Jeff the Killer is a foundational figure of the Creepypasta genre—horror urban legends that went viral through "copy and paste" across the early internet. The character's viral success wasn't due to a single, consistent narrative, but the terrifying power of his image. The iconic picture—a heavily edited, pale face with no eyelids and a permanent, carved smile—acted as a self-contained scare. It circulated across the web before the most popular accompanying story, detailing a teenager's descent into madness after being burned, was popularized on the website Creepypasta and on YouTube.

Jeff's status as an internet horror icon is defined by this crowd-sourced, adaptable lore. His popularity immediately spawned a massive wave of user-generated content, including the famous catchphrase "Go to sleep," numerous fan-fiction continuations and countless animated videos and fan art. This organic, communal expansion cemented Jeff as one of the most recognizable horror figures to emerge from the digital age, a true meme that demonstrated the early internet's ability to create and distribute a shared, terrifying piece of modern folklore.

Your poster does NOT need to adhere to any established lore, but can certainly be inspired by it.

The time has come for a legend of internet horror lore to be immortalized into a movie poster. Readers undoubtedly know the disturbing image that mysteriously appeared on the internet and introduced us to Jeff The Killer. One terrifying image that led to the rise of a horror icon. In that same tradition, we're calling on fans to create a movie poster that not only captures the essence of Jeff The Killer but also pushes it to new creative heights. 

The goal of this project is to design an original movie poster that will be used on social media to generate awareness and excitement for the upcoming production of the film. Your poster should use bold artistry and visionary design to showcase the horror, suspense, and other elements that make the Jeff The Killer stories so enduring for you. Like all good movie posters it should create excitement and appeal to original story fans, as well as draw in those who may have never heard of Jeff. We want to see bold creativity paired with respect for the Jeff The Killer legacy. Show us how your vision stands out from the crowd while celebrating what makes Jeff The Killer an internet cultural touchstone.

In terms of text, there's no need for a "credit block" at the bottom of your poster, but you're welcome to design an original title block with "Jeff The Killer."

Check out more information in the Background, and for any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.

Three different winning designers will receive $1000 for their poster artwork.

To enter your design submission, you must:

1. Be 16 years or older
2. Log-in to, or create, a Tongal Account
3. Upload your Pitch submission to Tongal through the "Submissions" tab of the project page (above)
4. Fill out the required information on the Submission Form and click "Submit Pitch" button

EXPOSURE: 

• Digital Platforms such as YouTube and Instagram
• Film Festivals

TARGET AUDIENCE: 

• Young Horror Enthusiasts (ages 16-35) who are highly engaged with internet culture and modern horror.

TONE/FEEL: Intense, Cinematic, Dreadful, Modern, Humor, Camp, Action, essentially anything goes as long as it sits within the horror genre.

DELIVERABLES:

• One original poster design (4x5 aspect ratio)

EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES: 

• Your design should be suitable for a general audience.
• Your poster must be wholly original and not previously published, licensed, sold, used, released, distributed, or otherwise exploited        in any form. Your poster must not also have previously won any award.
• Your poster may NOT include third party materials (e.g., artwork, logos, photographs, etc.).
• Your poster may NOT contain any output from an AI image generator.

AI USAGE: Tongal has always been driven by the human creativity that comes from the creators and filmmakers in our community, and we believe that this project will succeed because of the creativity and the passion of real people and real fans. We're not looking for AI-generated submissions and we won't be using submissions to train AI to tell this story. We understand that you might still use AI tools to help workshop or edit, but the designs and illustrations that you submit should represent your own original work and ideas.

In order to be considered, you must include the below materials in your Poster Artwork submission. You may submit up to five times. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period, but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors.  

• ARTWORK (REQUIRED): Upload an image of your completed Poster Artwork in either PDF, PNG, or JPG. Note that if you are selected, you may be required to provide high-resolution 300 DPI layered file (.psd, .ai, etc.)  of your Artwork, if it's created digitally.

1. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
   
   
2. BY SUBMITTING, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES - SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
   
   
3. You may not contact any employees or members of the Sponsor's organization, their affiliates, or any of their partners. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disqualification of your entry in the project.
   
   
4. In addition to the judging criteria stated in the OFFICIAL RULES, Pitches will also be evaluated on that member's ability to execute the final Video based on their prior work and experience as a creator.
   
   
5. Submissions must be in the English language or subtitled.
   
   
6. Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor, nor can Submissions contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.
   
   
7. You must be at least sixteen (16) years or older to enter.
   
   
8. The Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest.
   
   
9. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.