Another Musicbed Challenge brought bigger swings, unexpected stories, and seriously unforgettable filmmaking. Huge thanks to everyone who took an idea and actually made the thing.
Now for the good part: meet this year’s winners for Best Spec Ad, Best Narrative, Best Documentary, and People’s Choice, sharing more than $65K in grants and gear.
MUSICBED CHALLENGE SUMMER 2026 WINNERS
BEST SPEC AD: VOID – Wear Through Time
FEATURED MUSIC FROM MUSICBED
CREW
Written and Directed by Aksa Lima @aksalimaa
Starring: Sarah Ochieng @sarahhh.a.o
Starring: Izzy Rocha @izzybizzyspider
Director of Photography: Luisa Dalé @luisadale
Producer: Caio Oliveira @caiocesarapt
Location Manager: Amanda Sayeg @amandapsayeg
Editor: Nathalia Deraco @natderaco
Music and Sound Design: João Parisi @oialfie
Color: Juana Solassi @juanasolassi.cc
Still Photography: Palu Bertissoli @palu___bertissolli
Thanks: Paula Neves, Taiom Silva, Thales Banzai @ttlens @taiomvct @thalesbanzai
JUDGES’ FEEDBACK
From Video & GFX Director at WHOOP, Zack McCabe | WHOOP
This piece was very impressive overall. The emotional tact, the way the track latently amplified everything I was already feeling, and the power of the VO delivery all worked together beautifully. Being thrown into this simpler world, one where love, loss, and time are all pulling at your attention, was deeply affecting. The camera work felt curious and expressive. There was an innocence to it that made the piece feel raw in the best way.
For much of the piece, I stopped thinking about it as an advert and started experiencing it as a short film, one where the world was small but the ideas and the emotions were big. That is a meaningful achievement. Which is why the end card felt so disruptive. I felt thoroughly bamboozled. I had forgotten the piece was trying to sell me something at all, and when the branding suddenly asserted itself, the transition felt clunky enough to break the spell. Almost like a betrayal of the intimacy the film had worked so hard to build.
For me, that is the biggest opportunity. The brand needs to be integrated more organically into the story so the commercial reveal becomes like a continuation of the emotional experience, not an interruption of it. The film earns a great deal of trust from the viewer. The final moments should preserve that trust rather than remind us that we were watching an ad.
From Freelance Senior Producer, Riley Carithers | Adidas, Nike, Amazon, Puma, Maybelline
Beauuuutifull cinematography. The visuals felt really thoughtfully composed, and I particularly thought the shifting from warm scenes to the cooler shots is executed wonderfully.
From a storytelling perspective, I quite liked how I was unclear what the relationship was between the two women – it could be romantic or it could be friendship. And both of those relationships hold equally important weight in our lives, and I think finding a clear human connection within a fashion film-style video that doesn’t feel like a cliche can be quite tough, and not something many fashion brands do well. So very much kudos on executing that across concept, visuals and VO.
The song choice works really well; it’s quite easy for uplifting classical to feel cheesy in an ad, but the selection here works well because the track has enough unique sounds in it (echo-y vocals, etc) that it elevates the story and maintains a level of modernity within the music that feels fresh.
From Creative Director and Co-Founder at Guesthouse, Wes Whitener | Travelocity, Coca-Cola, Magic Spoon, Beyond Meat
Wow the cinematography and lensing on this are top tier. It also was tasteful in color grading, editing, and finish. The music ties in beautifully. I just wish you had pushed the story a bit more. You set up a premise about time, and it’s clearly a recurring motif, but nothing happens in the ad to show what you’re trying to say about time even – though the visuals and dialogue are both interesting and beautiful.
If there had been one twist – like the girlfriend disappears during the hug at the end and the main character is left alone, as she was thinking about her memories – or if we had gone backwards in time to the day they met after opening the spot on their breakup – that could have helped create an emotional point of view that’s missing by the end. But the visuals and music and editing are all best in class. Nice work!
From Editor at Cut + Run, Tyrone Rhabb | Samsung, Patrón, Disney, Apple, Fitbit
Great film! It’s beautifully shot, beautifully paced and I think the VO and music do a great job tying it all together. I really get a sense of the women and their relationship. It feels like a very strong and cohesive piece.
he only thing that takes me out is the logo and end VO. The logo itself doesn’t have the same production value as the film itself and the VO takes me out because I’m like “who is that?”. The VO isn’t needed, and if it needs to be there, it should be the woman who’s speaking the entire time. Otherwise, this is an awesome spec!
SPEC AD FINALISTS
BEST NARRATIVE: Refined
FEATURED MUSIC FROM MUSICBED
CREW
Director/DP: @josh.heinrich
Producers: @itsjoeterranova & @josh.heinrich
1st AC: @mosesbuckwalter
2nd AC: @ean.mealey
Gaffer: @natehoskins
Grip: @kerwinbrackbill
Grip: @bmcmphoto
Gear: @trioderentals @madebyreverie
PA: @creatively.vp
Art PA: @jadendrewkeyser
Prop Supply: @tiffanyechowolf
VFX: @christopheraumen
Studio: @makefilmsco
Actors: @eddytoruohno, @jacobxglen, @em.glasser
Sponsorship: @trioderentals
JUDGES’ FEEDBACK
From director at GRÜER, Morgan Gruer | Barbie, Google, Red Bull, Burt’s Bees
I was transported by the magical realism / VFX scenes, particularly the tornado in the water glass (how was that achieved?!), and the lighting and particles in the air in the portal scene. The score was excellent, and really elevated the film and helped shape its arc.
