READ BEFORE SUBMITTING

Every festival that you submit to has their own set of rules and regulations. It is very important to read these very carefully before you submit! Any violation of these rules could result in your project not being selected for unnecessary reasons and you wasting your submission fee.

Here are some common rules to look out for:

Aspect ratio/ film quality
Some festivals put requirements on the way your project was filmed. Please make sure these items line up or else they could disqualify you.

Festival Premiere/ State Premier
It is very important to know what this rule means. If a festival states that their festival must be your premiere, this means you are not allowed to be in consideration.

Gender/ Race requirements
The best example is for Cinema Life’s festival The Women’s Comedy Film Festival or the Atlanta Women’s Film Festival; these are both festivals that celebrate women. In these rules, you must have either a female director, producer, writer, key cast members or plotline.

Unfinished projects
When you submit your project, make sure it is the final version of your project that you want considered by the judges.

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!