YMCA of Greater Toronto
The Youth for Youth Gambling Education Program (Y4Y) is a provincial education and prevention initiative, funded by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) that is designed to empower young people to raise awareness on underage gambling, problem gambling and the support resources available. The Y4Y program engages adolescents (aged 15-18) and young adults (aged 19-24) through a gambling education competition.
The Youth 4 Youth Digital Media Contest will empower and encourage young adults (aged 18-24) to use their talent and creativity to raise awareness among their peers on the topics of gambling and gaming. Participants will develop a short educational video or poster (or both!) to raise awareness on these topics.
Contest participants are not expected to be an expert on the topic of gambling! Upon registration, they will be provided with resources. Submissions can be in English or French. All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of contest organizers and youth (aged 15-18) to select the Top 5 contestants. The shortlisted finalists will then be voted on by the public, which will assist the Y4Y Team in selecting the Top 3 poster and video submissions. Finally, the Top 3 Submissions will be shown to groups of youth across Ontario, to select the first, second and third place winners.
Participants of the Y4Y Digital Media Contest were recognized and celebrated at the annual Y4Y Award Ceremony on the evening of June 11, 2020. The Award Ceremony not only celebrates the accomplishments and hard work of contestants, but also acknowledges the efforts made by community partners, contest organizer jury members and youth jury members. It is an opportunity to bring together and celebrate youth from across the province.
1. What are loot boxes or mystery chests? How does purchased loot boxes present itself in a way that is similar to gambling? Why is it important that youth know this?
Submissions must also include a relevant harm reduction strategy and a resource to access for more information or support.
To review all of the contest rules, please review the Rules Documents:
Y4Y Poster Rules (PDF) Y4Y Video Rules (PDF)
To be eligible to participate in the contest, contestants must:
- The video must answer one of the above questions, include a harm reduction strategy and a relevant resource for support or more information.
- The video can be up to 60 seconds long.
- All audio and visual materials must be copyright-free or the necessary authorizations must be acquired before using copyrighted materials.
- The video must not contain coarse language, violence, discriminatory, offense, racist or inappropriate comments, the use of drugs or the promotion of the use of drugs.
- All actors in the video must consent to participating in the video and be over the age of 18.
- The format of the video must be .MP4 or .MOV and have a resolution of 720p or 1080p.
- The video must include Closed Captioning.
- The poster must answer one of the above questions, include a harm reduction strategy and a relevant resource.
- All images or graphics used on the poster must be copyright free.
- The poster requires 300 DPI and must be in CMYK colour format.
- The poster must be vertical orientation with the dimensions of 47” W x 68” L.
If you have any questions, please contact the Contest Organizer at y4y@ymcagta.org or 416-928-3362 ext. 22629.
Instructions for Registration Process
Registration for Round 3 of the Youth 4 Youth Digital Media Contest will begin on August 1st, 2019. All contestants must register online prior to submitting their video or poster. After registering, contestants will be sent educational material and resources to help them create their submission! The Contest Organizer will also reach out to each contestant after registration to provide support and answer any questions.
Instructions for Submission Process
Contestants will submit their final project via Google Form. Only one submission is required per team. After submission, contestants will be required to complete an evaluation survey and an exit phone call. The evaluation process of the posters and videos will begin immediately after the submission deadline.
Surveys and Interviews
Upon final submission, contestants will be required to complete an exit phone call and exit survey. The questions of this survey are designed to evaluate learning and effectiveness of the contest. The evaluation components are led by a third party and participants’ responses will not impact their submission evaluation in any way. The third-party firm will only share information with regard to whether contestants have completed the evaluation component with contest organizers.
If you have questions, please contact the Contest Organizer at y4y@ymcagta.org
The contest organizers reserve the right to modify, suspend or cancel the Contest for any reason, without any prior notice.
Submission originality:
All content included in the poster or video submission must be original. The submission must not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third-party rights. This includes but is not limited to: copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights. Submissions must not lead to any cause of action including libel, defamation, privacy violation, contract breach or tort. The participant must obtain all necessary permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and other approvals from third parties necessary to use the submission, in whole or in part (including but not limited to: all copyright holders and all individuals appearing in the video or poster submission), without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish, license and broadcast the video submission worldwide, by any means. Any and all such permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and approvals must be attached to the submission.
Content restrictions:
Submissions must not contain, illustrate, comment or target, without exception, any of the following:
Grant of rights:
By participating in the contest and by submitting a video, each participant:
During the Youth Impact Survey, the Top 3 poster and video submission will be shown to high school aged youth across Ontario. Based on the students’ evaluations, the Top 3 poster and video submissions will be placed in first, second and third place. The prizes will then be presented at the Y4Y Award Ceremony in June.
Longtime friends, Arshad, Akram, Rohan, and Uzair grew up in the GTA and have been making films for as long as they can remember. While these films started as a bonding experience between friends, the four recently realized their videos were of high enough quality that they could form a business around their skills. This led the four to form StartBAD studios where they create narrative, commercial, and documentary works.
