SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
All Short Official Selection Films are entitled to a Broadcast deal offer from Shorts International Limited on Shorts TV. In addition to this, the GRAND JURY, GRAND LIVE ACTION, GRAND DOCUMENTARY, GRAND ANIMATION & GRAND STUDENT winners are entitled to distribution deals with Shorts International Limited. The major award winners will also receive a Financial Analysis, Script Analysis & Consultation with the Executive Producer Team at Slated for a new feature film screenplay.
***YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE for these privileges if you already have a Broadcast deal with a non-compete or have a world distribution contract. However, you are still entitled to the $2000 cash prize if your film wins the GRAND JURY award. It is crucial that PRINDIE continue a positive working relationship with all of its distributors.***
WE ARE ACCEPTING FILMS COMPLETED IN 2019 & 2020 ONLY. SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED AFTER FEB 23, 2020 WILL NOT RECIEVE A REFUND FOR NOT FOLLOWING THIS GUIDELINE.
ABOUT PRINDIE
PRINDIE: Princeton Independent Film Festival brings international, independent cinema to one of the most intriguing communities of the world: Princeton, NJ. Our mission is to work with the diverse and talented filmmakers we showcase to leave our audiences both inspired and poised for action - putting the impactful medium of film at the forefront of change that is good for the planet and good for its people. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, this year we will be hosting the festival virtually, extending the programming to a much larger audience while ensuring all films are encoded and only available for a limited time.
PRINDIE is run by a passionate team of volunteer film-lovers and do-gooders. We are motivated every day to grow the festival into a far-reaching event that continually enables the exceptional filmmakers we showcase to have a platform to not only share their work, but turn their message into something tangible.
ABOUT SHORTSTV
Shorts TV is the first and only 24/7, linear and OTT HD TV channel dedicated to short form video entertainment, including movies and series. With over 10,000 titles, ShortsTV has the largest catalogue of quality short form video entertainment, including award-winning and star-studded live action, animated and documentary shorts from filmmakers around the globe. Distributed globally, the channel is available in 70million homes across the US, India, Latin America, the Netherlands, Belgium and Eastern Europe. It is available across the US on DirecTV (channel 573), AT&T U-Verse (channel 1789), AT&T TV (Channel 573), AT&T TV NOW, Frontier Communications (channel 789) Google Fiber (channel 603) and Hotwire (channel 560).
In addition to the channel, ShortsTV distributes a significant catalogue of on-demand shorts through video-on-demand on iTunes in 92 countries, Amazon Instant Video (UK, US and Germany), Google Play (US and Canada), and Verizon and Frontier (US). Since 2006, ShortsTV has exclusively presented the ‘Oscar Nominated Short Films’ theatrical release in cinemas across the US and Canada, South America, Europe, India, Australia and South Africa. ShortsTV has developed and is in beta testing in the US with AT&T, the first app to use a similar machine-learning algorithm to Spotify, giving audiences the power to create their own channels in the short form video entertainment space.
ShortsTV is operated by Shorts International and is headquartered in London, England with offices in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Mumbai. The company is led by Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive, and is owned by Shorts Entertainment Holdings, with AMC Networks as a significant minority shareholder.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - Out of competition
All current undergrad and grad students at Princeton University are invited to submit, for free, their short film that's 30 minutes and under including narrative, musical, experimental, documentary & animation (no music videos). From those submissions, our programming team will choose 5 finalists whose films will be screened on a password-protected site for all University students, staff & faculty to watch and vote for their favorite. The winning film will then have a surprise screening at PRINDIE.
50% OFF FOR FILM
While we wholeheartedly support and love the digital medium, we can’t deny celluloid as a necessary tool in the artist’s toolbox for growth. We are giving 50% DISCOUNTS to any student or professional willing to continue this tradition. Please contact Ryan McDonald, our Programming Director, at ryan@prindie.org for a discount code if you shot your short on film.
