TikTok launches its first filmmaking competition in the Mena region

The #FilmOnTikTok competition will give budding filmmakers the opportunity to work on an upcoming MBC production

TikTok has launched its first filmmaking competition in the Mena region. Reuters

TikTok is launching its first filmmaking competition in the Middle East and North Africa, giving aspiring creatives the chance to work with regional media production companies, MBC Group and Shahid.

The competition #FilmOnTikTok is being held in collaboration with MBC Academy, the company's educational and training arm dedicated to discovering the next generation of content creators and talents, helping them develop the skills necessary to work in the media and entertainment industry.

How to enter #FilmOnTikTok

To enter the competition, budding filmmakers from the region will have to produce a 60-second short film and publish it on TikTok using the hashtags #FilmOnTikTok and #MBCAcademyME. The submitted films can be in either English or Arabic.

Participants can submit multiple entries as long as they have a TikTok account and use the correct hashtags while adhering to the app's community guidelines. Any video that violates the guidelines will be immediately removed.

The short films will be judged across three main categories: best film, best actor and best cinematography. Ten users will be shortlisted in each category by content creators from TikTok's Creators Academy. Participants will be judged based on their originality, creativity and high-quality production of their short film.

The winners

MBC Academy will then choose one winner across each category. These three winners will have the opportunity to train in an upcoming MBC production. In addition, they will get the chance to learn the practical aspect of filmmaking with a professional production crew. The winners will be announced during a live event in March, hosted on the MBC Academy TikTok page @MBCacademyME.

"We're excited to start off the new year with a filmmaking competition that really digs deep into creativity, enabling our growing pool of users in the Mena region to showcase their production and acting talent," Rami Zeidan, head of video and creative at TikTok Mena, said. "TikTok is a platform for anyone looking to express themselves through our easy-to-use tools and with this competition, we are offering yet another platform to discover the region's top talents."

Jana Yamani, executive director of MBC Academy and MBC Talent, said the group believes that amazing talents have emerged on TikTok, highlighting it as the platform to showcase creative potential.

"Our job is to offer these users a platform to take their abilities to the next level and help them tell their stories across the group and beyond. While we will only have three winners as part of this competition, we look forward to seeing what the UAE community has to offer and we might end up seeing many participants in future MBC projects as trainees or talents," says Yamani.

Live Sessions

TikTok is also hosting a series of live sessions during which experts from the filmmaking industry will be sharing their stories and providing film enthusiasts with tips and tricks, such as placing music within a film, how to capture cinematic shots through the phone and five key tips for creating a good short film.