The Spotlight Challenge: Fall 2026 — Participant Guide

Legal review has not occurred. Paid registration remains closed until these materials are finalized and approved.

PRE-LAUNCH DRAFT. This guide supports the draft Official Rules. Legal review has not occurred, and this guide is not legal advice. If the guide and final Rules differ, the final Rules control.

Quick facts

The Spotlight Challenge: Fall 2026 — a filmmaking event by Spotlight Drive.
U.S.-focused first edition.
Registration is intended to open Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 8:30 PM Eastern Time and closes October 12, 2026.
$29 per film; one separate purchase for every film.
Solo creators and teams may enter; there is no maximum team size.
Phones and professional help are allowed.

What happens after payment

Shopify confirms the paid order.
The private system creates one Entry ID in the form SD26-XXXX.
Exactly one random challenge from the active weekly pool is assigned.
The assignment is locked. Refreshing or revisiting does not reroll it.
You receive a private participant link showing the Entry ID, assigned challenge, deadline, and next steps.

Keep the link private. If a confirmation email is delayed, the system retains an auditable delivery record so the owner can recover the entry without changing the prompt.

Your deadline

Register by October 10, 2026: deadline October 15, 2026. Register October 11–12, 2026: deadline October 20, 2026. Deadlines are calculated in Eastern Time and displayed in the portal.

Plan before filming

Do not film entry footage before your registration and challenge assignment.
Choose any genre and interpret the challenge creatively.
Create a safe plan for locations, stunts, equipment, travel, and working hours.
Identify every performer, location, logo, prop, character, image, music cue, and third-party asset that needs permission.
For any minor, collect parent or legal-guardian approval and comply with local child-performer requirements.

What may be reused

The film must be newly filmed after registration. Lawfully owned or licensed existing characters, worlds, props, costumes, locations, company names, and music may be reused. You are responsible for documenting the rights that allow that use.

Film requirements

4–20 minutes, excluding opening, title, and end credits.
Landscape orientation and at least 720p.
Edited, complete, watchable, and with intelligible audio.
Any genre; phones are welcome.
Use Spotlight Drive viewer advisories rather than an official MPA rating.

Rights, music, and people

Obtain participant and appearance releases, location and property permissions, and music and third-party licenses as applicable. A personal streaming subscription does not normally grant synchronization rights. Guardian permission is required for minors. Keep your records available in case Spotlight Drive requests verification.

Generative AI

The film must be substantially human-created. Disclose material generative-AI use, including generated or altered video, images, voices, music, scripts, or performance replacement. AI use does not remove consent, copyright, publicity, trademark, or disclosure responsibilities.