The narrative wasn’t always super clear, but it was strongly evocative of a feeling, which seems like the intention for a mood-piece. Well done.
From director of photography, Mason Charles | Adidas, 6lack, Janji
Great work! Really loved the snow elements and the music cue towards the end when he’s interacting with the glowing portal. Sick stuff, dude
From director Jonah Haber | Toronto Raptors, Bayer, Microsoft, Tate McRae
This was beautifully captured! I thought all the decisions from the technical POV were extremely strong.
It did feel as though the priority was on striking imagery rather than story, and as a result, the impact of the images didn’t land as strongly as I would have hoped. I would have wanted to understand who the characters are a bit more, what connects them, what is driving the story, etc.
Absolutely stunning visual work!
From SVP, Group Director of Production, Brian Gonsar | Bank of America, GE, PepsiCo, Dunkin’, Cadillac
The production value, effects, and performances were top-notch – very impressed by it. The music and sound design played well to fit the mood and move the story along.
I didn’t find it to be a compelling or memorable storyline…I was struggling to find a thread or a payoff. Felt like it could be a really cool music video.
From director Ale Vidal | Apple, Canon, American Eagle, Google, Starbucks
I found this piece incredibly visually poetic. There was so much beauty and sensory detail to take in, and I loved how much room the music gave the visuals to sing. It felt less like the song was telling me what to feel and more like it was creating an atmosphere for the film to live inside, which I thought was really effective.
The sound design was also brilliant. That synchronized moment with the scream at 2:10 genuinely gave me chills.
Where I found myself wanting a little more was in the storytelling. Because the poem itself felt quite abstract, and the visual language was also very abstract, I never felt completely anchored in the story or the characters. I was absolutely invested in the rhythm of the piece, and my senses were delighted by the sound, imagery, and beauty of it, but if I only had the opportunity to watch it once, I’m not sure I could tell someone what it was about.
I think pairing the poem with subtitles (designed to visually match the tone of the film) could really help the words sit with us a little longer.
The texture of the narrator’s voice is beautiful, but at times the VO moves so quickly that I found myself trying to catch what he had just said while the film was already moving on.
Overall, this is a piece I would genuinely love to unpack with the director. I found myself wanting to ask about the visual symbolism, what those images meant to him, and the choices he made in translating the poem into something visual.
NARRATIVE FINALISTS
BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Grandfather Train
FEATURED MUSIC FROM MUSICBED
CREW
Cinematographer, Editor, Director – Alexander Monelli (@Monellifilms)
JUDGES’ FEEDBACK
From Senior Director of Multimedia at William & Mary, Lisa Crawford
What I love about this documentary is both the simplicity and complexity of the answer behind the question, “”why?”” Why does this corner train display exist? The narrative layers that you were able to pull out of the interviewee in a short amount of time speaks to your ability as a producer, interviewer and documentarian. It takes trust to get the level of depth out of a subject in a short amount of time. Kudos to you!
Technically, you had a small space to work with and you did a great job with the cinematography you were able to capture. I did notice there seemed to be a different resolution used between the interview and the broll, so I found the edging between the shots a bit distracting. The music added well to the piece. However, I found the quiet moments with the narrative and natural sound of the trains to be more impactful.
From film director + writer, Parker Foster | NFL, Lexus, Betterhelp
First of all, beautiful story. I feel a great doc is one that when it ends you want to know more about the subject and story. I hope maybe you explore a longer form project with him and dig into the complexities of family, hobbies and how strange life can be. Like he said, strangers appreciate this but the people he loves don’t even know it exists, or don’t care to know. The model train shots started to feel repetitive and the score seemed to volley back and forth and feel repetitive as well. I think you hit a strong note at the end with that country song. That music backed with the americana location really tied the world together. Keep exploring this story. I feel you just scratched the surface and there is a deeper story there about family, loss and love you could explore. Congrats!
From Independent Creative Director / Director, Ian Liu | Meta, Ford, Oakley, Marriott, Amazon Studios, NBA
The reveal of the state of the family dynamic was interesting. It was intriguing and as a viewer I was pulled in. Through the response and facial reaction it was clear that this was a sensitive topic. It was clear that it was hard to talk about for him. Taking that into consideration I wonder if there was other ways to reveal a little bit more on why he has become estranged to his family.
Minor note, the moment when the person behind the camera was talking, it was a little hard to hear so having some subtitles on screen would have made it better to comprehend what the person was asking.
DOCUMENTARY FINALISTS
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: MCON Arrival
FEATURED MUSIC FROM MUSICBED
CREW
Writer, Director, Producer: Tim Cheek
Cinematographer, Editor, Sound Designer, VFX: JD Hoggard
Actor: Kenny Sale
First AC: Ryan Ke
Key Grip, Game Dev: Wes Phillips
Motorcycle Driver: Nicholas Van Orden
“Alien” Figure: James Stone
A special thanks to all who submitted their films, our panel of judges for their time and feedback, and our sponsors and partners. We look forward to next year’s competition!
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