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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 熙熙.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Deadline 20 November 2026
  • 70% made with Seedance
  • Scoring grid explained
Lost Garden · Episode 2

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

熙熙 now offers free screenwriting tools, and subscribers on the 年度会员 at ¥168 一年 can generate a complete storyboard directly from their screenplay.

Also available now: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, on the same 年度会员, with 3,000 张额度 一年.

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

Information drawn from the award's official page, its FAQ section, and its Terms and Conditions as published on 29 September 2026. The organiser reserves the right to update these documents, so verify the official page during the week you plan to submit.

Key dates

Seven weeks to make the film.

The submission window opened on 30 September 2026. Plan your production schedule by counting backward from the final deadline, rather than forward from the moment your concept takes shape.

  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 makes its scoring grid publicly available. Story and creativity together account for half of the total points, while technical execution receives only 20 points. A technically polished render paired with an underdeveloped story will not secure a 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 assigned a score; it is a mandatory threshold. Any film that does not meet this requirement is eliminated before the scoring phase begins. The organiser retains the authority to refine these criteria while judging is underway.

Who decides

Three audiences, not one jury.

The organiser does not disclose the jury's composition and may replace or add jurors at any point. What the rules do specify is the sequence in which your film will be viewed and by which parties.

  • 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 engage with one of five designated themes. The organiser has stated a preference for narratives that resonate with humanity's present and future challenges, rather than films that rely on visual spectacle alone. For each theme, we outline the narrative angle we would pursue.

  • 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 inaugural edition was won by Lily, directed by Zoubeir Jlassi, a 9 minute film created using Google Gemini models. The story follows a solitary archivist in a rain-drenched city who discovers a doll lodged on his car bumper after a hit-and-run he committed. Guided by the doll, he ultimately confesses and returns it to the injured child recovering 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 熙熙 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 newly forged knight whose inner light is slowly seeping away journeys across a world that has abandoned hope, searching for the one blacksmith capable of sealing his fractured armor.

Screenplay · episode 2 · page 1

INT. UNDERGROUND CAVERN - LOWER PATH - CONTINUOUS

Towering blue mushrooms rise like houses from the forest floor. LANTERN, a diminutive knight with a lantern serving as his helm, walks alone through the silence.

He presses a gauntleted hand against his chest. Sparks of luminous light escape and drift between his metal fingers.

SERRURE

Hold on. You're losing something.

Serrure carefully lifts the edge of the cloak, revealing a jagged gash torn into the armor. Blue light leaks from the wound like curling smoke.

SERRURE

That's your energy. What keeps you standing.

He grips Lantern's shoulder with quiet resolve. Two knights stand alone together among the glittering 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 熙熙 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.

Target a 6 minute runtime so your editorial process has flexibility on either side of the maximum limit. That runtime translates to roughly 6 pages of screenplay and between 80 to 110 individual shots, each lasting 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 to deadline. Principal production—generating and assembling your footage—happens in weeks 5 and 6. Everything that precedes those two weeks determines whether your production time is spent efficiently or scrambling.
  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 熙熙, 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.

The majority of eligibility and submission rules are contained within the Terms and Conditions document, not summarized on the award's front page. Read that document in full before you begin writing.

  • 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 熙熙

The award wants Seedance. 熙熙 runs on it.

熙熙 is the AI production pipeline purpose-built for narrative film and series work: screenplay, storyboard, and generated footage unified within a single connected project.

  • Powered by Seedance 2.0 and 2.5

    The footage pipelines run on Seedance, the model the award requires. List 熙熙 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 免费档 is 免费 and does not expire. The 年度会员 is ¥168 一年 for 3,000 张额度, and it covers both the storyboard and video generation.

Real productions

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

熙熙 is already in active use as a creative workspace for real-world AI film productions, spanning cinematic short films and animated series pilots that have been selected, nominated, and awarded recognition by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place 熙熙

      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. 熙熙 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. 熙熙 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. 熙熙 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 熙熙?
熙熙's footage pipelines run on Seedance 2.0 and 2.5, the model the award requires. Declare 熙熙 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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