Friends from high school, Alex, Paul and Liam, shared a passion for the art of film. While their post-secondary pursuits may have separated them as Alex went to study psychology at Wilfred Laurier, Paul pursued his passion for Film Production at Ryerson, and Liam refined his acting talents at the Toronto Film School. Now that all three have finished up their education Alex and Paul have teamed up to form, Just2DPs, a Toronto based production company, with Liam as their go to talent in front of the camera.
An Ottawa native, Danny has always been passionate about design. It is a passion that led him to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto on a Schulich Leaders Scholarship. While there he developed an interest in product design and prides himself on his ability to expertly balance technical functionality with aesthetics. This passion for design is also what attracted him to pursue both film and graphic design, as he found them to be the perfect creative release from his more academic pursuits. While filmmaking may have started as a hobby Danny has found great success shooting wedding videos and commercials for local businesses.
Born in South Korea, Inha has always been passionate about graphic design, and filmmaking. She finds both fields the perfect way to express herself creatively and it is this passion that led her to study at Seneca College in Toronto. While at Seneca her passion for both graphic design and filmmaking continued to grow and she continued to refine her talent, which is reflected in the fact that she is the only participant in the contest to create both a poster and video that finished in the Top 5.
A Toronto resident, Kamal is a Film Studies student at Ryerson University. A passionate storyteller from a very young age, Kamal found the medium of film to be a natural fit for the stories he wanted to tell. His excitement for storytelling led him to become both a vlogger and a youtuber, where he creates content that documents his travels and highlights his latest commercial, music video, or narrative storytelling endeavor.
Currently residing in Kingston, Colton is a student at St. Lawrence College studying Advertising and Marketing. While a student, Colton founder CLC Media, a digital media agency that assists its clients in business development, event planning, and SEO. In addition to these offerings Colton also spearheaded CLC Media’s videography and photography services, where he personally created well received advertisements for a number of local businesses.
Lucas grew up in Brantford, Ontario and attended the University of Ottawa for philosophy and psychology. While there, Lucas developed an interest in both photography and videography. Now, Lucas is always looking for opportunities to further pursue his photography and videography interests. The Youth 4 Youth Digital Media Contest was an excellent opportunity to do exactly that! Lucas enjoyed participating in the contest and is looking forward to future opportunities in this field.
Charlotte Durnford-Dionne is a recent graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she studied Advertising. Charlotte is originally from Montreal. Although Charlotte does not have extensive experience creating films, she loves learning new things and was eager to take on the challenge of the Y4Y Contest. In the future, Charlotte hopes to have a career where she can be wildly creative and bring joy to her community. Hailey Asquin is also a recent graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she studied graphic design. Hailey taught herself videography, as a lot of communication is now done through video. After graduation, Hailey strives to work in politics or for advocacy groups where she will use visual communication as a way to communicate public policy issues.
Sarah Wilson is from London, Ontario and works as a freelance videographer. Sarah also works at Best Buy as a Certified Sales Specialist, where she specializes in camera sales. In the fall of 2019, Sarah will be continuing her education at Fanshawe College for TV Broadcasting and Film Production. In the future, Sarah hopes to continue making an impact on the filmmaking community with her work and wants to make the male-dominated industry of filmmaking a place where woman can feel strong and powerful. Participating in the Youth 4 youth Digital Media Contest was another challenging, but rewarding filmmaking experience where her team had the opportunity to learn and share information that is relevant to many people these days, yet often overlook. She hopes her submission will help to educate and empower youth across Ontario!
Brian Mestdagh is also from London, Ontario and is currently enrolled in Police Foundations at Fanshawe College. Brian also works at Henry’s Camera Store as a Sony Master and Sales Specialist. Brian’s interest in film began in high school by accident, when he was placed in a film class because his desired course was full. This film class inspired a passion and creativity for film making that Brian has been developing over the past six years. Brian has been able to grow his passion of photography and make meaningful connections with others by working events such as the Juno Awards. Although Brian was hesitant at first about participating in the Y4Y Contest, Brian enjoyed the experience as he learned new design techniques and gained meaningful knowledge on non-traditional gambling forms that he has been able to share with others throughout the process.
Amir Tavassoly is a content creator on YouTube. He uses his passion for content creation in order to tell a story and raise awareness on social issues. On YouTube he is most famous for creating comedic videos and uniting people of different backgrounds and cultures through entertainment.
David Ward is a social work student with an interest in youth mental health. Video work and social change are passions he aims to pursue in his career.
Lael Nadua and Rustom Trayvilla aspire to influence and inspire people through the art of storytelling and filmmaking. They are founders of Live Forever films, their own wedding filmmaking company.
Youth use digital media to shine a light on gambling. Meet our contest winners!
• Take an active role and join the Youth jury to help shortlist 5 submissions! Youth jury participants will receive compensation for their participation as a jury member. If interested, please email the contest organizer at: y4y@ymcagta.org
• Vote for your favourite video during the public voting period!
• Register with your intent to participate in the contest and showcase your digital skills by creating a 60-90 video on the contest topic.
• Participate in the public voting process by voting for your favourite video.
• Help us promote the contest to those you might think are interested.
• Join the Contest Organizer’s jury and help us shortlist the top 8 videos and provide valuable feedback to participants!
Follow the Y
