Every Carson City Shorts competition ends with the same exciting question: What will the judges think? While there’s no magic formula for making an award-winning short, our returning judges have watched a lot of films over the years. They’ve seen incredible performances, clever uses of our required prompts, ambitious ideas that paid off, technical wizardry,
One of the quickest ways to make your short film look better is also one of the things new filmmakers tend to overlook: Light it. That doesn’t mean you need a truck full of professional movie lights. You probably already have more lighting equipment around your house than you realize. Lamps, flashlights, windows, TVs, computer
Every Carson City Shorts Film Competition gives filmmakers the same basic challenge: receive a set of required prompts and create an original 5–9 minute short film in just two weeks. It sounds a little intimidating… and it can be if you don’t have a plan. But we’ve watched teams do it again and again with
Happy National Dog Day! Horror movies have given us plenty of reasons to be suspicious of dark basements, creepy children, old houses, and anything that moves after we were positive we just killed it. But dogs? Dogs are supposed to be the good guys! Of course, horror filmmakers figured out a long time ago that
There’s something about a circus that already feels like it’s halfway to becoming a horror movie. Maybe it’s the empty midway after dark, the calliope music drifting from somewhere you can’t quite see, or the fact that clowns were apparently designed to make children laugh and somehow ended up terrifying half the population. Actually, there’s
The stars aligned once again on Saturday, June 6th, as filmmakers, actors, crew members, and science fiction fans gathered at Brewery Arts Center in Carson City, NV, for Moon Rocks 2026, Northern Nevada’s annual sci-fi short film competition presented by Silver State Storytellers. This year, a record-breaking 43 teams accepted the challenge. Armed with only
What an incredible day we had at the Moon Rocks Sci-Fi Short Film Competition! The energy at the Brewery Arts Center was absolutely electric as we celebrated the imaginative brilliance of local filmmakers who brought their sci-fi visions to life. From mind-bending stories to jaw-dropping special effects, every film was a true work of art.
If you’ve ever watched a sci-fi movie and thought, “Wow, how did they do that?”—well, you’re not alone. The magic of visual effects can make or break a sci-fi film, but let’s be real—creating jaw-dropping VFX doesn’t always require a Hollywood budget. Whether you’re working with an indie crew or DIYing your dream project, there
Okay, filmmakers, gather around, because it’s time to get your world-building skills in tip-top shape. Creating a believable, immersive sci-fi world is like throwing a fabulous party. If you get the details right, your guests will want to stay forever. But if you don’t… well, they’ll be out the door faster than you can say
Recently, my partner Taylor—who’s more of a devout Trekkie—admitted he hadn’t seen all the Star Wars films. So, we embarked on a binge-watch of every Star Wars movie in timeline order, including some of my personal favorites, Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story (we did not include any of the TV series nor did we watch the
