Creative Guts invites independent filmmakers from New Hampshire and beyond to submit their short films to our short film festival, which will be hosted at Red River Theatres in Concord, New Hampshire, on June 11, 2024. We welcome films from any genre that are 15 minutes or under to be submitted. The spirit of this festival is to celebrate the creativity, voice, and collaboration of filmmakers. We encourage submissions from creatives of all backgrounds and at any stage in their filmmaking journey to apply. Show us your creative guts!

Submissions to this festival are by donation only. While there is no fee to submit, you are welcome to make a donation to Creative Guts. Creative Guts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so all donations are tax deductible. The suggested donation is $15. Please make your donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. If you are unable to make a donation, we ask that you please share this call for art with another creative in your life.

Tickets to the festival are $12 and will be available for purchase through Red River Theatres website starting in May. Filmmakers of selected films will receive two free tickets to the festival.

Awards & Prizes

There are no monetary prizes for the awards, just recognition at the festival and in our post-festival marketing.

Award categories include:

Heartstrings - Most moving
Funny Bone - Most humorous
Hair Flip - Most attitude
Eye Opener - Most illuminating
Toe-curling - Most scary/thrilling
Brain Stormer - Most creative
Gutsy - Most Vulnerable

Rules & Terms

GENERAL RULES & GUIDELINES

- Films must be 15 minutes or under.

- A jurying process will be conducted to approve selected films.

- All entrants will be notified of the Festival’s decision by May 16, 2024.

- This festival screens films as digital files during the Festival and will not screen films on Blu-Ray, HD-CAM, or DCP. By submitting, you agree to provide us your film as a digital file for exhibition by May 25, 2024, not exceeding 2GB.

- Films must be completed at the time of submission. Rough cuts will not be considered.

- Films must be the original work of the applicants (no generative AI). Any films infringing copyright will not be accepted. Your submission must not contain any materials and/or content (including visuals, music, etc) that you do not have permission to use. By submitting your film to this festival, you confirm that you have secured all necessary rights.

- Creative Guts is not responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, or royalty infringement related to the work.

- Works that are hateful, pornographic, contain content that propagates discrimination, and/or violate any national or international law will not be accepted.

- Youth may submit works to the festival with a release by a parent or guardian. Parent/guardian should email Creative Guts at hello@creativegutspodcast.com to obtain a release form.

- Individuals are allowed to submit up to three short films to the festival.

- We strive to make our film festival as accessible as possible, and request an open caption file. Please note that captions are different from subtitles in that subtitles only contain a transcript of dialogue. Captions are a transcript of a film’s dialogue, sound effects, and music.

- Submissions can be in any language; English captions must be included.

- Every submission must be in horizontal format of a full HD (1920 X 1080 pixels). If a video is produced in square or vertical formats, the file should be inserted in the horizontal full HD format with black bands on the sides.

- By submitting your film, you granted Creative Guts and the Red River Theatres the right to utilize any submitted materials, including video and still images for purposes of promotion of the festival.

- Red River Theatres may screen festival films on a limited run after the festival. By submitting your film, you granted Red River Theatres the right to screen your film for up to 4 weeks.

- Submissions to this festival are by donation only. While there is no fee to submit, you are welcome to make a donation to Creative Guts. Creative Guts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so all donations are tax-deductible. The suggested donation is $15. Please make your donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. If you are unable to donate, we ask that you please share this call for art with another creative in your life.