HOW TO FIND WHERE YOUR PROJECT FITS

Submission categories are the categories and genres that are considered at a Film Festival. When you go to their festival
page the categories will be listed out. Here are examples of common categories:

Action
Sci-fi
Animated
Drama
Horror
Comedy

These are categories that are very general but you get the idea. The way you can really make your project stand out is by getting as specific as you can with submission categories. The more categories a festival has, the more opportunity you have to best showcase your project to the judges. For example, you made a short film and it is a comedy. Seems simple, but if you just submit to the general “Comedy Short Film” category, you could be selling yourself short.

The more categories a festival has,
the more opportunity you have to best showcase your project to the judges

But what happens if you submit to the wrong category? DON’T PANIC! This is common, but also a good lesson in reading through all of the submission categories thoroughly before pressing the submit button. If you submit to the wrong category, contact the festival director or programming coordinator.

These are just some tips to get you ready before submitting your finished project. You can read more about this and other topics on how to improve your festival submissions in our E-Book, the Film Festival Submitter’s Guide, also included in the Ultimate Filmmaker Bundle and in our newest release, the Annual Submission Pass Membership! Check them out!