All filmmakers (international and USA) must pay the required submission fee to enter unless they are from the states of Kentucky, Virginia, or West Virginia or their film was shot in one of those states. For those filmmakers we have a special submission category that is free to enter. All screenplay categories require a submission fee no matter the location of the filmmaker.
All filmmakers that submit to this category are required to clarify their Kentucky, Virginia, or West Virginia connection in an accompanying cover letter or in their film information. Failure to clarify this will result in us marking your submission "Incomplete" until you can clarify your entry's eligibility. We require this because a significant number of films are inappropriately entered into this free category as an attempt to avoid submission fees. If you fail to explain your film's eligibility it will eventually result in your entry being disqualified.
Film submissions can come from professionals, college students, high school students and middle school students and we are accepting works of all lengths (shorts and features) and types (documentary, animation, music video and traditional narrative).
For purposes of categorization, we are considering feature films to be 40 minutes or longer, and shorts to be less than 40 minutes.
All that being said, if you are making a film specifically for this festival we encourage you to produce short films that are less than 10 minutes. As with any festival we only have so much time to show films, so the shorter your film is then the greater its chances are of being accepted and screened.
All entries need to be original work, and you must have the legal authorization to utilize all the content within your film. For example we will accept music videos, but you must have permission from the owners of the song to use it or we will not screen it.
We do not have a premiere requirement, but we do ask that you only submit works that were completed within the last 2 years.
Feature screenplays should be 50 pages or longer, and short screenplays should be 49 pages or less. TV pilots are accepted just submit to the appropriate category based on your page count.
Finally, we reserve the right to disqualify or reject your submission if we believe that it does not adhere to our rules or requirements.