LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Mediacom and C-SPAN are announcing the start of this year’s annual student documentary competition and encourage middle school and high school students to participate in the video documentary competition known as “StudentCam.”

Students are asked to create a short video documentary and submit it online between Nov. 1, 2018, and Jan. 20, 2019.

This year marks the 15th Annual StudentCam competition, and the new topic for 2019 submissions is “What does it mean to be American?”

As they think critically about that question, students are asked to evaluate a constitutional right, national characteristic, or historic event and explain how it defines the American experience.

Participants present their views by creating a short video documentary, five to seven minutes in length.

Students can work in teams or individually to create their videos.

Cash prizes of up to $100,000 in total will be awarded to winning documentaries.

Winners will be announced in March 2019 and the top-rated videos will be televised on C-SPAN in April 2019.

Complete competition details and entry forms are available on the C-SPAN StudentCam Web site http://www.studentcam.org.

C-SPAN is a public service created and supported by the American cable television industry, including Mediacom. The public affairs networks operate commercial-free without government tax dollars, and Mediacom provides its video subscribers with access to all three C-SPAN networks.