JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s Just for Laughs Festival, Short Film Competitions
Festival runs February 13 – 25, 2020

Call For Submissions – Short Comedy Films
Open to Filmmakers Worldwide
Submission Deadline: January 17th, 2020

From JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s Just for Laughs Festival, comes the 4th annual Comedy Short Shorts and World Wide Short Film Competitions, and we’re calling all comedy filmmakers across the globe!

We are searching for the best comedic shorts films from around the world to showcase at this year’s festival in Vancouver. We love to put a smile on people's faces, and we want you to submit your film from any comedic genre – from romcoms to mock docs, from parodies to animation, from edgy comedies to farces and even dramedies are all welcome.

20-25 shorts will be screened within the two competitions happening during the 12-day festival in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia – home to local and national filmmakers, to international productions, and known for its love of cinema of all shapes and sizes. With the amount of Hollywood film and TV work created here, it’s no wonder Vancouver has come to be known as “Hollywood North!”

SHORT FILMS:

We offer short filmmakers an international platform to view their comedic work on the big screen in front of a live audience of comedy lovers through our TWO short film competitions:

1) WORLDWIDE SHORTS
Participants from across the globe can submit to WORLDWIDE SHORTS, where we pick the top comedy shorts from around the world to compete. (Participants from the Pacific Northwest are also eligible for this category.)

2) COMEDY SHORT SHORTS
For the fourth time, COMEDY SHORT SHORTS shines a well-deserved spotlight on the talented filmmakers and comedians of the Pacific Northwest.

Winners will be chosen in each short film category (WORLDWIDE SHORTS and COMEDY SHORT SHORTS):

1st Place: The winner of each category receives $1,000 CAD, plus a prize package from our sponsors.

2nd Place: The runner-up in each category receives $500 CAD, plus a prize package from our sponsors.

3rd Place: The third place winner in each category receives $250 CAD, plus a prize package from our sponsors.

In addition, one (1) film will be selected as BEST SHORT FILM from our two 1st place winners (the winner of either COMEDY SHORT SHORTS or WORLDWIDE SHORTS); this winning filmmaker will receive two (2) Artist passes for the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal in July 2019, the world’s biggest and most prestigious comedy festival, where their film will be screened as part of the Just For Laughs “Eat My Shorts” competition.

• All submissions must be done through FilmFreeway to be eligible.
• A non-refundable fee of $20 USD per submission (taxes included) will be charged for Submissions.
• All types of comedic genres will be accepted.
• All languages will be accepted but subtitles must be in English.
• Films must have been completed in 2018 or 2019.
• Submissions must not have had a web, TV, streaming, or theatrical release before the festival’s closing date.
• Submissions that have played other festivals are allowed, but submissions cannot be publicly available online (private links on YouTube or Vimeo are acceptable).
• Short film submissions coming from the Pacific NorthWest region of North America (which includes the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, as well as the US states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) will be considered in both the COMEDY SHORT SHORTS and WORLDWIDE SHORTS competitions. This is at the discretion of the Festival programming team, and all decisions are considered final.
• Short film submissions coming from outside the Pacific NorthWest region of North America (as defined above) are eligible for the WORLDWIDE SHORTS format.
• Submissions must be no longer than 15 minutes in length to be eligible for the short-film categories.

SHOULD YOUR FILM BE SELECTED, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
• Depending on the venue, films are screened in the filmmakers’ preferred formats or are compiled onto a screening compilation in a format determined at the sole discretion of the Festival.
• You will need to fill out, sign and return a screening agreement (supplied by festival)
• We will request additional marketing materials (if applicable), such as photo(s)/stills of your film for website, press kits, etc.
• JFL NorthWest is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes. The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations. The undersigned shall indemnify and hold harmless JFL NorthWest from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Luke Jarvis

    JFL's awesome. Was an honor to be selected

    February 2020
  • Carolyn Irwin

    The JFL NW Festival was a blast!
    Cameron did a fantastic job of organizing and made it an incredibly enjoyable for all the artists who participated.
    Our entire team from DELETED was able to attend the event and seeing our short on the big screen was a fantastic experience!
    There were tons of other events at JFL that added to the entire experience! Five stars!

    February 2020
  • Larke Miller

    The film festival organizers were wonderful. We premiered our short film PLUTO during the festival. I had a positive experience at JFLNW.

    February 2020
  • Joey Clift

    Great festival! Very good communication. I'm definitely going to submit again in the future!

    March 2019
  • Fantastic festival. The organizers spoke to us and made us feel welcome, and the Artist Passes were wonderful. Workshops were well done and allowed for extra networking and connecting with filmmakers. Hope to go again! Thank you VanJFLFF!

    March 2019