BCHS Lancers - Elmbrook 3-Min Film Festival

Fifth Annual - Elmbrook 3 Min Film Festival

Important Dates for 25/26 Festival

Oct 1, 2025 - Registration Open

Registration Link

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScADzKKRtaq-IQflA28alhwl16qb9EeWaDSsecNkYy_oYgMMA/viewform

Nov 11, 2025 - Registration Closes

Nov 11, 2025 - Submission Link Open

3 Min Film - Submission Form:

coming soon

Final Judges and judging criteria finalized

January 2, 2026 - Final Submission Closes

Google form for Voting up and running

January 8, 2026 - All submissions posted for public viewing and voting

January 15, 2026 - (Midnight) Fan Favorites Stats collected

January 26, 2026- Award Ceremony - Sharon Lynne Wilson Center - Ceremony starts 2:30pm - films will be shown at 2pm.

Technical Guidelines:

Your submission’s total runtime (TRT) must NOT exceed the specified time limit: 3 Minutes. Credits are included in your TRT and credit runtime must NOT exceed 30 seconds. Please note: the total length of the film can be less than 3 minutes: 60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc. It just cannot exceed 3 minutes in length.

New rule - No AI can be used for the submitted 3 Min Films - this includes NO AI generated images, voiceovers, script, etc.
We strongly recommend that you triple check your audio levels and that your audio is NOT limited to one channel (ie: right or left).
Any film that includes main dialogue that is not english must be submitted with english subtitles.
When uploading your submission, you must use the following file naming conventions:

FirstNameLastName_FilmTitle.mp4

Examples:

JaneDoe_MyFilm.mov

JohnDoe_MyMovie.mp4

We will only except the file formats listed below:
- .MP4
- .MOV
Do not submit films in 4K. Please submit your film in 1080 HD resolution. Any film files that are larger than 2GBs will not be accepted.
Do not submit using a YouTube link as they cannot be downloaded. Any submissions with a YouTube link will not be considered for selection or screening.
Films that are accepted into the festival will be screened in 16:9 aspect ratio. If your film is submitted in a different ratio, your film will be letterboxed to display on the 16:9 screen.
Reminder - all submissions to the Elmbrook 3 Min Film Festival will be uploaded to YouTube for public viewing. All rights of the writer, director, producer, et all will be maintained by those individuals - but the Elmbrook 3 Min Film Festival maintains the right to publish your submissions to the public site and possibly be used for promotional material.

Content Guidelines:

All music, images, titles, footage and other copyrighted material used in your submission MUST be properly licensed. You must have permission and/or the proper rights to all content submitted.

There are various resources that offer royalty free music and images. Please see our resources tab for more information. We strongly encourage you to use original music or music from bensound.com.

The Elmbrook 3 Min Film Festival team reserves the right to switch your submission to a different category as they see fit.

Eligibility Guidelines:

The film’s director(s) must have been enrolled in good standing in the Elmbrook School District while filming the project.
If the film's director(s) were high school seniors at the time of creation, but has since graduated, the film is eligible to be submitted.

Any submission that does not meet these guidelines will NOT be considered for judging and will NOT be selected to screen at the Elmbrook 3 Minute Film Festival.

General Categories:

(Each will be category will have two age entries available- 1st-7th grade AND 8th-12th grade)

Comedy

Sure comedies make you laugh, but they also tell stories that move the audience and make them want more. There are so many comedic genres to choose from, and we welcome them all. Make us smile, make us cringe, make us laugh… This is your chance to share your comedy.

Documentary

The boundaries of documentary filmmaking continue to expand and we accept all forms and styles as long as they are nonfiction and document an aspect of reality. Find your subject, document it, and submit!

Drama

Share your narrative stories. All forms of narrative films accepted. Bring on the characters and conflicts!

Music Video

Find a song and share its story or essence through visual imagery. All forms of music videos are accepted. Although we do not accept music videos with copyrighted music (without explicit permission).

Film Contest Rules & Terms:

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: Entries for Elmbrook 3-Min Film Festival (the “Contest”) can be submitted between November 1st 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time and January 2nd at 11:59 p.m. Central Time.

ELIGIBILITY: Entrants must submit entries as required on the entry form to be eligible. Entries received after the deadline set forth in these terms are ineligible, null, and void.

HOW TO ENTER: Create a film of three (3) minutes or less in length (a “Film”). Visit Registration link (listed above) and follow the instructions to complete the entry form to submit your Film.

PERSONAL INFORMATION: To submit your Film you will be required to provide your first and last name; school/company/organization name; email address; and Film URL. The information you provide will be used only for contest administration and to contact contest winners. Your information will not be used for any other purpose or shared with any party not affiliated with the Festival and the Contest except to the extent permitted by law.

VOTING CRITERIA: The voting panel will include a selection of Elmbrook staff, administration, alumni and representatives of the community.

