Each entry must focus on a social issue that affects communities, locally or aboard. Judges will use the criteria below to evaluate entries.

1. Creativity/Originality: Provides fresh, interesting insights into the subject of the production.
2. Organization/Purpose: Shows evidence of planning and choice through all parts of the production as it focuses on achieving the program’s purpose.
3. Continuity/Structure: Shows that the information or story is paced and developed in a way that keeps viewers interested and helps them understand the meaning.
4. Relevancy/Importance: Will anyone care about the content of the production? Is the subject or idea big enough to sustain the entire program?
5. Use of Available Resources
6. Clarity/Universality/Meaning: Could anyone understand it? Did it tell a unified story or message about a social issue affecting communities that provides an insight into the subject or the human condition?
7. Energy/Emotion: Does the program heighten viewer attention and interest? Does the program touch human emotions or feelings?
8. Residue: When the program is over, does it leave a meaning with the viewer more general or beyond the specific presentation or story you told.
9. Technical Quality: Audio, lighting, exposure, camera techniques, composition, special effects, titles, appropriateness of technique, utilization of available equipment, and overall technical quality.
10. General Effectiveness: An overall evaluation of the production based on the above points combined with the considered judgment of the evaluator.