ShotDeck Announces 2025 Recreations Contest

The cinematic image library ShotDeck has announced the call for submissions for its 2025 Recreations Contest, which will accept entries from Monday, September 1 until Tuesday, September 30. The contest is sponsored in part by American Cinematographer.

According to ShotDeck, "Participants are challenged to re-create a shot from their favorite film, series, music video or commercial found on ShotDeck, matching it as creatively and accurately as possible. All visual effects must be achieved in-camera, and no AI or computer-generated imagery will be accepted.

“The Recreations Contest is about honoring the art of visual storytelling and the joy of collaboration, which is key to what we fundamentally believe in,” said ShotDeck founder Lawrence Sher, ASC in a statement. “Every year, I’m blown away and inspired by the level of talent and dedication on display, and it’s our privilege to be able to champion it through the contest.”

For the first time, the annual contest will take place in the fall, with the aim of providing educators and schools the opportunity to integrate the competition into their curriculum. A new schedule for the event also introduces prize categories exclusively available to students.

The contest will present more than $125,000 in film-equipment prizes to storytellers across multiple competition categories. Each category will recognize Grand Prize, Runner-Up and Honorable Mention winners. A panel of renowned filmmakers and industry artisans will judge entries; final winners will be revealed in early November.

This year’s sponsors include Sony, ZEISS, Blackmagic Design, Aputure, Rosco, Filmmakers Academy, FilmLight, Arthouse Film Lab, Musicbed, Saturation, FilmConvert, Nanlux-Nanlite, Other World Computing (OWC), American Cinematographer, Red Digital Cinema, Scriptation, and Deep-Light among others.

The 2025 edition will also feature special challenges presented by both new and returning sponsor brands:

"The Music Video Motion Challenge, sponsored by Sony, a global leader in digital cinema cameras and the contest’s Hero Sponsor. In a twist on the traditional still recreation, Sony invites participants to recreate a motion clip from a music video available on ShotDeck. Winners of this challenge can receive a Sony FX6 and lens package, a Sony FX3A and lens package, or one of two Sony FX2 cameras.

The Textured Lighting Challenge, sponsored by Aputure, asks filmmakers to recreate shots that use light and shadow to create visual texture. Whether it’s through practicals, hard light with haze, or shadows from objects like blinds or tree branches, this challenge encourages creativity with lighting design. Prizes include a STORM 1000c Cine Kit amongst other great Aputure lights.

The Large Format Challenge, presented by Blackmagic Design, showcases the capabilities of the new URSA Cine 17K 65 camera. Participants are tasked with recreating iconic shots originally captured on large format IMAX film cameras -- such as Ryan Coogler’s Sinners or Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer -- for a chance to win Blackmagic gear, including the highly anticipated full-frame PYXIS 12K digital camera.

Rosco’s Color Challenge dares filmmakers to recreate shots known for bold and creative color use for a chance to win Rosco lighting prizes, with the Grand Prize winner taking home a DMG DASH Octa Kit. This challenge provides a perfect opportunity for creatives to explore scenes with multi-hued light sources and push the boundaries of visual storytelling through color.

In the ZEISS Radiance Challenge, show your flare for the dramatic. Filmmakers must recreate shots featuring lens flares as accurately as possible for a chance to win a free Supreme Zoom Radiance or Supreme Prime Radiance rental, or an Otus ML 1.4/50.

The Highest Degree of Difficulty Challenge, presented by returning sponsor Filmmakers Academy (the leading global filmmaker resource co-founded by Shane Hurlbut, ASC), celebrates technically ambitious recreations demanding exceptional craftsmanship in lighting, camera work, and execution. Participants compete for exclusive masterclasses, premium career pathways, and global filmmaker community access.

The Colour Precision Challenge, hosted by FilmLight, is an education-focused category that puts color grading accuracy to the test. Students will be judged on how precisely they can match the color of their recreated shots. Two winners will receive the industry standard dailies platform, Daylight, with a one-hour masterclass.

Arthouse Film Lab presents the LA Film Challenge, highlighting the city’s rich storytelling legacy by celebrating cinematic recreations by LA-based creatives. Submissions will be judged on recreation quality and selected winners will receive prize packages from Arthouse including 35mm film, film processing, prints, and exclusive merch from Arthouse’s capsule collection."