Big Teeth Small Shorts Film Festival

- Length requirements (Note: this includes credits):
- Small Short: 91 seconds minimum - 300 seconds (5 minutes) maximum
- Micro Short: 1 second minimum - 90 seconds maximum

- For each individual film you submit, we recommend entering in only one genre category (comedy. documentary, etc.) and tagging additional genres within your project on FilmFreeway, rather than entering the same film into multiple genre categories.

- If your credits add up to 10% or more of the length of your total film duration, we reserve the right to edit them for time if selected to be screened.

- If selected, we reserve the right to pull stills from your film to use in programming materials.

- Every single film submitted will be viewed by our screening team.

- Recommended sizes: 1080p

- There is no limit on number of submissions or production date.

- If your film is selected for the Big Teeth Small Shorts Film Festival (“BTSSFF”), you will receive free entry to our local screening in Chicago, IL. No travel expenses are included.

- Filmmakers hold sole responsibility for acquiring copyrights, licenses and releases for media used in their films and will indemnify and hold harmless BTSSFF and its owners, producers, sponsors, and employees against any claims brought against the foregoing as a result of Filmmakers’ failure to obtain the same.

- All films submissions must be submitted via FilmFreeway. NO DVDs or other media that need to be physically mailed will be accepted. All of the fields during the registration process on FilmFreeway.com must be completed or your submission will not be accepted.

- All entries must be either in English or subtitled in English unless dialogue is minimal and not necessary for the comprehension of the film.

- Filmmakers retain the rights to their films.

- Filmmakers agree that, upon official selection, their film can be played at any of BTSSFF's live screenings. The number of screenings the film appears in is at the sole discretion of BTSSFF.

- Filmmakers agree that, upon official selection, their film can be shown on BTSSFF digital channels with written (email) consent from the filmmaker.

- BTSSFF does not pay screening fees. Further, Filmmakers acknowledge that they are not entitled to any portion of the admission fees or other receipts received by BTSSFF in connection with any screening.

- BTSSFF reserves the right to disqualify any submission if it does not meet the requirements outlined.

As AI usage becomes more common, here is where we currently stand:

What We Don't Accept:
We won't accept films that rely on generative AI for major creative elements. This includes tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, RunwayML, ChatGPT for scripts, or AI music generators as primary components of your film.

What's Fine:
You can totally use AI for translations, standard post-production tools in Adobe Creative Suite, audio cleanup, color correction, and accessibility features like auto-captions.

Just Be Honest:
Tell us about any AI you used in your submission. If we find out you weren't upfront about it, you could be disqualified.
Our Call:

We get to make the final decision on what counts, and this policy might change as tech evolves.