Public service announcements, also known as PSAs, are a great way to educate, dispel harmful myths, or convince your audience to take positive action toward a common goal. PSAs can help give a voice to a cause you feel passionate about. Whether that’s saving the environment, breaking down societal stereotypes, or promoting health and safety, these short films are a tool for building a better today and tomorrow. Successful PSAs may employ a mix of images, text, statistics, or offscreen narration, featuring mini interviews or playing out like a short scene or montage. PSAs can be serious but they can also tackle hard topics with a healthy dose of humor. However you decide to craft your appeal, you’ll need to make a lasting impact on your audience, inspiring them to make a difference!

Making a PSA of your own? Check out filmmaking tools, tips, and classroom-ready resources on the Beyond the Peaks festival homepage and in our Storytelling and Filmmaking collection on PBS LearningMedia.

Public service announcement category requirements:

• Films must have a run time of 90 seconds or less.
• Pre-production materials include a script and storyboard.
• Additional materials include a poster, trailer, synopsis, and cast & crew lists.

Students can submit original films in a variety of additional categories including Documentary, Narrative, Thriller, and Open.

Discover PSAs That Inspire Action

Get inspired to create your own public service announcement with this selection of student productions, including the 2023 Beyond the Peaks PSA award-winner, and a skill-building video from PBS Digital Studios series, Sound Field. Explore compelling calls to action—from anti-smoking awareness to breaking down stereotypes and labels—there’s lots to discover with PSAs.

Smoking Kills

Submitted by Hyde Wood, Ethan Parrow, Corey Delles, Abigail McIntosh, and Seth Taylor, “Smoking Kills” focuses on the importance of staying away from cigarettes and other nicotine products. In this PSA, the viewers witness scenes from the life of a bedridden teenager who suffers from lung cancer. “Smoking Kills” was the PSA category winner in the 2023 Beyond the Peaks Film Festival.

STEREOTYPES

“STEREOTYPES” was created in 2016 by Newington High School juniors Samantha Arasimowicz, Aeisha Cirunay, Madeline Camalig and Lauryn Taylor. In this PSA, we hear about how societal stereotypes try to define us—from gender to body type, skin color, social class, and more—while learning that we can defy them to be whoever and whatever we want to be.

Why Does Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” Sound so Sad? | Sound Field

Want to make a big emotional impact with your PSA? Learn about music that pulls at our heartstrings, like Sarah MacLachlan’s “Angel.” MacLachlan’s song plays over the famous advertisement for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which helped raise over $30 million dollars! In this video from Sound Field, hosts Nahre Sol and LA Buckner hear from experts and break down the components of sad-sounding music, creating their own somber composition.

Enter the “Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival”!

To get started, create a student or teacher account on Launchpad. Explore tutorials, resources, and step-by-step instructions on how to successfully submit your completed film entries!

Documentary | PSA | Narrative | Thriller | Open entry

Submissions are due April 30^th with winners announced at an end-of-school year Red Carpet Showcase. The top three winners will receive a cash prize and video supplies!

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