Cannes Lions - YouTube film competition brief

The competition is now closed but you can see the winning films here

The film details

Download the full Cannes Lions brief ( PDF, 81Kb) here.

Develop a short (max 1 minute) film to promote WaterAid's summer campaign "Don't let it drop" – putting pressure on world leaders to seriously address the global water and sanitation crisis.

In particular, WaterAid asks you to draw attention to water and sanitation, the focus of our work (see below for more background information).

In addition:

• Your video needs to inspire others to care about the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and demand that they are achieved.
• Your video should motivate your audience to pass on the film and add their name to the petition – joining a global movement of people who are pressuring global decision makers to keep their promises.

The basics

Your video will not qualify if these criteria are not met:

• Your video needs to be 30sec – 1min long
• It must be solely your own original material
• Think of alternatives to using music in your video, as music cannot be used
• Your video should be in English - if it's in another language you must use English subtitles
• You must be aged 18 to 28 years old (born 26 June 1981 - 20 June 1992)

Mandatory inclusions

You must include the following elements for a minimum of five seconds:

• The WaterAid logo 
• This link: www.wateraid.org/drop (Please note, use this link and not the 'www.wateraid.org' link mentioned in our film above)

You also need to include the following text in the description of your video on YouTube: This video has been made for WaterAid as part of the YouTube Cannes Young Lions Ad Contest.

The video needs to be in accordance with the contest Terms and Conditions.

Target audience

• 18 to 35 years olds, worldwide
• Socially motivated and ethically-minded individuals
• Aware of some international development issues, may have heard of the MDGs, but you cannot assume this.

Tone

• Your video needs to be inspire action. It does not necessarily need to be upbeat or positive, but you should aim to communicate that the MDGs are a force for good, and can still be met.
  
  
• Your audience needs to feel that signing the WaterAid petition is one of the most important things they can do for a fairer world. They should not feel like this is "just another petition".
  
  
• The video needs to be powerful/quirky/emotive/funny to encourage people to forward it to their friends, or include it in their blogs/social networks. Most importantly - it should inspire people to do their bit for a fairer world.
  
  
• The film should powerfully and effectively press home the message that world leaders must not be allowed to 'let it drop'. We are not looking for overly 'cryptic' or abstract interpretations that will not be immediately clear to the viewer.
  

Submitting your video to the contest

You need to submit your video to the Contest at http://youtube.com/canneslions by midnight GMT, Sunday May 17 (00:00, May 18). To do this:

• Firstly upload your video to your own YouTube channel. If you don't have a YouTube account then you can set one up at http://youtube.com/signup
  
  
• Once the video is uploaded to YouTube, go to the contest at http://youtube.com/canneslions and click "Submit"
  
  
• Enter your YouTube username where prompted, click "go". You will see all the YouTube videos in your account appear
  
  
• Select your entry to the contest – it will appear in the video box on the page. You will need to confirm your acceptance of the contest rules, and then click "Submit"
  
  
• Please ensure you leave sufficient time in the contest to upload your video and submit to the contest!

Additional information you may find useful

Water and sanitation are cross-cutting issues that underpin all aspects of human development, including health, education and economic prosperity. Without addressing the water and sanitation crisis, progress in other areas of development are seriously undermined.

The neglect of this vital area of human life ignores what the world already knows about sustainable development - you can't build a healthy productive society when people have nowhere safe to go to the toilet and are without access to clean water.

4,000 children will continue to die of preventable water-related diseases every single day, due to not having access to clean water or sanitation, until the MDG target for water and sanitation is met in full.

More information on WaterAid 

Good luck!