Celebrating Short Films, Television and New Media worldwide. Our mission is to support filmmakers!

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SPECIAL PROMOTION
25% Discount and one FREE additional Category

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Here is how you do it!!!!!

** FOR THE DISCOUNT:
Use code SPRINGSPECIALBS at checkout to receive 25% off each category purchased.

** FOR THE ONE FREE ADDITIONAL CATEGORY:

1. Once your entry is processed, your FilmFreeway status will change and you will receive an auto response from FilmFreeway. A few days after that you will receive an email from info@bestshorts.net explaining the next steps

2. That email will have a link to all of the available categories so you can see your options. You get one additional category free of charge to be used for this submission only. Follow the directions in that email to receive your free category.

3. If you would like MORE than one category - you may purchase others through the link in that email, just use the easy to follow instructions in that email

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IMPORTANT!!!!!!
None of this will be possible unless you receive that email. Make sure you add info@bestshorts.net to your safe senders list right away!
(Especially you Gmail users!)

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The Best Shorts Competition is unique in the industry. Attracting both powerhouse companies as well as talented new filmmakers it is an exceptional, truly international awards competition, not a traditional film festival – which allows filmmakers from around the world to enter their films in this prestigious competition. Our talented Best Shorts award winners have gone on to win Oscar, Emmy, Telly and other awards.

THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS ONLINE SHORTS COMPETITION!

IMDb Qualified!

ABOUT:

Currently in its 13th year, the Best Shorts is an avant-garde worldwide competition that strives to give talented directors, producers, actors, new media creators and members of the creative teams a unique venue for their work and the positive exposure they deserve. It discovers and honors the achievements of filmmakers who produce high quality shorts and new media.

Best Shorts Competition promotes award winners through press releases to over 100,000 filmmakers and industry contacts through FilmFestivals.com.

Best Shorts is a also great predictor of future success. Our talented award winners have gone on to win Oscars, Emmys, Tellys and other awards.

Above all, we truly value and honor our filmmaking family!

Every film deserves the chance to be seen and with the main goal of traditional film festivals to bring entertainment to local audiences…this can make the filmmaker of secondary importance. At Best Shorts Competition, every film entered is judged on its own merits by our panels of Emmy, Telly and Communicator award nominees and winners.

Serving filmmakers is Best Short’s primary goal!

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING:

• PROMOTIONAL LAURELS – Give your film opening and your promotional graphics that wow factor!

• PEER REVIEW – Our judges are Emmy, Telly and award-winning filmmakers who understand both filmmaking craft and what audiences want.

• FREE PRESS IS EVERYTHING – Use our social media posts to share with your audience and our free press release template and tips to garner critical publicity to enhance the credibility of your project.

• PRESS RELEASE – CUSTOM for you! – Winners receive a fill-in-the-blanks Press Release to promote your win and tips for using it. We've done the heavy lifting - just fill it in and send to media outlets suitable for your work!

• SOCIAL MEDIA PUSH – Best Shorts announces award winners on Facebook and Twitter and winners are encouraged to share and re-Tweet those posts. Winners are also sent to a data base of 100,000 industry pros through our partner FilmFestivals.com.

FEATURES OF BEST SHORTS COMPETITION:

• PRESTIGIOUS – In winning a Best Shorts award you join the ranks of high-profile winners like Oscar-winning short Mr. Hublot, and countless other Oscar and Emmy winning famous (and soon to be famous!) filmmakers.

• IMDb QUALIFIED – Have your win listed on the industry’s top international database.

• NO POLITICS FAIR JUDGING – It doesn’t matter who you are – each entry is judged solely on the merits of the piece and scores are given accordingly!

• TELLING – Our talented filmmakers have gone on to win Oscars, Emmys & Tellys.

• SOCIAL CONSCIENCE – Best Shorts grants an annual Humanitarian Award and celebrates work by women filmmakers, LBGTQ+, disability issues, social justice, humanity, animal welfare and environmental issues.

• CAREER ENHANCING – Best Shorts attracts extraordinary work from filmmakers at all levels of experience - from talented first timers to industry heavyweights Everyone benefits from the publicity of a win and from professional peer feedback!

• UNIQUE – A truly international awards competition, attracting global participation. 86 countries and counting!

• INDUSTRY STANDARD – We proudly comply with Festival best practices and Best Shorts is IMDb qualified! Listing your award on your IMDb page is invaluable for your projects and future endeavors.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA

The Best Shorts Competition is an excellent venue for films, documentaries, new and experimental media, television pilot programs, animation, educational programs, remixes & mashups, movie trailers, music videos, webisodes and tube length works. As long as the entry is 57 minutes or less, it is eligible for submission.