Each film in each category will be judged on:

Percentage of Score:

20% Technical (lighting, camera use, editing, music, effects, etc.)

20% Acting

20% Playwright/Screenwriter/Author

20% Directing

10% Views and Votes from the Internet posting (generally a 2 week timeframe as described above)

10% Message effectiveness of film - overall feeling of viewer after film viewing

JUDGING/JUDGES: Judges for this film festival are being secured now. We anticipate the following mix of judges (at least): 2 judges from the local community, 2 judges from the Elmbrook administration, 2 judges from the Elmbrook alumni community currently involved in or with extensive film education and 2 judges with direct experience from the film industry. Once judges have been selected an announcement of the judges will be made public.

SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS: If there are many entries in a specific category, a group of finalists will be announced on before the award ceremony at SLWC. Overall winners in each category will be announced LIVE at SLWC on award date described above. Winners will be chosen by the Festival on the merits of each entry in the Festival’s sole and absolute discretion. All winners will be notified at the award ceremony.

RULES FOR ENTRY: Entries may not contain, as determined by the Festival, in its sole discretion, any content that are or are not:

All submissions must be “PG” rated - (think like the preview trailers in movie theaters shown before the main film, these films will be seen by a large audience with a wide variety of ages.)

No actors or production staff can be paid.

Costs of production may not exceed $100 (copies of receipts might be requested)

We sincerely ask that parents (except in the younger grades) do NOT help with the production itself (we understand that transportation, food and some pieces of equipment or material might be required). This film festival is designed for the students.

We also understand that costs for this type of project can be astronomical if the expensive equipment is used/needed/wanted/etc. In many cases this type of film festival production can be completed with equipment already in your or the student’s possession (cell phone, chrome book, etc). Expensive equipment is NOT required to produce great work.

An Entry must be the original work of the Entrant, and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If an Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the Entrant, and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the Entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submitting such Entry, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by the Festival in the manner set forth in these Terms, including, without limitation, name and likeness permissions from any person who appears in or is identifiable in the Entry, music licenses and location releases. The Festival reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to the Festival from any entrant at any time. Failure to provide such proof may, if requested, render Entry null and void. By submitting an Entry, the Entrant warrants and represents that he/she and any persons appearing or who are identifiable in the Entry consent to the submission and use of the Entry in the Contest and to its use as otherwise set forth herein. Any Entry not in English must contain English subtitles.

By submitting an Entry, the Entrant acknowledges and agrees that the Festival may obtain many Entries in connection with this Contest, and that such Entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to other Entries submitted in connection with this Contest. The Entrant waives any and all claims that any Entries and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Festival may be similar to the Entrant’s Entry, or that any compensation is due to the Entrant in connection with such other Entry or other works used by the Festival.

PRIZES: Prizes are non-transferable and are not redeemable for cash or subject to substitution. The odds of winning depend on the number of entries in each category and the quality of each specific Entry.

Any questions on the Elmbrook 3 Min Film Festival or the above guidelines - please contact Mr Pronley - pronleyd@elmbrookschools.org

2025 Film Festival Judges - Judges for 2026 to be announced soon!

Martin Skibosh - East - 97 Grad

Marty Skibosh is a Spartan graduate whose work as an editor has given credits in a slew of hit shows like Wipeout, Fear Factor, Supernatural, and Magnum P.I.

Marty graduated from UWO in 2003 and applied for and was accepted into an editing internship program at the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, which prompted him to move to Los Angeles. After working on some smaller shows, Marty moved up and started editing shows like Fear Factor, Celebrity Apprentice, and ending up cutting the pilot for the hit reality game show Wipeout. In 2014, he was nominated for an American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Non-Scripted Series for his work on the show.

Edward Pronley - BC - 2014 Grad

Edward is a filmmaker and screenwriter. He has won several awards for his short film, The Rabbit Hole, and other awards for a few speculative scripts, as well as an original television pilot, Phantasm. He’s also written two stageplays, Apollo’s Overture and Baristas, that were produced and performed at BCHS, directed by his father, Dan Pronley and his sister, Caitlin Dahl.

Edward is currently writing and producing a scripted, comedy podcast, Falling Star Radio, co-written with another BCHS alum, Sachal Ali. He holds a Bachelors in Film from UW-Milwaukee and a Masters in Writing for Film and Television from Emerson College in Boston.

Honore Schiro - Central Staff

Honore Schiro is a retired faculty member from Brookfield Central and taught Literature and Film among other offerings in the English department. She holds a B.S. in Theater and Education from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and an MA in Communications from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee.

She has been named twice as a teacher-fellow for the Milwaukee Film Festival and continues to work with their organization to get BC students involved in our local film community. As a fellow, she presented papers on the integration of film into all high school curricula and bridging the gap between secondary and post-secondary film studies. Mrs. Schiro is grateful for the opportunity to see these student films through this first-ever district-wide event. Congratulations to all of the participants!