Deadline: January 4, 2018

The 2018 Digital Storytelling Contest is now open for entries. The World Press Photo Foundation invites all professional visual journalists worldwide to participate in its 8th Digital Storytelling Contest. The Digital Storytelling Contest rewards those producing the best forms of visual journalism enabled by these changes.

The World Press Photo Foundation launched its Multimedia Contest in 2011 (renamed the Digital Storytelling Contest in 2016), as a way to recognize the new forms of visual storytelling being enabled by the changing media economy.

Digital Storytelling Contest Categories

• Immersive Storytelling: A visual story or project produced for the web in a form other than video, which through its design, creates an immersive visual experience for the user. It must include photography and/or film in combination with (but not limited to) animation, graphics, illustrations, sound or text.
• Innovative Storytelling: A visual story or project produced for the web, or as an app for a mobile device, which through its design, creates an innovative visual experience for the user. It must include photography and/or film in combination with (but not limited to) animation, graphics, illustrations, sound or text.
• Long Form: A single linear narrative, or series of linear narratives, on a single topic, produced as a video for the web, and lasting no longer than 30 minutes in total. The production(s) must include photography and/or film in combination with (but not limited to) animation, graphics, illustrations, sound or text.
• Short Form: A single linear narrative, produced as a video for the web, lasting no longer than 10 minutes. The production must include photography and/or film in combination with (but not limited to) animation, graphics, illustrations, sound or text.

Prizes

• Winners in each category are invited to the World Press Photo Festival in Amsterdam. A representative from each of the winning productions will have their travel and lodging paid for by the World Press Photo Foundation.
• The winners in each category will receive a diploma and a Golden Eye Award, presented during the annual Awards Ceremony.
• The prize-winning projects of the Digital Storytelling Contest are assembled into an exhibition that travels to select locations around the world.
• In addition, prizewinners are often featured in major publications and invited to speak at public events, exhibition openings, and lectures throughout the year.

Eligibility

• The contest is open to digital storytellers, visual journalists, producers, and entry coordinators, with submissions that include the work of a professional visual journalist.

In each stage and round, the following criteria are considered:

• Editing – skillful, discerning or imaginative editing
• Functionality – is the use of new technology relevant to the intended audience and does it improve the functionality of the production?
• Impact – productions that have the strongest storytelling impact
• Interactivity – where applicable, the level of audience participation offered by the production
• Structure and navigation – the organization of content, prioritization of information and the manner in which users navigate through it
• Visual design – the production’s design and visual experience

Application

If you have questions, please send an email to Micha Bruinvels, Director of Contests, at [email protected]

Find out how to enter, and read the entry rules.

For more information, visit Digital Storytelling Contest.