtitles in one of them
Entries
Several allowed, no edits or withdrawal

Source: the festival page on vigloostudio.com, read on 1 October 2026. The page names no jury, mentions no public vote, and gives no detail on rights beyond the series-development offer. Read its FAQ before you submit.

Key dates

Ten days to submit, then two months of waiting.

All dates come from the festival page, and the deadline is in Korea time. Do the conversion for your own time zone.

  1. 21 Sep 2026

    Submissions open

    A pre-registration week, 14 to 20 September, gave early creators 5,000 credits to start. It is closed.

  2. 11 Oct 2026

    Deadline

    23:59 Korea time, which is 16:59 in Paris and 10:59 in New York. A film cannot be edited or withdrawn once submitted.

  3. 12 to 25 Oct

    Judging

    Two weeks in which the grid below decides everything. The page describes no public vote.

  4. Late Oct

    20 finalists announced

    Finalists can be considered for series development, and their paid credits are refunded in full, up to a cap.

  5. Nov to Dec

    Winners announced

    One grand prize, two Excellence Awards and two Merit Awards.

How films are scored

100 points, four questions.

The page words each line as a question a viewer asks: is it new and clear, does it keep me watching, does it stay with me, is it polished to the end. Story and Pull hold 60 points. There is no jury list and no audience vote, so these four lines are the whole contest.

  • Story

    35%

    Setup, conflict and turn must all land in three minutes. Start from a trope viewers already know, then change one rule. In vertical drama, freshness comes from the turn, not from the premise.

  • Pull

    25%

    The opening grabs, and the film keeps its grip across scenes. Put the conflict in the first two seconds: a slap, a lie, a door that opens. End on a question, because finalists are looked at as possible series.

  • Resonance

    20%

    Emotions and scenes that stay, and characters and lines worth remembering. Three minutes hold one big feeling, not four. Give it one line of dialogue people will repeat.

  • Craft

    20%

    Editing rhythm, sound quality and the polish of every generated element. Hands, faces and text on screen are where models slip. Check the last ten seconds: hurried films leave their artefacts there.

The finalist deal is part of the prize. Twenty finalists may be considered for series development, and the page says revenue is shared on agreed terms if production and distribution go ahead.

A hook, page to frame

Voidborn: a cliffhanger inside one scene.

Here is a scene from the anime film Voidborn, episode 0, made by the ScreenWeaver team. It is widescreen, so it is not a Vigloo entry, but its shape is: a promise in the first line, a threat that stands up, a clash that cuts to black. That is the Pull line at work. For 9:16 you would recompose each shot around a single figure. Read the screenplay page first, then the six shots, each as a storyboard frame and as a final image.

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, in widescreen. Awards: 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place Dreamina at the Mondial Chroma Awards, and an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival. Vigloo wants vertical and under three minutes, so a cut of this scene would keep the hook and the cliffhanger and lose everything else. Playback begins at this scene.

The script

A 3 minute vertical drama in five movements.

Titles and credits count inside the three minutes, so keep the title card short. That is about 3 screenplay pages and 40 to 50 shots of 2 to 5 seconds: vertical drama cuts faster than film.

  1. 0:00 to 0:10

    The hook

    A conflict or a question in the first seconds. No logo, no establishing shot.

  2. 0:10 to 0:35

    The situation

    Who wants what from whom. Keep to two characters and one location.

  3. 0:35 to 1:50

    The escalation

    Three beats, each costing more than the last. Short lines of dialogue, close-ups on faces.

  4. 1:50 to 2:35

    The reversal

    A reveal that changes who is right. Viewers will repeat this scene to their friends.

  5. 2:35 to 3:00

    The cliffhanger

    Cut on a question, then a title of three seconds. The whole film is a promise of episode two.

Frame for 9:16 from the first sketch: one face fills the screen, two characters stack or cut, wide shots are rare. Storyboard in vertical, or your 16:9 habits will break every shot.

Day by day

From the trope to the post.

Ten days from 1 October to 11 October at 23:59 Korea time. Several entries are allowed, but each is final once sent, so finish one film before you start another.
  1. 01

    1 to 2 Oct

    Pick the trope and the hook

    Choose a drama trope and break one of its rules. Write the first line of dialogue and the last image. Decide now whether the film is in Korean, English or subtitled.

  2. 02

    2 to 4 Oct

    Write three pages

    Short scenes, short lines, one cliffhanger. Write it free in ScreenWeaver and read it aloud against a timer. Aim for 2:50 to leave room for the title.

