Whilst submitting our own films to film festivals, we discovered that our films were up against films with much higher budgets than ours typically enjoy.
Sometimes the production budgets for short films can be £15,000+. This means we are competing on an uneven playing field. After some research, I discovered that this is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Nowadays, it is very easy for films with big budgets to enter "low level" festivals with a click of a button, whereas in the past, it was too expensive and took too much effort. This means that small indie filmmakers don't get much of a look in. So we have decided to run a film festival that levels the playing field.
We will have 4 main categories of short films (under 15 mins), any genre. Three out of the four categories will be categorised by the production budget value. The fourth is a completely different category and that is animation. We believe that you cannot compare animation with "live-action" films. So to that end, we have a separate category for animation.
The first category will be short films with a production value of under £500/$650. The second will be under £1,500/$1,900. The final main category is with a production value of under £5000/$6000. So, if the film has an obviously higher production value, the film will be rejected. If we deem it as being close we may contact you to have a discussion.
We're looking for the good stories, where the filmmakers have had to make something out of nothing, which is kind of what we have to do at WeMakeFilms.
WeMakeFilms is a filmmaking collaborative with over 600 members. Our members submit scripts and then vote on their preferred script. The winning script is then made and all the members apply for every role, from Director to Runner. The films then go through a post-production phase and they are then submitted to film festivals. We make a film every 4 to 6 weeks, on average.
We only give physical awards (see images) in the under £500, under £1500, and under £5000 category for:-
Best Film
Audience Award Best Film
To be eligible for sub-categories you have to HAVE SELECTED ONE OF THE MAIN CATEGORIES. If you ONLY SELECT SUB-CATEGORIES your submission will be disqualified.
Sub-categories
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Best Documentary
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Director of Photography
Best Sound Design
Best Music Score
Best Producer
Best Editor
Please Note: Although only one film from each main category can win the 'Best Film Award' we can (and do) issue the other awards to any film that reaches Semi-Finalist status, should we deem the award appropriate.
Our selection sequence is as follows:-
* Selected (Films that are entering final judging sequence)
* Semi-finalist (12 Films per category)
* Finalist ( Films selected for screening )
Only the finalist films will be screened at the WeMakeFilms Online Film Festival on the 27th March 2021.