FAQs
Am I or is my child eligible to enter?
All performers must be between 5 and 18, currently in kindergarten through grade 12. If submitting on Instagram, we will follow up with a message to submit a parent’s permission form. Filling out said form is required to be considered for any level of scholarship. Applicants may not perform, teach, compose, or create art professionally in the category in which they apply. Artists who are professionally represented (under management) are not eligible to compete in the category for which they are represented, nor are employees of Usdan, their immediate family members, or anyone living in the same household. Applicants must live in New York City or on Long Island at the time of submission and may need to provide proof of residency upon request. All decisions of eligibility by Usdan are at Usdan’s sole and absolute discretion and are final.
How do I submit?
Share reels on Instagram answering the appropriate prompt for your age group by tagging @usdanarts or by uploading your reel directly to Usdan with your application. Students must be over the age of 13 to submit on their own Instagram account. Parents can submit for students under the age of 13. Submissions and permission forms will be accepted until Wednesday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. E.T.
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Incomplete entries, entries not timely submitted, or not otherwise in compliance with these official submission rules will not be considered. Usdan reserves the right to determine at its discretion whether any entry does not meet the requirements of these submission rules and should therefore not be considered or should be disqualified for any other reason.
Do I have to submit on Instagram?
No! You can submit your video online via this form.
How do I know if I received a scholarship?
In mid-May 2025, Usdan will announce the scholarship recipients. Full scholarship recipients will be notified in advance.
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If for any reason there is an insufficient number of qualified submissions or if Usdan determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that no or too few submissions meet the judging standards to win, Usdan reserves the right to not award any scholarships or award fewer scholarships. Winners must be available to attend camp for one of the 4-week sessions from June 30, 2025 through August 22, 2025. If a selected winner does not enroll or confirm availability and participation within five days of being notified, a replacement recipient may be chosen. Partial scholarship award winners will receive an email with the scholarship amount and details.
How are recipients selected?
A team of Usdan staff will view and adjudicate all submissions. Recipients will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Passion (a unique ability to communicate love through your art)
- Creativity (a uniquely individual approach with a high level of impact on the audience)
Official Rules
GENERAL
By submitting to Usdan’s Reel Love Challenge, participants agree to these official rules, and that Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, its agents and employees will have no liability whatsoever for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind resulting from their use or participation in the call for performances for this program. Prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash. There can be no substitutions for a prize of equal or greater value. Copyright for the entries will remain solely with the artists, and no assignment of copyright shall be implied by virtue of making a submission; however, by entering this call for art and the program you are giving Usdan irrevocable permission to use your entry online and in promotional materials. Each entrant grants irrevocable permission to Usdan and those acting under its authority to use his/her name, photograph, voice and/or likeness, for advertising and/or publicity purposes, as well as all submissions and performances in any and all media now known or hereinafter invented without territorial or time limitations and without compensation.
Usdan is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete or delayed submissions; all of which will be void. Usdan is not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any submission to be received by Usdan on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the Internet or the website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled, or misdirected communications which may limit an entrant’s ability to participate in this program. Usdan is not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human or otherwise relating to or in connection with this Program, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the Program, the processing or judging of submissions, the announcement of the winners or in any Program-related materials. Mass entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified.
Usdan reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate this Program in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend this Program in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Program and, if terminated, at Usdan’s discretion, determine the winner(s) using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to the time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of entry will be deemed to be the contestant and must comply with these official rules. Usdan reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void their submissions) if Usdan finds the entrant is tampering with the entry process or the operation of this Program, or otherwise acting in violation of these official rules.
RESTRICTIONS
Restrictions may apply. By participating in Usdan’s Reel Love Challenge, a participant agrees to be bound by these official rules, and by all decisions of Usdan staff and contest judges.
ARBITRATION & CHOICE OF LAW
Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Program, entrant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Program, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest to Usdan; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, and entrant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have any damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these official rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Usdan in connection with this Program, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of New York, USA without regard to New York choice of law rules.
SPONSOR
Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, 185 Colonial Springs Road, Wheatley Heights, NY 11798, Tel: (631) 643-7900.