Depict is Watershed’s international short film online competition running since 1998 as part of Encounters Film Festival (Bristol, UK) – one of the world’s leading international festivals for short film, animation and virtual reality, and also an official gateway to the world’s most prestigious awards: the Academy Awards®, BAFTAs and the European Film Awards.
We want to see great films – it doesn’t matter what your budget is or what genre you’re working in as long as you show originality, imagination and are able to connect with audiences.
The competition is open to anyone from anywhere in the world, and entry is absolutely free – but there is ONE simple rule: your film MUST be 90 seconds or less in duration.
To get some inspiration, check out our archive of 20 years of shorts at depict.org
Each year, we enlist the expertise of a panel of prestigious industry professionals to select the winners. Previous jury members have included cinematographers such as Robbie Ryan BSC, Rachel Morrison A.S.C and Annemarie Lean-Vercoe FRPS, directors Peter Jackson and Roystan Tan and industry practitioners such as Sorcha Bacon (Producer and Try Hard Films founder), Catherine Bray (Channel 4’s Random Acts), Tabitha Jackson (Channel 4, Sundance), Chris Auty (National Film and Television School) and David Sproxton (Aardman Animations). All short-listed entries are also open to the Audience Award.
The short-listed entries are also exhibited online at depict.org where from early September onwards they are open for votes towards an Audience Award.
Last year, the Main Depict 2020 Award of £1,500 and a lifetime Shooting People membership went to Fabulous by director James Skinner, who had the following to say about his experience: "Winning the DepicT! Main Award with Fabulous last year really gave me and the team a huge boost and we are now building on this success. We are using the prize money for our next project, so that we can take our filmmaking to the next level. My advice to anyone entering DepicT! is to have a lot of fun but also use it to hone your skills and challenge yourself."
Prizes include:
• £2,500 (GBP) Cash Awards thanks to sponsors including The Royal Photographic Society and Aardman Animations.
• Career development support from NFTS, BFI NETWORK, BAFTA and Channel 4’s Random Acts.
• Invaluable exposure and promotion through depict.org and at Encounters Film Festival (currently planned for 18 - 26 Sept 2021, subject to change) including a Festival pass with all the trimmings, tickets to the Depict Showcase & Awards.
• A 1 year subscription to IMDbPro
• Winning shorts get complimentary BBFC certification and captioning and are made available for theatrical / virtual screenings to exhibitors across the UK.