Higgsfield conducted the largest AI video contest: 139 countries, $500,000, and Kazakhstani jurors

Higgsfield startup has concluded the Action Contest — an international AI film competition that became the largest in history among independent generative platforms. The contest received 8,752 entries from 139 countries, with a total prize fund of $500,000. The films were judged by an international jury comprising specialists who worked on Hollywood blockbusters and music videos, as well as creators from Almaty who have long become part of the global industry. Among the winners was a Kazakhstani citizen, Myrzkhan, who received $10,000 for his work.

The grand prize of $150,000 was awarded to directors from the US and Germany — Muhanad Nassar and Simon Meyer. They had never met before and worked on the film remotely, located in different time zones, using Higgsfield's Cinema Studio tool. Contest statistics demonstrate how artificial intelligence is changing the geography of film production: the largest number of applications came from India — 1,805, followed by the US — 1,041, Germany — 278, France — 230, Italy — 228, Brazil — 212, the UK — 196, and Kazakhstan — 105.

Historically, the creation of visual effects and action scenes was concentrated in major studio hubs such as Los Angeles; however, the development of AI tools is blurring these boundaries and opening access to the industry for authors from around the world.

Yerzat Dulat, CTO and co-founder of Higgsfield

The jury included prominent industry figures, including Yelaman Buralkiy, founder of the Almaty-based studio Buralqy and a participant in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, who worked with The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Kanye West, and the Adidas brand; concept artist Dzhama Zhubayev, who participated in projects such as Jurassic World 2, Star Wars, Kong: Skull Island, and Ready Player One; as well as Medet Shayakhmetov and Ayan Isin from PBC Worldwide, known for their collaboration with Scriptonite. Additionally, the works were evaluated by Emmy Award winner and founder of the AI studio Secret Level, Jason Zadai; CEO of the agency Genre.ai, PJ Ace; and the founder of the educational hub for AI creators, Rourke.

First place was taken by the comedic short film GRANDMA vs WASP, created by Muhanad Nassar and Simon Meyer. The jury noted the precise rhythm, character consistency, and choreography of the action scenes.

Second place was awarded to the film CUPID directed by Nikolai Shestak from Latvia — a story about a hero with angel wings who tries to restore peace in a world full of noise and aggression. The work attracted the jury's attention with its expressive visual style and depth of theme. The director noted that he began his journey in AI filmmaking by using language models to write scripts, and then moved on to generative video, which allowed for the realization of large-scale projects even with a limited budget. He plans to invest the prize money into creating a post-Soviet superhero film.

Third place was taken by the film SCRATCH, created in five days by brothers Ash Gevorgyan and Aram Gevorgyan — a story about two crash-test dummies dreaming of freedom. The production level was so high that viewers mistook the work for a trailer for a full-fledged studio film.

Another 20 authors received honorable mentions and $10,000 each. Most finalists plan to invest the prize money into new projects, and one of the winners has already launched production of a feature film featuring a well-known Hollywood actor. The Action Contest is part of a broader Higgsfield strategy to support independent creators: through prize funds, the Higgsfield Earn program, and software credits, the company has already distributed over $4.75 million among creators. The Higgsfield platform is an ecosystem of generative video and images for creators, brands, and production teams, combining its own developments and solutions from leading technology companies, including OpenAI, Google, Alibaba, and Kuaishou. Today, the platform is used by more than 20 million people who have created over 50 million videos.