The 7th Annual Bright Ideas Film Festival is back and as a LIVE EVENT at the ORINDA THEATER!

We are excited to announce that on Friday, December 2nd, we will host a showcase of short films, accompanied by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Submissions $15, Student Submissions: $10

Tickets for the event will be sold online and at the door. (More Info on Event Coming Soon)

TROPHIES will be presented to the winner of each category.

The Bright Ideas Film Festival was created to give filmmakers a place to celebrate their hard work with family, friends, and others who appreciate the art of filmmaking.

Awards & Prizes

In a continued effort to celebrate the filmmakers, TROPHIES will be presented to the winner of each category

*Best in Festival
*Audience Choice Award
*Best Comedic Performance
*Best Dramatic Performance
*Best Editing
*Best Cinematography
*Best Directing
*Best Writing
*Best Sound Design

Rules & Terms

1) Submissions may be no longer than 15 minutes.

2) Any genre will be considered for screening.

3) Submitting a film does not guarantee acceptance into the screening. All submitting filmmakers will be notified of their status by Sunday, November 13th, 2022.

4) Submissions must be suitable for a general audience. No extreme gore or sexual content.

5) Professional submission fee is $15
Student submission fee is $10

6) To enter as a student, the submission must have been created while attending school (college or high school.) It does not need to have been made for a school assignment. The filmmaker can currently be graduated, as long as the film was created while they were a student.

7) Filmmakers can submit multiple projects, but only one film per director will be selected to screen. Projects can share producers, cast, or other crew.

9) There will be no refunds on submission fees.

10) The Awards for each category will be voted on by our judges before the event, except for the Audience Choice, which will be chosen by the festival attendees.

50 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Regina Pigsley

    Bright Ideas is an amazing bay area film festival in a beautiful theater! The communication was great from start to finish, and the hospitality was wonderful. We look forward to submitting again in future years!

    March 2023
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  • J. Andrew

    What a wonderful group of folks, led by the lovely Tony Alfaro. As far as festivals, their communication, and hard work really showed. We were honored to have HERE FOR NOW selected to screen this year, and I look forward to bringing other films to this festival in the future. I really enjoyed all the films and the thoughtful curation of the festival. Thank you!

    -J

    December 2022
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  • Parker Viale

    Fantastic festival held at the beautiful Orinda Theater! I am honored to have been a part of it.

    December 2022
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  • Devin Reese

    What an excellent local Bay Area Film Festival! What a treat to see all these great films in the Orinda theater this year. I highly recommend to anyone interested in submitting or attending!

    December 2021
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  • Jan Gruszka

    Very friendly and open, great opportunity to talk to other filmmakers from all around the world

    January 2021
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