PixLight is PixVerse’s annual AI film contest — billed as “a greenlight meeting for the AI era” — and its 2026 edition closes soon. The deadline was extended to October 31, 2026 at 23:59 UTC (7:59 PM Eastern), so AI filmmakers have one final window to get a project in front of an international jury.
The prizes
The prize pool totals $300,000 USD:
- PixLight Grand Prize: $100,000
- PixLight Gold Award: $50,000
- PixLight Silver Award: $20,000
- Additional $5,000 awards
- Pilot Track Spotlight Awards of $3,000, plus Script Track Spotlight Awards
Beyond the cash, standout creators move into PixVerse’s development pathway: PixLab, an invite-only creator lab with guidance and production support, and PixVerse Originals, where selected projects go into official development, production, and global release.
Two tracks — two ways to enter
Pilot Track. Submit a finished genre pilot: a complete AI short or pilot episode of 3–20 minutes. The one rule: tell a story that makes people want episode two. Judges look for a clear world, a memorable lead, cinematic pacing, and a Canvas workflow worth cloning.
Script Track. Pitch a feature instead: an AI feature screenplay for a 45–90 minute film. The one rule: make the jury see the movie before it exists — an original world with real emotional stakes, ready to go into production.
The genres
Both tracks draw from the same three directions:
- Under the Skin — drama, comedy, coming-of-age, social realism. A first love, a family secret, a summer that changed everything.
- Worlds Beyond — sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, mythology. A shop that sells memories; a planet where music is illegal; a god who forgot what she created.
- Edge of Seat — horror, thriller, mystery, crime, action, adventure, survival. Survival games, locked rooms, last stands, wrong turns.
Build with Canvas
Pilot entries are built in PixVerse’s Canvas, a node-based workspace that connects references, prompts, motion, and output in one editable graph, making complex AI video production easier to plan, adjust, and rerun. The flow is simple: create in Canvas, submit your film, get credits back — PixVerse returns 100% of eligible project credits, up to 100,000, for a complete, valid Pilot Track entry.
The jury
Entries are reviewed by an international jury spanning directing, screenwriting, production, and AI creativity: Wesley Armstrong (DGA director), Kavan Cardoza (filmmaker and co-founder of Phantom X), Yitian Gao (FIRST International Film Festival curator and producer), Christina Lee Storm (Head of Studio, Narrative, at Secret Level), Tan Chui Mui (filmmaker, writer, producer), and Hal Watmough (BAFTA-winning filmmaker, Wonder Studios).
Timeline
- Open call: August 7 – October 31, 2026
- Submission deadline: October 31, 2026, 23:59 UTC
- Judging: early November 2026
- Winner announcement: late November 2026
How to enter
Entries are submitted through the official contest page on PixVerse: https://app.pixverse.ai/challenge/pixlight — you will need a PixVerse account. With the deadline at 7:59 PM Eastern on October 31, this is a three-day window: finished pilots and screenplay pitches only, so pick the track that matches what you already have closest to done.
Christifa & Associates is tracking PixLight 2026 in our AI-friendly contest campaign journal, where we document every contest we follow and enter — win or lose.