Organizer Information
Be Still Media is a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3), EIN 85-0642717) that runs incentive competitions for creators of media and arts. Founded in 2020, the organization describes itself as a "content incentivizor" and states its mission as championing works that "search the mind and spark the imagination," drawing on themes of character and meaning. Be Still Media runs two annual tracks: biannual $30,000 prompt-based competitions and quarterly $10,000 fellowships, both judged internally by the Be Still Media team. Past competitions have drawn entries from creatives across dozens of countries, including Iran, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and South Africa.
Title & Description
Prompt #28 — "Friction-maxxing is a labour of love"
This is a prompt-based open call for original creative work responding to a written theme on resilience and interpersonal friction. The prompt draws on an essay by Samuel Tranter, arguing that meaningful relationships, like trees strengthened by wind, require friction rather than avoidance, and asks artists to respond to the question of how they can "bend into today's prevailing headwinds ~ for flourishing ~ where friction-maxxing is a labour of love." The organizers state the prompt is meant to spark the artist's imagination rather than dictate a specific approach; target audience, tone, and medium are left to the applicant.
Theme
Friction-maxxing — the intentional embrace of inconvenience and interpersonal difficulty as a path to resilience and flourishing, applied to relationships and creative practice.
Categories
- Multiple Disciplines
- Animation
- Design
- Dance
- Visual Arts
- Installation
- Sound/Music
- Poetry
- Prose
- Video/Film
- Photography
Eligibility
- Open to all artists, worldwide, of any age
- Part-time or full-time students, freelancers, and creatives all welcome
- Individuals or teams may apply
- Work must be original and must engage the prompt
- Any licensed or stock material used must be attributed
- Work must not have been monetized on other platforms
- Submissions must be no longer than five minutes
- AI-generated or AI-assisted work, including artist statements, will not be considered
Program Benefits & Awards
- 1st place: $15,000
- 2nd place: $8,000
- 3rd place: $4,000
- People's Choice (determined by public electronic voting): $3,000
- Artist retains ownership of submitted work
- Winning and shortlisted entries may be showcased on the Be Still Media website and other BSM platforms
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 30 September 2026
- Winners announced: 1 November 2026
Location
Online
Additional Details
- Applicants may submit as many entries as they wish, though judges evaluate quality over quantity
- Prize money is awarded per entry, not per person, so teams share a single prize
- Judging is conducted by the Be Still Media team, who evaluate work "much like critics evaluate music, film, literature," based on how the piece impacts them (creativity, storytelling) and how well it responds to the prompt
- Recommended submission format is a single Google Drive or Dropbox folder containing the artwork, cover art, and artist statement