PLEASE READ!
As we grow PRINDIE into an important part of the festival circuit, we believe that it’s necessary to listen to filmmakers' wants and needs and develop our practices around that foundation. Last year we conducted a survey to better understand how indie filmmakers view film festivals and what draws them back time and again. We also gathered insights on filmmakers' least favorite and most frustrating aspects of submitting to film festivals. What we learned is that a sense of mistrust sometimes develops due to a lack of transparency about festivals’ selection process. Many filmmakers also find fees to be cumbersome and, in some cases, limiting.
We truly want this to be a filmmakers’ festival and, with that value in mind, we revamped our submission fee process last year and plan to continue in the spirit of transparency and accessibility in the industry. Our latest entry guidelines are as follows:
Our latest entry guidelines are as follows:
NO EARLY OR LATE SUBMISSION DEADLINES
WE GUARANTEE THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF YOUR FILM IS WATCHED
$28 FEE FOR IN-COMPETITION SHORT FILMS
$18 FEE FOR IN-COMPETITION STUDENT SHORT FILMS
$40 EXTRA IF YOU WANT YOUR FILM WATCHED WITH ONE PAGE OF FEEDBACK
**If you are given a waiver, it can only be used for regular submissions - if you desire feedback, you can purchase the FEEDBACK ADD-ON. If you submit your film to this category and nowhere else, it will be disqualified at our discretion.**
If, after the first 10 minutes of your film, we feel the quality is to our programming standards, we will watch the entire film and consider it for our official selection. If your film is 10 minutes or under, then we will watch the film in its entirety regardless. This way we are able to extend a more affordable submission fee to our filmmakers while being clear about our review process.
We hope that this way of doing things helps make the process clearer while also making submissions more financially accessible for filmmakers. Again, we are hoping to cater as best we can to filmmakers’ wants and needs while sustaining the festival with our growing and dedicated team. If you have any comments, questions, or ideas as to how we can better serve your needs as artists, please feel free to email our Executive Director, Claire Elaine at claire@prindie.org.
ALL OFFICIAL SELECTION FILMS are entitled to a Broadcast deal offer from Shorts International Limited on Shorts TV. In addition to this, the GRAND JURY, GRAND LIVE ACTION, GRAND DOCUMENTARY, GRAND ANIMATION & GRAND STUDENT winners are entitled to distribution deals with Shorts International Limited.
***YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE for these privileges if you already have a Broadcast deal with a non-compete or have a world distribution contract. However, you are still entitled to the $2000 cash prize if your film wins the GRAND JURY award. It is crucial that PRINDIE continue a positive working relationship with all of its distributors.***
GRAND JURY AWARD (Highest Overall Scoring Short)*
$2000 cash prize & DISTRIBUTION DEAL From Shorts International Limited
GRAND LIVE ACTION
DISTRIBUTION DEAL From Shorts International Limited
GRAND DOCUMENTARY
DISTRIBUTION DEAL From Shorts International Limited
GRAND ANIMATED
DISTRIBUTION DEAL From Shorts International Limited
GRAND DIRECTOR (Live Action, Animated, Documentary)
AUDIENCE AWARD (Live Action, Documentary, Animated, Student)
STUDENT AWARD
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDENT AWARD**
BEST WRITING (Live Action, Animated)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Live Action, Documentary, Animated)
BEST EDITING (Live Action, Documentary, Animated)
BEST SOUND DESIGN (Live Action or Animated)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (Live Action or Animated)
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE (Male or Female - Live Action)
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (Male or Female - Live Action)
Trophies are awarded in each category.
*DOES NOT INCLUDE STUDENT CATEGORY
**PRINCETON STUDENT AWARD IS SPECIFICALLY FOR PRINCETON UNIVERISTY STUDENT FILMMAKERS AND IS OUT-OF-COMPETITION, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE STUDENT AWARD WHICH IS IN-COMPETITION.