Judging and Award Levels

Each year Best Shorts Competition receives thousands of entries. Quality and creativity are celebrated in four levels of awards: Best of Show, Outstanding Achievement, Award of Excellence, Award of Merit and Award of Recognition.

The judging takes place by in-house staff and a committee of industry professionals including Emmy, Telly and Communicator award nominees and recipients.

We believe that films other than the one “BEST OF” deserve recognition – so we offer a variety of award levels befitting the judging scores.

We pride ourselves on fair and non-political judging. entries do not compete against each other. Instead, entries are judged against a high standard of merit and are scored accordingly.

Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded as Best of Show, Outstanding Achievement, Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit, Awards of Recognition or no award.

Best of Show honors are granted to the top scoring entry for each season. Awards of Excellence are granted to entries with truly exceptional filmmaking. Notable artistic and technical productions are recognized at the Awards of Merit award level and Awards of Recognition recognizes achievement in a specific category of entry.

No fixed numbers of awards are granted at any level but rather fluctuate based on the total number of entries received for each competition deadline.

NOTIFICATION:

Each submission received will be confirmed by FilmFreeway and Best Shorts Competition administrative offices via electronic mail.

After judging is completed, winners in all categories will be notified of their award and are provided additional information such as links to winner’s laurels etc.

STATUETTES

The Best Shorts Competition statuette is exceptional in this industry and is a work of art. Covered with 24k gold, it is manufactured by the company that makes the worlds’ most prestigious and celebrated awards, the Oscar, Clio, and Accolade.
HUMANITARIAN AWARD:

Best Shorts is a competition with a conscience. Each year the Best Shorts Competition grants its Annual Humanitarian Award for dedicated service to Ecological, Political, Social Justice, Health and Wellness, Animals, Wildlife, Conservation and Spiritual importance. Films meeting these criteria and recognized at the Award of Excellence level can be nominated for the Humanitarian Award by any of the judges. All nominated films are then reviewed at the end of each year and awards granted. Each year the judges will select one Grand Prize winner and award Outstanding Achievement and Award of Distinction to all deserving films.

Rules / Eligibility

1. Entries MUST be 57 minutes or less. (If you would like to enter a feature length film, documentary, or feature television program, please submit to the Accolade Global Film Competition at www.AccoladeCompetition.org and the IndieFEST Film Awards at www.TheIndieFEST.com)

2. Submissions in other than English must be subtitled.

3. Multiple entries are allowed from a filmmaker and each entry may be entered in multiple categories.

4. Online screeners are mandatory. If you choose not to upload your project to FilmFreeway’s site, please provide an online link to your submission and be sure to include the password in an email correspondence sent directly to Best Shorts Competition. If you choose to send a DVD screener as well, please format it in NTSC, label the cover with the FilmFreeway Tracking ID, film title, filmmaker name and telephone number, and forward it to the Best Shorts Competition mailing address.

5. Best Shorts Competition does not download submissions or accept Dropbox submissions. Please only send links to your media hosted on 3rd party servers such as Vimeo or YouTube.

6. Written comments describing entries are beneficial.

7. DVD Entries will not be returned.

8. All films submitted under a “Student Fee” category will be listed as a (Student) on all materials including social media and press releases. Student I.D. required.

Where our filmmakers are from:
The Best Shorts Competition puts filmmakers first and provides a direct opportunity for recognition and publicity for high quality films and documentaries. It is international in scope and has granted awards to producers in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bali, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Mauritius, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA and more!

Statuettes

The Best Shorts Competition statuette is exceptional in the industry and is a work of art. Plated with 24k gold, the beautiful 12 3/4 inch tall statuette is manufactured by the company that makes the worlds’ most prestigious and celebrated awards, the Oscar, Clio, and IndieFEST.

Sister Competitions:

The Best Shorts Competition sister competitions are the Accolade Global Film Competition (www.AccoladeCompetition.org), which celebrates outstanding media of every variety around the globe, the Impact DOCS Awards (www.ImpactDOCSAwards.com) serving documentary filmmakers and spreading their messages around the globe, and the IndieFEST Film Awards (www.TheIndieFEST.com), which celebrates outstanding independent films. All four competitions share administrative offices but have independent judging and judging results from one competition will not influence the outcome of the other

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Christina Hulen

    Great festival! Our film Everything’s Fine was extremely honored to receive the Award of Excellence Special mention. Communication was prompt and easy.

    March 2024
  • Iva Kevra

    Brilliant competition, we are honored to have received two awards! Communication was great, Rick was very helpful! Thank you again!

    March 2024
  • What a great experience and great fun! Thank you!!!

    March 2024
  • One of the most thorough competitions in terms of communication. We are thrilled to have received two awards.

    March 2024
  • Jaclyn Lehrer

    Great festival! I loved how communicative Rick was throughout the whole process and enjoyed the online competition.

    March 2024