The UK Music Video Awards for 2020 is now open! 

The UKMVAs, dedicated to celebrating the best work in music videos from the UK and around the world, has opened its doors today (June 23rd), welcoming entries in its largest ever show, in the most remarkable circumstances in its 12-year history.

The UKMVAs - the leading global awards programme for music video creativity and craft - is accepting work accomplished in the UK and around the world in music video and music film during the past year, including the months of the Covid-19 crisis. Together with its usual range of honours under the usual headings of Best Video by Music Genre, Technical Achievement and Individual and Company, several new awards have been added this year.

Two new awards have been added to the Individual and Company honours: Best Agent, to recognise the representatives of directors, cinematographers, and other professionals whose craft is essential to the success of music video-making; and Best Post Production Company, as voted for by the industry for a body of work over the past 12 months. Also, Best Music Film is a new award for longform music-based programming, from concert film to TV specials, festival coverage to music documentary.

Furthermore, recent events have underlined to the team behind the UK Music Video Awards that it was time to rework the Music Genre categories at the UKMVAs. These have now been expanded, with the addition of Best R&B/Soul Video and Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Video. These categories replace the previous Best Urban Video category. As with the other music genre categories – for Pop, Dance/Electronic, Rock & Alternative – three awards are given in each category, for Best UK, International and Newcomer (the latter for videos with budgets under GB£8K or non-sterling equivalent only).

Finally the UKMVAs have also added Best Lockdown Video for 2020 as a one-off award, designed to celebrate the work created under the extraordinary quarantine conditions of recent months. These join the range of awards returning for the 13th running of the UKMVAs, many which will be supported by the awards' existing partners.

As in previous years, there is also a full range of technical achievement awards, for work in Animation, Cinematography, Choreography,  Colour Grading, Editing, Production Design, Styling and VFX. The other five categories for Individual Achievement over the course of the past year – for Best Director, Best New Director, Best Producer, Best Commissioner and Best Video Artist - all return once again, together with the Best Production Company Award.

Introduced to the UKMVAs in 2019, the Special Video Project award returns for its second year, as well as the award for Best Live Video. Two further awards will be presented on the night, the Icon Award - recognising an individual's outstanding career in music videos - and Video of the Year.

The UK Music Video Awards 2020 is now open and accepting entries at the UKMVAs website in over 30 separate categories. The competition is open for work completed between August 1st 2019 and July 31st 2020. Submissions should be made until the entry deadline at midnight, August 3rd 2020 (BST). The award categories are:

Best Pop Video – UK
Best R&B / Soul Video – UK
Best Dance / Electronic Video – UK
Best Rock Video – UK
Best Alternative Video – UK
Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – UK
Best Pop Video – International
Best R&B / Soul Video – International  
Best Dance / Electronic Video – International
Best Rock Video – International
Best Alternative Video – International
Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – International
Best Pop Video – Newcomer
Best R&B / Soul Video – Newcomer  
Best Dance / Electronic Video – Newcomer
Best Rock Video – Newcomer
Best Alternative Video – Newcomer
Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – Newcomer
Best Lockdown Video
Best Live Video
Best Special Video Project
Best Music Film
Best Production Design in a Video
Best Styling in a Video
Best Choreography in a Video
Best Cinematography in a Video
Best Colour Grading in a Video
Best Editing in a Video
Best Visual Effects in a Video
Best Animation in a Video
Best Producer
Best Production Company
Best Post Production Company
Best Commissioner
Best Agent
Best New Director
Best Director
Video Of The Year
The Icon Award

The UKMVAs will culminate in a celebration of world-beating visual work on 29th October 2020. Currently there is uncertainty in how it will take place – although it remains possible that the ceremony could be held at The Roundhouse in London for the fifth successive year.

We’ll do all we can to bring the music filmmaking community together to celebrate their achievements.

Louise Stevens, the UKMVAs' Event Director, says: “While it’s impossible to confirm right now what form the final celebrations will take, we’re committed to delivering an awards programme which not only honours the best in the business, but which gives new filmmaking talent a chance to showcase their work to the cream of the industry, ensuring that the medium remains the hotbed for creativity that we know it to be.

She continues: “We know that the UKMVAs holds a special place in people’s hearts and we’ll do all we can to bring the music filmmaking community together – whether in person or virtually – to celebrate their achievements.”

Since its inception in 2008, the UKMVAs has grown into the most important annual event in the calendar for the world of music video production. The global reach of the competition last year saw entries from over 30 different territories, with filmmakers from around the world nominated alongside both new and established British talent.

The organisers remain committed to delivering a world-class competition in 2020 despite the effects of the pandemic. Through a series of outreach programmes with partners, the MVAs hopes to uncover some of the globe’s freshest filmmaking talent for this year’s competition, as well as to highlight the best creatives the UK and other more established filmmaking territories have to offer.

After the submission period ends at the beginning of August, two stages of judging will take place in most categories. The normal practice of having judging panels meet in the second stage of the judging process will happen if it is regarded as safe to do so, otherwise this will occur via video conferencing.  

David Knight, Editorial Director of the UKMVAs, adds: “For obvious reasons this promises to be a very special UK Music Video Awards. Whatever happens in the months ahead, the UKMVAs 2020 will be a unique and unforgettable year. The journey to the ceremony in October – at The Roundhouse or otherwise – starts now.”

• UK Music Video Awards website here