Since the inception of the YDA more than 20 years ago, the sole purpose of the award has been to find the best, most gifted up-and-coming directorial talent in the business; those who were born to create drama on the screen.

That line, ‘Born to Create Drama’ has been with the YDA for more than 15 years, thanks to TBWA/PHS Helsinki. A simple but effective way of signifying the talented directors we search for and champion. At certain points during the YDA’s existence we have been indebted to producers and agencies for creating a series of short ident films using that line, films which have helped showcase the YDA and what it does.

This year, in a bid to unearth even more untapped talent, we are offering you the chance to shoot a film for the YDA, the brief for which is simply, Born to Create Drama. It can be anything up to 3 minutes long and can be funny, scary, odd, exciting, unsettling… as long as it makes us sit up and take note. The competition is free-to-enter, and open to everyone, whether you’re filming alone with your smartphone, or go traditional and get a film crew involved – what’s important is the end, not the means.

We will be showcasing our favourite entries starting in January, all the way until we decide on a winner in May. If the entrants are eligible, all showcased entries will be entered into the relevant category in the main competition free of charge, to be judged by our international jury. The winning piece of work will introduce the YDA ceremony 2021 (wherever it happens and in whatever form it takes), and will also feature on the shots site alongside an interview with the winning director/team.

You can check out twenty years YDA campaigns, that range from the beautifully simple to the stunningly intricate, in our brand-new online archive, here. Our previous campaigns have been the powerful culmination of fruitful partnerships between directors and writers, so if you don’t want to take on our challenge alone reach out to your network, and get inspired!

The rules:
– Maximum 3 mins.
– Films must contain the “Born To Create Drama” tagline and the YDA logo, an example of which can be seen here.  The YDA logo is available from the entry form, the tagline itself can be displayed however you want.
– The category is free to enter, and open to everyone, whether you’re a young director or not.
– Enter now via the YDA entry platform