How To Play

The Object of the Game

Each week, three dice generate a one-minute filmmaking prompt. You make a film that follows it. Films screen live in Atlanta on Monday nights and live permanently in the online archive.

There is no end and there are no prizes. Players accumulate frames, badges, and seasons over time, building a permanent body of work. The game continues for as long as you keep playing.

A Round Is One Week

Every round begins and ends at exactly 11:48 PM Eastern Time on Monday. Set your watch to it.

1. 1
   The Roll. At Monday 11:48 PM ET, three physical dice are rolled at the live show. The result — e.g. KTL32R — is your week’s rule code.
2. 2
   Read your prompt. Look up your three dice in the map at the top of this page. Your full prompt is your D6 + your D10 + the word AND + your D20.
3. 3
   Make your film. You have about 7 days to make a one-minute film that follows the prompt. Max runtime 63 seconds, uploadable to YouTube (public or unlisted), one film per player per week.
4. 4
   Submit. Paste your YouTube link into the form at kicktheladder.com/submit, add credits, location, and any flags. The form auto-checks link privacy, runtime, and duplicates.
5. 5
   The deadlines. Live-show filmmakers: Monday 11:48 AM ET. Everyone else: Monday 11:48 PM ET. After the online cutoff, a film doesn’t count for that week.
6. 6
   The live show (optional). Monday night in Atlanta. Films screen in order with a brief Q&A after each. To screen, you must be there in person. Then the next week’s dice roll on stage at 11:48 PM ET.
7. 7
   Archive. At the roll’s premiere time — set by the host, commonly the morning after the show — every submitted film goes public by default: its own film page, the week’s archive page, and every credited person’s scorecard. The YouTube link locks once the roll closes; credits and description stay editable.

Not ready to share it with the world? You don’t have to.
You can keep any film private — it stays hidden from the public and the archive (nobody sees it without the link), yet it still counts toward your frames and everyone’s credits.
Nothing you make is ever forced public. Upload it to YouTube as unlisted, import it here, and set it to Private — play for the milestones without putting the film out there.

How to Read a Rule Code

A rule code is always KTL followed by the three dice, in order:

KTL32R = Exactly 3 props AND camera must not move more than 10 feet from a single point.

KTL47H = Exactly 4 people involved (including you) AND all shots must be handheld.

D6 is the amount (always “exactly N”). D10 is the resource it counts — props, people, cuts, words, locations, and more. D20 is the creative constraint, one fixed rule per consonant. Every value, with what it means, lives in the interactive dice map at the top of this page — roll the sample or expand any row. A few D10 values (6, 7, 0) trigger special modes — see Special Rules.

Special Rules

A · Runtime Override D10 = 6

Your film must be exactly D6 × 10 seconds long. The form rejects anything more than 3 seconds over.

B · Shorter Week D10 = 7

Some rolls give you less than the usual week. When that happens, the site simply shows your exact deadline and a live countdown — just watch the clock and submit before it hits. On these rolls, the online and live-show deadlines are the same.

C · Letter-Only Mode D10 = 0

The Resource is skipped. The D6 plugs straight into the letter rule’s ( ) placeholder.

• KTL30Z → Exactly 3 shots must be interior/inside.
• KTL50R → Camera must not move more than 5 feet from a single point.
• KTL40G → Exactly 4 shots must be filmed with a phone camera.

D · The Oner D6 = 1, D10 = 0

A special compound roll — the simplest one. The rule shifts to its tightest form: (All) becomes “entirely,” (at least 1) becomes “exactly 1,” and (10) becomes 1. The “A ONER:” prefix is part of the official rule.

• KTL10H → A ONER: entirely handheld.
• KTL10P → A ONER: entirely POV/point of view.
• KTL10B → A ONER: break the fourth wall exactly 1 time.

E · The Base Set beginner mode

A beginner-friendly subset for school events, library rolls, family games — every roll completable on a phone in about an hour.

• D10 → D6 (only values 1–6 — no specials)
• D20 → D13 (only consonants D F G H K M P R S T V X Z)
• 468 possible codes, vs 1,200 in the full set.

Credits & the 6 Roles

Every film has exactly one Director — the person who submitted it, set automatically. Everyone else is added through the credits form. One person can hold multiple roles on a film; each role gets its own line on the film page.

Scoring

Frames — the basic unit

The atomic point of progress, named for 24-fps film.

• Direct a film → 1 Director frame, always.
• Get credited on someone else’s film → 24 credits in a role = 1 frame in that role.

For any single film you get one type of scoring: if you directed it, that’s 1 Director frame — full stop (crediting yourself as actor / writer / editor on your own film earns nothing extra). If you didn’t direct it, your role credits count toward that role’s frames.

Tier 1 vs Tier 2

If you hold multiple roles on a film you didn’t direct:

• Tier 1 (always counts): Writer, Actor, Camera, Post-Production. Each Tier 1 role on the same film counts separately.
• Tier 2 (only if no Tier 1): Crew, Executive Producer. They stack with each other but are blocked by any Tier 1.

Example: Actor + Crew + EP on one film → only Actor counts. But Crew + EP alone → both count (nothing is blocking them).

S-Level — your filmmaker season

Your overall progress level: S-Level = floor( total frames ÷ 24 ). 24 total frames = S1, 48 = S2, and on forever.

Badges — earned per role

Each role has its own ladder. Every 24 credits in a role = one tier: 24 acting credits = ACTOR ×1, 48 = ACTOR ×2, and so on. Only your current top tier in each role shows on your profile.

Rule Code Challenges — Numbers & Consonants

Two grids tracked from films you’ve directed only:

• Numbers — the D10 digits 0–9 you’ve directed a film for (10 total).
• Consonants — the D20 letters B–Z you’ve directed a film for (20 total).

Level 1 = at least one film for every value; Level 2 = at least two for every value; levels stack. The D6 isn’t tracked (it’s the amount, not a unique resource). These count as extra frames toward your S-Level.

Optional Actions

The Debut

Your first film ever shown to a live audience anywhere — KTL or otherwise. A one-time milestone. If you’ve ever screened work at any public event before (even outside KTL), it doesn’t apply. The form has a double-confirm Debut checkbox, and debuts get their own green-bordered section in the show signup grid (without using up a regular slot).

Mature Content

An optional Mature Content flag for your film — a checkbox only, no description required.

Sign Up for the Live Show

Visit /thektlshow/ to take one of the 48 weekly slots. If it’s full, you join the waitlist — and if a slot-holder doesn’t submit by the live-show cutoff, their slot opens and the next person is auto-promoted. Debuts get their own section and don’t consume a regular slot.

Identity

KTL is a public archive built on real credits. What you make public is tied to your credit name, so you’re encouraged to use your real name — KTL is a filmmaking resume, and real names carry weight. But you control your credit name, you can keep any film private, and the archive respects whatever you choose.

The Archive

Every weekly roll generates a permanent archive page containing the rule code and full prompt, every film submitted that week, the dice video of that roll (when available), the directors who signed up, and the date, venue, and event details.

Older films from before the website existed can be added through a claim process — look for placeholder posts or contact admin. And when the live show is on hiatus (off-season), the website auto-rolls a new code each week, online-only; all scoring, scorecards, and archives keep running.

Glossary