Google is teaming up with XPRIZE and Range Media Partners through the 100 ZEROS initiative to support the Future Vision XPRIZE, a global film competition with a total purse of $3.5 million. It's an open call for short films and trailers that imagine an optimistic future powered by technology, and the invitation explicitly includes using AI tools like Google Flow to boost your storytelling.
What the Future Vision contest is
The Future Vision XPRIZE seeks visual stories that show how technology can improve lives. The global prize pool is $3.5 million and it's designed to help creative visions reach mass audiences.
Registrations are open now through August 15, 2026. You can submit a short film up to three minutes or a trailer that captures a powerful, optimistic idea. Want to check the rules and register now? Visit futurevisionxprize.com.
What Google offers and why it matters
As the contest's creative technology partner, Google will support the grand-prize winner with creative help and production resources to turn their three-minute piece into a full-length feature. That means lowering production barriers and providing resources that are usually hard for emerging filmmakers to access.
Google also brings tools and workflows so creativity doesn't stumble on technical limits. Using Google Flow and other AI tools is presented as a complement: they help you brainstorm, visualize, and prototype scenes, not replace your voice as a creator.
How to participate and what you can submit
- Valid formats: live action, animation, or pieces that integrate AI tools.
- Length: up to three minutes for the submission piece.
- Theme: an optimistic, human-centered tech future.
- Deadline: submissions accepted until August 15, 2026.
Remember: story is the heart of any good film. Technology is there to lift what already works—clear characters, a conflict, and a resolution that makes people think or feel.
Small practical tips
- Present a clear idea from the first frame. Three minutes fly by.
- Use AI to iterate storyboards, generate sound ideas, or explore color and editing variants, but watch rights and the ethics of the materials you use.
- Test your piece with real viewers before submitting. Quick feedback changes a lot.
- Plan how you'd scale the idea to a feature: what elements sustain the story beyond the short?
Why this might matter to you
If you're an emerging filmmaker, this is more than a prize. It's a chance for a short idea to get real production support and scalability. If you work in tech or communications, it's a window into how AI and storytelling combine in cultural projects.
And if you're just curious as a viewer? It's an invitation to imagine possible futures—not from fear, but from creative proposals that show different paths.
AI is here to amplify voices, not replace them. Contests like this help put technology at the service of the stories we want to see.
Source
https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/ai/future-vision-film-competition-xprize