SEVA Contest Information

2026 SEVA Contest

Award Night: Sunday, April 26, 2026

Red carpet interviews: 3pm | Show starts: 4pm

Open to all students of SECC member districts in Sacramento County (K-20), the Student Educational Video Awards (SEVA) contest is the culmination of the year-long SEVA Program and celebrates the talents and visions of student video producers. The SEVAs are coordinated by the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) and sponsored in-part by Comcast and the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission. The contest is free to enter.

2026 SEVA Entry Form

Upload Entry Materials Here

Entry Deadline:

February 25, 2026

Step 1: Select a video category and begin creating your video. Review the judging rubrics to learn how each category is scored.

Step 2: Have your talent and producers sign release forms either through printed document or digital sign. Please make sure to have your talent send you a copy of their completed form to include with your entry materials.

Step 3: Caption your video and download the captioning file (.SRT or .SBV or .VTT file) or provide burn in captioning. Follow this tutorial to create captioning through YouTube.

Step 4: Complete the entry form. Be sure to check your spelling, proper capitalization and punctuation.

Step 5: Upload your video and submit all entry materials including releases, captions file, and copyright clearances to SECC by Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 5PM. Please be sure to label all your files with the exact title of your video. All materials must be received before the deadline for your entry to be accepted. You may also hand deliver your materials to the SECC Office by the entry deadline.

In fairness to all – LATE ENTRIES OR PAPERWORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Step 6: Teachers will be sent a spreadsheet with all of their student’s entries on Thursday, February 26th. They will need to confirm their approval of all entries by 5PM Friday, February 27th for videos to move on to the judging process.

Step 7: Join us at the SEVA Award Night on Sunday April 26th!

Questions: Please contact us at SECC.
(916) 920-1006 or secc@secctv.org

Grades K-3
Grades 4-6
Grades 7-8
Grades 9-12
College/University

Creative Expression
This category includes productions that may contain fictional content, humor, animation, book trailers, music videos or any program that has an educational message and does not fit into the other four categories. [Creative Expression Examples]

Documentary
An in-depth educational study of any program length about classroom curriculum topics, issues or people in current events or history. [Documentary Examples]

Instructional
Provides “how to” advice or teaches a subject or skill related to an educational topic. [Instructional Examples]

Public Service Announcements (PSA)
A :30 (+/- :01) promotional piece about an educational topic or community concern. Credits are not included in the 30 seconds. [PSA Examples]

School Newscast
Campus news broadcast or a compilation of the best clips from your school news program. This includes the use of anchors, reporters, and school announcements. [School Newscast Examples]

School News Stories
Short stand alone news package that tells a story about a specific topic or current event. [School News Stories Examples]

The Google Sheet rubrics are view only documents. To modify a rubric, you can go to File > Make a copy and save it to your Google account to customize the document.

It’s a Student Video Contest
Students must produce their videos with MINIMAL parental and teacher involvement. Any indication that major amounts of the video were produced by adults and not the student will result in the video being disqualified from the contest.

Judges reserve the right to not award a SEVA in any category or to disqualify an entry that doesn’t follow the SEVA rules (such as incomplete releases, copyright infringement, late entry, excessive teacher/parent involvement). Each year, we have disappointed students and teachers due to this rule. Please double check your entry form and video to assure compliance.

Closed Captioning
In an effort to be fully inclusive of all viewers, SEVA requests producers to close caption their entry and submit the captioning file (.SRT or .SBV or .VTT) with their entry data. This will allow all viewers to fully understand your video, regardless of a linguistic barrier or hearing impairment. The captioning policy applies all videos that contain any audio. Even if your video doesn’t include any spoken dialogue you should still include a captioning file.

A captioning file contains a simple, timecoded transcript of your video which can be viewed with a basic text editing program. Your finished captioning file will look something like this:

1
00:00:00,100 –> 00:00:03,100
– The Student Educational
Video Awards is the contest

2
00:00:03,100 –> 00:00:05,620
to showcase your educational
video productions.

The captioning process is quick and free through the captioning tools on YouTube. Follow this tutorial to create captioning through YouTube.

SEVA Entries Must Use Only Copyright-Free Materials
If you include any elements (video, photos, graphics and/or music) not created by you, your entry MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LICENSE/WAIVER from the copyright holder or include a Creative Commons License obtained from the source. All materials must allow for the use of their content on Television and YouTube. Entries that contain unauthorized copyrighted elements will be disqualified from the contest. SECC’s policy may be different than your school/district policy.

SECC has created a sample letter you can send to the copyright holder when asking for permission to use their copyrighted material . You can download the waiver letter and modify to suit your needs. As permissions can take some time to obtain, please plan accordingly as all waivers must be submitted by the entry deadline.

Stock Footage
The SEVAs highly encourage students to shoot their own footage. Up to 50% of your entry may include stock footage. If more than half your entry contains stock footage, you will loose points in the “Shot Quality” portion of the judging rubric.

