It's spring again, and you know what that means.

Yes, the Young Creative Awards are back in full force!

For us that means we're preparing to judge the film category (and picking out what to wear to the ceremony).

Meanwhile, the applicants are putting the finishing touches on their projects and getting their submission forms ready.

We first sponsored the Young Creative Awards four years ago. Since then it's become one of the highlights of our year.

And like Harold and Maude, Abbott and Costello, and Bill and Ted it's become a partnership for the ages.

Why Do We Sponsor the YCA?

We love that the awards give 13-24 year old creative types a platform to get their work out there and receive the recognition it really deserves. Plus, it gives us the chance to meet the talent of the future, mingle with like-minded companies, and support an organisation that's doing really important work in the community.

This year's theme at the awards is Goals and Dreams, so we expect lots of aspirational submissions to remind us of the drive that young people need to progress in their chosen field.

In the daily grind it can be far too easy to forget how hard it was to establish your own career.

I personally did internship after internship, spending my spare time sending out CVs and building a portfolio to deliver to agencies. If I had had an outlet that guaranteed my work would be viewed by a room full of industry professionals, I would have been involved in a heartbeat.

That's why it's so important for us to do our part in contributing to the Young Creative Awards and the support it gives to so many young people in Nottingham.

Doing Our Part

And that means we have to be fair judges. As judges, we look for a few specific qualities in the film submissions we receive:

• Firstly, the story is the pinnacle, because at the end of the day a film with a good story can have an impact whether it's shot on an iPhone or a cinema-grade camera.
• We also keep an eye out for aesthetic details like framing, camera angles, a smooth edit, and decent audio.
• Finally, we watch for a film and performance that accurately portrays the theme of the awards.

Last year's submissions were stunning, thought provoking and crafted with a lot of care, so I'm sure that at this year's judging panel we will again have some really tough decisions to make.

Get Involved!

So whether your passion is for film, music, graphic design, dance, spoken word, photography, or something else that can't quite be compartmentalised into a particular medium, these are skills that need nurturing. Here at Venture we're very proud to be part of a great scheme helping to promote young creative development of all kinds.

If you know a young person who could benefit from getting involved, please share this post with them and encourage them to submit their work to the lovely folks at the Young Creative Awards. The deadline is Monday 21st March, so get cracking!