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How good a judge are you? That was the challenge that the Inspiring Stories team posed to The Big Idea. We were invited to judge a new category in this year's Inspiring Stories Film Competition and to use our discerning eyes, ears and minds.

The competition is designed to showcase and celebrate young New Zealanders making a difference in their community. 'Make a film, make a difference!' is their tagline. It follows on from the Inspiring Stories national road trip, where their team has run events in more than 25 centres nationwide including workshops in secondary schools and community film screening evenings.

Guy Ryan from Inspiring Stories says "We believe the stories we tell define who we are as people, as communities, as a nation. Stories shape our attitudes and behaviour. They can give us hope and inspire action. Our vision is to harness the power of storytelling for a better world. Our mission is to showcase and celebrate New Zealanders taking action – making a difference."

This sits perfectly with the values of The Big Idea so sponsoring The Big Idea Creativity & Culture Award made total sense. We had entries from a range of ages - 13 to 25 (plus a couple of parents helping out). Our brief was to look for films that celebrate creative expression and innovation and choose three finalists.

We were looking for the filmmakers of tomorrow; able to tell a simple, compelling story in a creative way. To encourage them in further filmmaking the winner of this category receives free use of the Sound Room's extensive original music library for their next production.  As part of this prize the winning team will be offered musical and technical advice from Marshall Smith and Tom Fox [leading film & TV composers].

The three finalists for the The Big Idea Creativity & Culture Award are:

• Jeremy - by Tim Hamilton
• My friend Harriet - by Lindsay Horne
• The Power of Change - by Ben Cowper, Lauren Graham and others from Matapuna Training Centre

Watch their videos below and see more in The Big Idea Inspiring Stories gallery.

Jeremy from Tim Hamilton on Vimeo.

My Friend Harriet from Lindsey Horne on Vimeo.