Please note: historical footage or footage from government archives will not count as stock footage.

AI Generated Content
The use of content generated by artificial intelligence such as music, images, or video will be treated the same as stock footage. All content must be copyright cleared for TV and licenses must be submitted with entry materials. We encourage students to explore emerging technologies, including AI tools in their video production process, however videos that are entirely created by AI—with no meaningful student involvement in writing, editing, or creative decision-making—will be disqualified. Any use of AI must be disclosed on the SEVA entry form.

Video Game Footage
Licensing terms may vary from game to game. While one video game may allow for sharing of user-generated screen captures, another might not. Please include with your entry materials, the written proof of the copyright policy such as an excerpt from the licensing terms.

Music
Although many music providers claim to be Royalty-Free, the fine print many require a paid license for playback on cable TV. For this reason, sources such as BenSound, Freeplay Music, Epidemic Sound, AudioJungle, Purple Planet and others should NOT be used in your video. Please read through all the terms and conditions of any music you use in your video. NCS, No Copyright Sounds and Youtube Music Library tracks are not allowed in the SEVAs.

Approved Free Music Sources:
Student-Created Music (GarageBand or similar)
WeVideo
Incompetech Creative Commons (must credit this source)
Sounds Crate
Pixabay
Not sure? Ask us PRIOR to entering the contest.

Please be aware that in addition to its cable channels, SECC utilizes YouTube for sharing videos online. Any audio/visual content that receives a YouTube Content ID claim is subject to SECC action, including audio muting, video editing, censoring/visual blurring and/or removal from SECC YouTube channel. For more information about YouTube Content ID, visit YouTube Help.

Cite Your Sources & Secure Permission for Images & Videos
Many SEVA entries include facts and information about a particular topic. Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another, you are required to cite its source. During your video or in the credits, be sure to cite where your information came from, just as you would do a bibliography for a paper. If you use images or videos that you did not shoot yourself, you need to get written permission from the copyright holder to include those in your SEVA video.

All copyrighted materials – including video, photos, graphics and music – must be original or proof of permission must be provided prior to the entry deadline.

Delivery Formats:
SEVA entries can be submitted in several different ways:
+ Youtube Link (preferred)
+ Quicktime digital file (.MP4) on a USB drive. Please be sure to name your video file the same as the program title used on your entry form.
+ Captioning File (.SRT or .SBV or .VTT) on a USB drive or upload with your entry information. Please be sure to name your captions file the same as your video entry name.
+ Release Forms (.PDF or .JPG or .PNG)

Video File Details:
+ File Format: Quicktime (.MP4)
+ Video Compression: .H264
+ Acceptable frame size: 1920×1080
+ Frame Rate: 29.97 fps (Important!)
+ Target Bit Rate: 5.00+ Mbps
+ Audio Compression: AAC or Uncompressed
+ Audio Quality: 320 kbps, 48 kHz, Stereo or Mono
+ File Naming Convention: Make sure your file name matches the name of your video

Be sure to check your file prior to submission to make sure it’s the best possible quality and plays properly. Videos can be submitted in languages other than English, but must contain English subtitles.

USB drives will be returned with the judging reports at Award Night.

The Student Educational Video Awards are intended for all grades kindergarten through college, and as such, each video needs to be appropriate viewing material for all ages. Additionally, videos entered may be shown to SECCTV’s audiences in homes across the region via cable and worldwide online. Each video not only represents the student producer but also their school and teacher. It is up to teachers to decide if videos meet the “family-friendly” criteria and should be entered into the contest, therefore each teacher will need to give final approval for each video entered.

Talent & Producer Releases
As a producer, you need to have the permission of each person in your video. Get your talent (and their parents if under 18) to sign releases before you start shooting so that you know they can be in your video. As producer, you will also need to have a release signed. There is a digital talent release and a downloadable PDF talent release available. If using the digital release form, make sure to have your talent send you a copy of their completed form to include with your entry.

Talent / Producer Release Form – Digital Sign Link
Talent / Producer Release Form – PDF Download
Talent / Producer Release Form – PDF Download (Spanish)

Use the link above to upload all entry materials to the SECC Dropbox before the entry deadline. Password will be provided on the confirmation page/email after submitting your entry form.

Teachers may also share a Google Drive folder with SECC or deliver a USB drive containing their entry materials.

All materials, including releases and captioning need to be submitted by the deadline. Please be sure to name all your files with the exact program title you entered.

Each item listed below is required to be included with your entry materials:
• Completed WuFoo Entry Form
• Producer Release(s)
• Talent Release(s)
• Documented Proof of Copyright Information / Licensing Permissions
• Captioning File (.SRT or .SBV or .VTT)
• Video File (.MP4 or YouTube Link or USB drive)

SECC will reach out to teachers in March to schedule SEVA student producer interviews with your media class to feature their work during the award show and for future use in SEVA TV. If you are interested in having a crew come out to your class for interviews you may reach out to us at secc@secctv.org

Learn more about how you can record your Official Student Producer Interview.