Three studios, top single prize up to USD 150K cash
Registration and 2-minute teaser deadline:
Pick any of the three themes: Sci-Fi Studio, Glimmer Studio or Brand Studio
Made for science fiction
Use AI to build every wild idea, frame by frame
Creative direction
Hard SF, cyberpunk, space opera, wasteland, time travel, parallel worlds, post-human, AI awakening, alien civilizations — anything whose world holds together. This time we will help you build it.
Running time
Submit a teaser of at least 2 minutes. After shortlisting, the finished film must be at least 15 minutes with no upper limit. It may be a 60-minute+ film or a mid-length series (20 minutes+ per episode). Longer, high-quality features are especially welcome.
Requirements
A complete sci-fi world and a clear dramatic arc. High bar for physical believability, character consistency, and scene continuity. No empty showreel edits.
Competition timeline
From the first idea to the screen
Registration opens
Choose a track and start creating
Teaser deadline
Submit a teaser of at least 2 minutes
Finalist notice
Create the complete finished film
Final-film deadline
Submit the complete film for your track
Final review and awards
Ceremony and screening
CNY 5.5MTotal prize pool
Total prize pool
CNY 3.5M cash+CNY 2M compute
Grand Prize (1)
CNY 1M cash + 300K compute
*Final film must be 60 minutes or longer, no upper limit
Best Film Award (1)
CNY 300K cash + 200K compute
*Final film must be 60 minutes or longer, no upper limit
Best Long Drama Award (1)
CNY 250K cash + 150K compute
*Final entry must include episodes of at least 20 minutes each
Best Short Drama Award (1)
CNY 100K cash + 50K compute
*Final entry must include the first 3 episodes, each at least 2 minutes
Track prizes
Sci-Fi Studio
Best Sci-Fi Worldbuilding Award (1)
CNY 200K cash +150K compute
Best Sci-Fi Visual Award (2)
CNY 150K cash +100K compute
Most Promising Sci-Fi IP Award (3)
CNY 50K cash +30K compute
The teaser must be at least 2 minutes. After shortlisting, the final-review film must be at least 15 minutes.
Glimmer Studio
Glimmer Best Story Award (1)
CNY 150K cash +100K compute
Glimmer Best Impact Award (2)
CNY 100K cash +50K compute
Glimmer Warmest Work Award (3)
CNY 50K cash +20K compute
The teaser must be at least 2 minutes. After shortlisting, the final-review film must be at least 2 minutes. Feature films of 60 minutes or more, or mid-length series of 20 minutes or more per episode, are encouraged.
Brand Studio
Best Brand Creative Award (1)
CNY 70K cash +30K compute
Best AI Commercial Application Award (2)
CNY 50K cash +20K compute
Best Brand Insight Award (3)
CNY 10K cash +10K compute
The teaser must be at least 2 minutes. After shortlisting, the final-review film must meet the brand’s required duration.
FINALIST AWARD (100)
5,000 cash+5,000 compute
Creator launch support:
After a successful teaser submit, the committee rates past credits, professional background, social reach and sample quality. Qualifying works receive RunningHub compute within 7 days.
RunningHub Pioneer Creator
1000 COMPUTE CREDITS
RunningHub Benchmark Creator
3000 COMPUTE CREDITS
RunningHub Super Creator
5000 COMPUTE CREDITS
We reward more than the finished film. We also give a worthy idea the conditions to keep growing.
Science-fiction IP adaptation
A great film starts with a story worth telling
RunningHub and the Chinese Nebula Awards open 10 unadapted short sci-fi works for free, limited-time adaptation.
The Nature of the Universe
Seven billion people leave a tired Earth and drift into space, leaving the planet empty.
Those Who Leave History
They hide in a self-sufficient enclosure, cut from cause and effect, and vanish from human history.
Sunset over Ancient Shu
Through a time observer’s eye, the migration of a civilization after the fall of the Kaiming dynasty.
Smart Shield
Hard SF for younger readers: a last-days world overrun by genetic weapons.
Dance of Shiva
A flesh-eating plague wipes out most of humanity; a few hundred thousand survive in an Antarctic base.
The Loneliest Whale on This Planet
A legend weaves deep-sea solitude with the fate of the cosmos.
Heart of the Full Moon
Lunar exploration, quantum consciousness, and the observer thought experiment.
The Universe Outside
Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment as the physical ground for observation, collapse, and what is real.
The Silent Fountain
On a vast, bleak cosmic stage, the weight of humanity under interstellar spectacle.
Heroic Epic
Lives cycle across generations as civilizations on an ancient star rise and fall.
Jury
Let the work be seen by people who truly understand it
Liu Cixin (Advisor)
Renowned sci-fi writer
Asia's first Hugo Award winner
Chen Qiufan
Renowned sci-fi writer
Dong Renwei
Renowned science and sci-fi writer
Feng Yingqian
Dean, Faculty of Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Lao Bo
Chairman & CEO of Adquan
Yang Yufei
Rising director and screenwriter in mainland China
Zhao Enzhe
Asia's first Hugo Award Best Professional Artist
Judge to be announced
Judge to be announced
Judge to be announced
Let the people who defined an era of imagination see the next generation of films
The world is not short of imagination
It is only waiting to be filmed
Submit your 2-minute teaserLet imagination become film
Partners
Technical Partners
Industry Partners
Supporting Organization
