Student Reporter Search
Each year, the Jimmy Awards invites select Student Reporters from participating Regional Awards Programs to cover Jimmy Awards events through social media. This provides a chance to expand connections into local schools’ journalism, film, and other related departments. Student Reporters work directly with the Jimmy Awards Digital team which allows them to receive an insider look at the digital marketing strategy of Jimmy Awards coverage while gaining insight into the field as a whole.
2025 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The Jimmy Awards seeks two Student Reporters from around the country to travel to New York and cover the Jimmy Awards on Monday, June 23, 2025, on the official Jimmy Awards social media channels. Applicants must be currently enrolled in a high school producing a Qualifying Show adjudicated by an official Regional Awards Program (RAP) of the Jimmy Awards during the 2024-25 school year. Applicants must be submitted by a participating RAP with a maximum of two (2) submissions per RAP. Applicants must not be students who are competing to participate as a nominee in the Jimmy Awards.
The Jimmy Awards will provide the following for the two selected students plus one chaperone each:
- Round-trip airfare
- Overnight lodging for Saturday, June 21; Sunday, June 22; and Monday, June 23
- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Sunday, June 22, and Monday, June 23
- Tickets to the ceremony at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre
- After-Party passes
2025 SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
PROJECT DEFINITION: Make a video in the style of an Instagram Reel/TikTok video showcasing your ideas for how to share nominee experiences on the day of the ceremony and encourage the Jimmy Awards’ social media followers to tune in to the ceremony livestream. Then, write a sample caption to accompany your Reel/TikTok video.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Please ensure your video submission meets the following guidelines:
- The video should include at least one unedited segment of at least 20 seconds in length with the applicant speaking directly to camera.
- The video must not include any performance footage; the content of the videos is otherwise up to the applicant.
- Any pre-recorded music used must be royalty-free.
- Submissions must meet the requirements for an Instagram Reel/TikTok video with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16 and minimum resolution of 720 pixels.
CONTENT PROMPT: Imagine you are covering the day of the Jimmy Awards ceremony in NYC on social media. Create an up to 60-second video in the style of an Instagram Reel or TikTok video that showcases your creative approach to content creation and includes at least one of the following scenarios as part of your video:
- You are on the bus with the nominees heading to the Minskoff Theatre, where they will rehearse and perform on a Broadway stage later that day.
- You are at lunch with the nominees after their first technical and staging rehearsal on a Broadway stage. In about six hours, they will be performing in front of a sold-out audience.
- You are interviewing Broadway talent and/or Jimmy Awards Judges on the red carpet before they take their seats in the audience for the ceremony.
We want to see your personality shine in this video! Show us how you would use your unique perspective to build interest in and awareness of the Jimmy Awards. This is an opportunity to showcase your creativity and skills in event coverage, visual storytelling, video editing, videography, photography, and/or social media.
Applicant submissions are due to The Jimmy Awards by 5pm ET on Monday, April 14. The two Student Reporters will be selected and notified on or around June 2.
If you are a student interested in applying, please contact your Regional Awards Program . Further details are provided below.
PROCESS OF CHOOSING JIMMY AWARDS REPORTERS
There are two rounds in the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Search. There is no cost to enter the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Search and no purchase necessary to enter either round. There will be a maximum of one hundred and ten (110) applicants. Up to ten (10) candidates will be chosen based on their submission to move on to the second round, and two (2) will ultimately be chosen as Jimmy Awards Student Reporters based on qualitative assessments and quantitative metrics explained further below.
In the first round of the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Search, a panel of 3-5 individuals (the “Submissions Board”) from the Jimmy Awards will review every application video and choose up to ten (10) to upload to the Jimmy Awards’ Facebook page, Instagram account, YouTube channel, TikTok account, and/or similar online social media platform. The Jimmy Awards will choose up to ten (10) videos based on the skills of the creator. The skill will be assessed by the panel by reviewing the applicant’s camera presence, creativity, adherence to the stated guidelines, and other similar criteria. The Submissions Board has the absolute discretion to determine who will move on to the second round. The Submissions Board’s determination will not be subject to review. Applicants chosen to move on to the second round will be informed by May 5.
The selected videos will be uploaded to the Jimmy Awards’ platform page(s) on or around May 7. They will remain up for consideration until May 30, though may continue to be accessible on the Jimmy Awards’ platform pages after that date and may remain accessible indefinitely. At the end of that time, the Submissions Board has absolute discretion to determine who will be chosen as the two (2) Jimmy Awards Student Reporters. The Submissions Board will base their determination on the applicant’s camera presence, creativity, adherence to the stated guidelines, and other similar criteria. In addition, the Submissions Board will review video analytics, which includes, but is not limited to: the number of unique users who saw the applicants’ page, the number of times the applicants’ page was seen as a total count, the number of impressions of the applicant’s post in a News Feed, the number of unique users who clicked anywhere in the applicant’s post, the total number of clicks in the applicant’s post, both the total count and number of unique users who have given negative feedback to the applicant’s post, both the total count and number of unique users who have liked the applicant’s Page, the number of people who clicked on the post because they liked the applicant’s post, the number of people who liked the applicant’s page and clicked on the applicant’s post, both the total count and number of unique users who watched 95% of the applicant’s video (excluding paid promotion), both the total count and unique users who watched the video for 3 seconds (excluding paid promotion), and the length of the video.
The two applicants determined by the Submissions Board to have the best camera presence, creativity, adherence to the stated guidelines, and other similar criteria, taking into account all metrics from social media video analytics, will be chosen as the two (2) Jimmy Awards Student Reporters. The Submission Board’s determination will not be subject to review. Student Reporters will be notified on or around June 2.
Student Reporters will be required to sign a Code of Conduct and media release.
The estimated retail value of each prize is: $4,000
Void where prohibited.