  3. 03

    4 to 5 Oct

    Cast and vertical storyboard

    Two or three characters, one approved reference each. Storyboard every shot in 9:16, close-ups first. The short drama episode planner helps if you think about a season.

  4. 04

    5 to 8 Oct

    Generate every shot

    Any AI tool is allowed, but everything must be generated, backgrounds and characters included, with no live footage. Export with the shorter side between 480 and 1080 px.

  5. 05

    8 to 9 Oct

    Edit, sound, subtitles

    Cut tight, mix dialogue over music, and add subtitles if you are not in Korean or English. Export an MP4, MOV or WebM under 300 MB and under three minutes.

  6. 06

    10 to 11 Oct

    Post publicly, then submit

    Post the film from a public account on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, X or TikTok with #2026viglooshortdramafestival #vigloostudio and @vigloostudio, and keep it public until winners are announced. Submit on the 10th, not the 11th.

Disqualification traps

Eight ways to be out before judging.

The rules are short and the checks are mechanical. A great story still fails if the file does not match.

  • A horizontal film

    Vertical 9:16 only. Frame for the phone from the first shot instead of cropping a widescreen film at the end.

  • Over three minutes

    Three minutes maximum, and titles and credits count. A long end card is how good films end up at 3:08.

  • Live action or real people

    No live-action footage, no celebrities, no public figures and no historical figures. Invent your characters, and generate every background too.

  • A language nobody can read

    Dialogue and on-screen text must be Korean or English, or the film needs subtitles in one of them.

  • Files that do not match

    MP4, MOV or WebM, 300 MB at most, with the shorter side between 480 and 1080 px. Check your export before the last evening.

  • Submitting too soon

    An entry cannot be edited or withdrawn once submitted. Watch the final export on a phone before you send it.

  • A private or missing post

    The film must be posted from a public account with the two hashtags and the @vigloostudio mention, and stay public until the winners are announced.

  • The same film twice

    Several entries per person are allowed, but not the same film more than once. Make a second film, not a second copy.

Why ScreenWeaver

Vertical drama is a ScreenWeaver format.

ScreenWeaver covers a short drama from the first page to the last shot: the screenplay, the storyboard and the footage together in one connected project. Short dramas in 9:16 are one of its formats, and Vigloo restricts no AI tool.

  • No tool imposed

    The page says there is no restriction on AI tools. Footage from ScreenWeaver, powered by Seedance, would fit the rules once it ships, as long as every element is generated.

  • A cliffhanger is a plan

    Pull and series development both reward the ending that opens a question. In ScreenWeaver you plan the last shot first and see it against the whole beat board, before you generate anything.

  • Ten days, so use the free part

    Write and storyboard today for free, then generate with the tool you already use. Our short drama generator page explains the vertical workflow in detail.

  • Credits are Vigloo’s, not ours

    Vigloo Studio has its own generator, with Seedance 2.5 and 2.0, and the page refunds paid credits: 50% up to 10,000 after the first round, 100% up to 25,000 for finalists. Read the terms to see which credits qualify.

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 vertical short dramas

FAQ

The Vigloo Short Drama Festival, your questions

How do you win the Vigloo Short Drama Festival?
Four lines decide it: Story 35, Pull 25, Resonance 20 and Craft 20. The grand prize is $10,000. Open on the conflict, turn the story once, and end on a question, in vertical 9:16 and under three minutes.
Can I make my film with ScreenWeaver?
The rules restrict no AI tool, and every element must be generated. ScreenWeaver’s footage is rolling out, so for 11 October write and storyboard in ScreenWeaver and generate with a tool you already use. Submit through the festival page.
Does a widescreen film qualify?
No. The festival accepts vertical 9:16 only, with the shorter side between 480 and 1080 px.
What counts toward the 3 minutes?
Everything, titles and credits included. Cut your title card to a few seconds.
Who is on the jury?
The page names none and describes no public vote. Judging runs from 12 to 25 October against the four-line grid.
What is the finalist deal?
Twenty finalists are announced in late October. They may be considered for series development, with revenue shared on agreed terms if production and distribution go ahead, and a full refund of paid credits up to a cap.
Who keeps the rights to my film?
The page speaks of turning your story into a global IP but gives no detail on ownership or licence. Read the FAQ and the terms on the festival page before you submit.
Can I send several films?
Yes, but not the same film twice, and no entry can be edited or withdrawn once it is sent. Finish the first before you start the second.

Ten days. Open on the conflict.

Open the free Screenwriter plan today, storyboard in vertical, then generate with the tool you choose.
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