Film · The Signal
Curious Refuge opens its fourth AI Horror Film Competition with $12,000 in prizes
The fourth annual competition is open through October 9, giving AI filmmakers a three-minute horror brief with $12,000 in cash prizes.
Reporting updated Sep 26, 2026
The fourth annual competition is open through October 9, giving AI filmmakers a three-minute horror brief with $12,000 in cash prizes.
What Happened
Curious Refuge has opened submissions for its fourth annual AI Horror Film Competition. Entries are due October 9 at 11:59 PM Pacific. The official rules require AI to be used in every shot, limit films to three minutes, require an original idea not tied to existing third-party IP, and require the competition end card. Curious Refuge lists $12,000 in cash prizes: $7,000 for first place, $3,000 for second and $2,000 for third.
Why It Matters
For creators, this is less about demonstrating a single model and more about completing a short film under a clear production brief. The deadline, runtime cap and judging structure create a useful constraint for testing whether an AI filmmaking workflow can hold together across an entire finished piece.
VEYR Angle
VEYR is watching competitions like this for the work they produce, not just the prize pool. The interesting follow-up will be which creators turn current AI tools into coherent three-minute films and what production methods survive from experiment to finished short.