In 2012, while struggling with falling ratings, Viacom’s Nickelodeon introduced an annual competition during which rookie animators could join to create an 11-minute cartoon. The idea was to find fresh creativity and raw talent, and hopefully in doing so boost ratings — and it has so far been quite successful. Nickelodeon has now announced it will invite anyone, as long as they register online, to pitch directly to its team during Comic-Con next month in San Diego.

Inside a glass-walled room at Nickelodeon’s booth at Comic-Con, the animation development team will sit for three days to evaluate in-person proposals for shorts.

The convention brings in 130,000 pop culture fans, and will take place July 24-27 at the San Diego Convention Center.

“Performance art, costumes, story boards, video, a sketch on a napkin — we’ll look at it all,” said president for content development and production, Russell Hicks. “We’re not looking for these shorts in and of themselves to become shows,” he added. “That’s too much pressure. What we’re looking for is raw talent.”

Nickelodeon has regained its title as top channel among children ages 2 to 11, according to The New York Times.

In 2012 the program received 600 content submissions and, a year later, 1,500 people sent in submissions.

Online registration through Nickelodeon’s site is required to enter.