Join us for the second annual Echelon Studios International Film Festival (ESIFF) — a celebration of global independent cinema!

Taking place in August 2025, our festival is dedicated to showcasing outstanding work from up-and-coming talent, providing a platform where unique voices, fresh perspectives, and bold storytelling come to life. Whether you’re an established filmmaker or just beginning your journey, the Echelon Studios International Film Festival offers the perfect venue to showcase your work and be a part of a community dedicated to the evolution of cinema. Join us in shaping the future of film!

Echelon Studios has long championed the art of storytelling by nurturing emerging filmmakers. With a robust portfolio that spans feature films, documentaries, and genre cinema, we’re committed to giving independent artists the support they need to bring their visions to life. Our festival is a natural extension of that mission—a space crafted to empower new voices, celebrate independent artistry, and connect creators with industry professionals, film enthusiasts, and like-minded artists.

Echelon has twenty-plus years of experience in acquiring, promoting, and licensing films in both domestic and worldwide markets. Some of our most popular titles include The Policeman’s Lineage, Shockwave 2, 12.12: The Day, Thirst Trap, and Losing Grip. Our longtime clients include Tubi, Amazon Prime, Comcast, Plex TV, and more! Our goal as a festival is to be a distribution pipeline for independent filmmakers, provide them with educational resources for navigating distribution, and sell their projects on the film festival circuit.

Festival Screenings
The festival is a hybrid model consisting of both virtual and in-person screenings. The virtual component takes place on Eventive two weeks leading up to the in-person screenings. The winners of of the six categories will be screened in-person in Los Angeles before the awards celebration at the South Park Center, supported by NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.

All official selections are invited to the in-person screening and ceremony. The trailers for the films will be screened on Mometu, one of our streaming partners. The trailer that receives the most views on the streaming platform will win the Mometu Award category.

Virtual Panels
During the week before our screening, our panel of guests will talk about the current state of independent film distribution and the entertainment industry. Attendees will gain knowledge about how to prepare, package, and get their films distributed across the world. The panels will also educate filmmakers about navigating the film festival circuit, and gain insight to prepare for their next projects as well.

Awards & Prizes

We are seeking films in six categories to compete for prizes and distribution deals.

Awards and Prizes
Submitted films will compete in the following six divisions:
- Best US Feature Film
- Best US Short
- Best International Feature Film
- Best International Short Film
- Best Doc
- Best Series

- The Best Feature Film winner will receive a free round trip airline ticket anywhere in the U.S.
- $1,000 USD Cash prize for Best Feature Film
- The Audience Award winner will receive a free round trip airline ticket anywhere in the U.S.
- $1,000 USD Cash prize for Audience Award winner
- $500 USD Cash prize to the Winner of each category
- All films will be offered a distribution deal with Echelon Studios
- Additional Sponsorship Awards to be announced.

Rules & Terms

ENTRY FEES

• Early Deadline (January 31st, 2025)- Shorts: $20 USD; Features: $45 USD
• Regular Deadline (March 31st, 2025) - Shorts: $23 USD; Features: $47 USD
• Late Deadline (May 31st, 2025) - Shorts: $25 USD; Features: $50 USD

Note: Entry fees are in U.S. Dollars, per film and are non-refundable. The Festival reserves the right to disqualify a submission, without refund of any kind, if eligibility requirements are not met including if eligibility status changes post-submission.

Rules & Terms
- Films must have been completed in the past 5 years.
- We consider films regardless of their premiere status. Even if your film has already premiered at another festival, whether it screened at a physical venue or online, it’s still eligible for consideration.
- The applicant holds the sole responsibility for copyright clearance of any copyrighted material in the film.
- The festival has the right to use a trailer, stills, pictures, and posters for promotional purposes in various film magazines, social media, websites, etc.
- All films should be in the English language or subtitled in English.
- Shorts must be less than 50 minutes. All projects over 50 minutes should be submitted to the feature category.

The festival will only communicate with the submitter of the film project.

Festival Screenings
Nominated films will be available for virtual screenings at the ESIFF Village hosted by Filmocracy for a duration of time after the in-person festival.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for consideration:

1. You must fully comply with these Entry Rules and regulations, including all deadlines, film length, entry material and other requirements.

2. You can only submit a feature/short/documentary once, in any category.

3. If music or additional film material used in your film is not original, then permission from the source must be obtained. The responsibility for this rests entirely with the filmmaker. Failure to obtain clearance could result in your film being withdrawn from the Festival. In this event, ESIFF will not be liable to refund the fee.

4. Entrants should UPLOAD their film to FilmFreeway on the day that the entry form is completed. Please include your press kit including still photos. Please write a 10-15 word (ONLY) synopsis for use in our festival program – should your film be selected. We would like to ensure that the judges view your film in the highest quality possible so we will only accept final cuts. Please make sure that your film is ready at the time of entry.

5. Please do not send DVDs or copies of your film directly to us unless requested to do so. At the time of submission, we will only accept your entry if your film is uploaded to FilmFreeway.

REQUIREMENTS

- No nudity
- No religious content
- No political content
- Only features/shorts produced in the last 5 years

6 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Will Jacobs

    We had a great time showing our project with Echelon! They were super friendly and hosted some awesome events. The other projects were compelling and ran the gamut of genres. Since appearing in the festival they've also been super proactive in getting us a wider distribution which means a lot as up and coming filmmakers, would highly recommend!

    November 2024
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  • Steven Nye

    Great communication with the festival and they offer distribution deals!

    November 2024
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  • Santiago Dellape

    I’m very proud to have been part of the ESIFF’s 1st edition, and it was a huge honor to have my short film VALLEY OF SOULS awarded the Best International Short in its LA premiere. Even though I wasn’t able to attend the festival, the communication was great and thorough. ESIFF stands out from other festivals as they can offer a distribution deal when the festival wraps, so it’s really worth, I recommend!

    October 2024
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  • Justin MacGregor

    Was a pleasure having our film THE FOUNDER EFFECT take part in the festival. Great communication from the team—you can tell they aim to build a great festival. Very grateful that our film won Best International Feature. Will definitely submit future projects down the road. Thanks ESIFF!

    July 2024
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  • Chantal Massuh-Fox

    Echelon Film Festival delivered an amazing experience. The festival organizer Jesse is super communicative and wonderful to work with during the whole process. One of the best festivals I have ever attended. Definitely worth the entry fee. As an independent filmmaker there are two things you need cash and distribution and this festival offers both!!! Really excited to have won the Mometu award and the $1,000 prize. You won’t regret submitting here!

    July 2024
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