Anime Weekend Atlanta 2026 contest (intake has opened)

[Colossal]

It is time for intake to begin for AWA's 2026 contests. We are still working to get https://awa-con.com/features/the-video-art-track/ updated with the most up-to-date information. In the meantime, here is some bullet point info with a focus on changes or points we want to attempt to be clearer on.

1. Not a Masters year, so this will be the second run of the Adults Only Music Videos contest (AOMVs).

2. AOMVs is limited to 2 entries per editor. You may enter the same video to both Accolades and AOMVs, as long as it still meets the Accolades 'Right of First Exhibition' requirement/will not premiere elsewhere prior to AWA 2026.

3. While potential modifications have been discussed recently (including in the 2025 feedback form), Accolades will continue to allow up to 2 entries per editor. Remember that if you are part of a collaboration, it counts against the 2-entry limit for all editors involved.

4. As this has been a point of confusion in the past, a video is considered ineligible for Accolades under the 'Right of First Exhibition' requirement if it has been in another contest prior the awards show during AWA 2026. It does not matter if it's an online only contest, and it does not matter if it does not make finals as the video may still play/premiere as part of other programming for the relevant convention (we have found this to be a point of confusion with some international editors in particular).

6. Fixed categories for Accolades are currently planned to remain the same as last year: Drama, Fun/Upbeat, Action, Character Profile, Comedy, Sentimental, Wildcard, and Best in Show. The number of additional categories determined by the participants will be 5. Overall total of 13 awards plus the return of Nekokitkat's painting.

7. We are trying a new format this year to hopefully catch small errors and rendering problems. The Accolades videos will be released for viewing but not downloadable for the first 48 hours. Editors may use this time to check on the quality of their video(s) and see if there's anything small they want to correct (we wont accept full scene/editing changes). We will only allow one corrected update per video. After the 48 hours, the videos will be downloadable and no further corrections are allowed unless necessary for anonymity.

8. As usual, Expo has no limit on videos per editor. The key stipulation is keep it to content that has not been submitted to any of our contests previously, with the exception of substantially re-mastered/re-worked videos.

9. Submission deadline for all contests is Sunday, September 27 by 11:59 PM EST. As a note: I'll be a LOT more willing to offer grace to people regarding deadline if I am informed of any issues BEFORE deadline.

10. A lot of discussion regarding contests (and the Accolades judging process when it gets underway) occurs in the VAT discord (https://discord.gg/MW2KhCDEe Link good for 30 days from the initial date of this post; I'll try to keep it updated). While we are endeavoring to do better regarding e-mail communication moving forward, a lot of our processes still assume most participants are following things either here on the Org or via the VAT Discord.

Thank you, and here's to another great year.

Intake forms/submission info:
Expo: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... usp=dialog
Accolades: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... usp=dialog
AOMVs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... usp=dialog