"Excellent time at the festival. Ryan Sharp was excellent. The love and care they have for cinema and for Veterans was quite impressive and touching. Definitely a worthwhile experience." – Jeremiah Jahi, Military Veteran Filmmaker
"It is a new and refreshing way to help filmmakers. Thank you very much for accepting my film and thank you even more for the feedback. It was excellent feedback and it is nice to have fresh eyes on this project." – Kevin Almodovar, Director of "Until Death"
“Many thanks for the feedback. Fairly scathing assessment but very much appreciated” – Danny Crossman, Student Filmmaker
“My extreme thanks for your team’s evaluation of my film. It was well taken and lessons learned will be applied to our future films. I agree with much of what was suggested and many of those ideas may be implemented.” – Chuck Fishbein, Director of “Home, With Honors”
"We are humbled by your kind words of The Coming Convergence." – Carrie Miller of Ingenuity Films
"Many thanks and what an honor it is to be included in the fellowship. Thank you for your critique and very useful comments on our production." – Jason Meath, CEO of Meath Television Media LLC
"Again. Thank you. Your evaluation really helped me understand my film more and is also helpful for my future projects." – Roman Sotelo, Producer of "Grief"
"Excellent fellowship with great communication." – Michael Gavino, Writer, Director, and Producer of "For Greater Good."
“Thanks again for the detailed evaluation and to you all for hosting. This is really a unique kind of festival and well worth the investment” – Thomas Brouns, Director
IFI Membership is an entry into an exclusive fellowship of film artisans, enthusiasts, and practitioners.
Independent Film Festival, aka IFI, was created to provide a quality venue for filmmakers to present quality works that illustrate mastery of the craft. The mission of IFI is to provide filmmakers with a platform to connect, learn, and reach people with quality stories via the video and film craft. Our films not only entertain but encourage conversation. They are powerful, thought-provoking, and cover a wide range of topics that you may not find anywhere else. All genre's are represented in various formats, from music videos to dramatic films and comedy to horror in short films, documentaries, animated works, music videos, and other styles. We are proud to be an official fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Encore. We encourage donations to these and other worthy Veterans groups. We honor American Veterans by showcasing veteran made films and their stories and providing a discount to veteran filmmakers. We also offer student discounts and senior discounts.
We do everything we can to help filmmakers improve their craft and promote talented filmmakers. There are multiple ways we do this and fulfill our mission:
1) Unlike most festivals and as a thank you to filmmakers who submit their films to us, we provide an evaluation of films under 60 minutes as a courtesy. Our judges panel is made up of professionals who work in various parts of the business. Their evaluations give each filmmaker professional tips, tools, and advice they can use to improve their film and craft.
2) We have educational articles, tips, and advice we share with filmmakers and provide viewer feedback and interaction.
3) Multiple ways and opportunities to connect and build relationships with other filmmakers, movie fans, and friends in the community through round table discussions, online events, and conversations.
Instructional films, documentaries, short shorts, shorts, features, and all types of films are accepted. However, films should not contain nudity or strong sexual content, glorified violence or excessive foul language unless such is required to portray the realities of war, persecution, or real life tragedy.
MORE DETAILS
We encourage all filmmakers to submit their work! Films are of various genres and have powerful stories to tell. Our winning films are chosen because they are technically sound, thought-provoking, and powerfully entertaining.
Memberships are also available. Members help review and award our filmmakers. They can vote on their favorite films in each category, and have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback to our filmmakers.
MEMBERSHIPS AND SPONSOR OPPORTUNITIES
We greatly appreciate all members, donors, and sponsors.
If you would like to inquire about becoming a sponsor, or for more information, please contact IFI Director, Ryan Sharp, at 727-798-1101.
IFI also offers a variety of membership packages for filmmakers and movie fans alike.
See the membership packages and read more at: independentfilminstitute.com
Interested in advertising on our website? We have spots available for businesses and non-profits. Call 727-798-1101.
If you'd like to submit a film, please read the Rules and Terms section first and then submit your film by clicking the "Submit Now" button at the top of this page.
All filmmakers receive an official evaluation completed by our staff of professionals in the film industry. (Films over 60 minutes will not be evaluated). This is a courtesy and tool we provide to help filmmakers improve their film and craft. Those films that illustrate a high degree of mastery of the craft and have a unique, powerful, and thought-provoking story to tell are selected by the staff to be part of the Filmmakers Fellowship. A movie poster of their film or image from the film will be added to our official IFI Selectee page where viewers can click to get a brief summary of the film and short bio about cast and crew. Selectees are also invited to join the Filmmakers Fellowship Roundtable giving them exclusive access to articles, tips, and essays from filmmakers.
They are also invited to exclusive events and meetings with the fellowship, and are also provided with "Official Selectee" laurel to use on their film's promotional items. Other promotional material, products, and discounts may be available, including the best price available on future submissions. Special merchandise and free production advice from the most gifted filmmakers is also available to our Fellowship members.