submissions are closed as of July 31st, 2021

please be on the look out for our fall/winter competition. More info coming soon.

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2021 Narrative Short film Contest

official contest rules:

  1. All contestants must be 18 years of age or older. If you are selected for a cash prize you will need to provide a copy of your photo I.D. to receive your winnings.

  2. All films are to be no longer than 15 minutes in length including credits.

  3. Films must be completed between July 2019 and July 2021.

  4. All foreign language films must be must have English Subtitles.

  5. You must have at least one of the following to receive your prize money: Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, or PayPal (fees may apply). No checks, money orders, or physical money will be mailed out. Please make sure these methods are available in your country before entering the contest.

  6. Accepted Genre’s: Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror, Action, and LGBTQ+.

  7. Film must be a live action narrative. We will not be accepting Animated films for this particular contest.

  8. You must have all of the appropriate rights and permissions for music, visuals, and written/spoken content. Plagiarized works will be disqualified. If it’s later found out that your work was plagiarized. You will be unable to submit to future contests and your film will be removed from the site immediately. All contest winnings must be returned immediately.

  9. Cash Prize winners will have 72 hrs. to respond to notification email or prize money will go to the runner up.

  10. All works must be completed and turned in no later than July 31st, 2021 12 a.m. EST. No late submissions will be accepted. Submission fees submitted after the deadline will not be refunded.

  11. Any film over 15 minutes will be disqualified with no refund.

  12. All videos must be Vimeo or YouTube.

1st place prize - $250

2nd place prize - $100

  • Notification Date will be August 9th, 2021

  • Top 5 films will be featured on TheShortFilmCollective.com - Once films are submitted there will be no refunds. - ENTRY FEE $20

  • Films will be judged by a panel made up of actors, directors, cinematographers, producers, festival programmers, and more. Films will be judged on overall story, editing, sound, picture, script, performance, and overall presentation .

  • All films will be watched in their entirety. Final 5 will be watched at least twice to determine the top two films. Films that don’t make the top 5 will still be considered for a spot on our website, but will not featured in our top 5 contest section. We at TSFC look forward to seeing your film.