KIDS FIRST! Film Festival

Include in your description the age group you film is most suitable for.
PLEASE do not say "all ages" or "ages 5 to 100"!

Once accepted, a film may not be pulled from the Festival by the filmmaker for any reason. By submitting your film, you are agreeing to comply with this and all other requirements.

By submitting your film, you are warranting that you are authorized to commit the film for screening and accept full responsibility to provide the correct format of your film to our venue partners for festival play.

By submitting this film, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 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.

Once we accept your film, you will receive an automated notification which includes the deliverables needed in order to proceed adding your film to our festival offerings. You will be asked to submit an electronic file of your film if it is a short, or a trailer if a feature. Once received, we will upload your film to our password protected film programmer's site. This is not a public site. It is for screening and downloading purposes only by programmers with our affiliated venues.

Feature films will only have a trailer on our programmer's site. When one of our affiliates requests a full length screener, we will connect them with you to get that. We will have them reach out to you for appropriate promotional materials once your film has been accepted for their festival or event.

Once your film gets booked by one of our partners, you will receive an update via email. When you see your booking, we strongly recommend that you contact the individual festival directly to see how you might collaborate in promoting your screening and whether or not you plan to attend the event.

We strongly encourage attending any festival where your film is featured and promote your screening/s to your personal network of friends and family.

Screening times and dates are solely at the discretion of our venue partners so, please communicate with them, not KIDS FIRST!

CORRESPONDENCE: All correspondence to the Festival management, including entry forms and support materials, must be in the English language and must be submitted online. At peak times during the submission process, it may take several days for us to respond. The Submitter will be the main contact for all communications.
If the "distributor" section is left blank, we will use the "submitter" information as the distributor. If you have questions, please send them to admin@kidsfirst.org.

ACCEPTANCE; When your film is accepted, we request permission to showcase it at one of our venue partner's festivals or special events for a period of 2 years. You may withdraw it after the first 6 months, if necessary, for any reason.

DELIVERABLES: When your film is accepted, we will request a digital copy of your film and a downloadable poster or production still for promotional purposes. You have up to 1 week to comply. Non compliance may result in your film's acceptance status.

WHERE TO SUBMIT: All submissions must be made through FilmFreeway. A separate entry form, payment and screener must accompany each submission. Entry fee must be paid in US Dollars and submitted through FilmFreeway. Entry fees are non-refundable.

FILM SUBMISSION FORMATS:
Online screeners must be downloadable
Downloadable file types are H264, mov, mp4 and avi
Include the link and password, if suitable.
Download link must be available through the first festival date.
BluRays or DVDs may not be submitted for preview.
The preview copy must be formatted for all-region, multi-zone, or Zone 1 (NTSC, North America) and clearly labeled with title of production in English.

PRODUCTION STILLS
Two high-quality images from the production (jpg, png or tif format)
Images must be 300 dpi or higher
Provided via FilmFreeway or emailed to admin@kidsfirst.org

MARKETING LINKS
Websites, Social Media
Trailers, if available

OTHER PRODUCTION INFORMATION, OPTIONAL
Director headshot, 300 dpi
Director’s biography and filmography
Cast and Crew, names and titles
Posters, Lobby Cards, SWAG
Materials can be mailed directly to venue, please ask for specifics

JURY
Our jury consists of adults that are educators, media professionals, youth advocates and parents as well as member of our KIDS FIRST! Film Critics team and other youth that have received training as jurors.

APPLICATION STATUS
Filmmakers will be notified regarding acceptance or non-acceptance via FilmFreeway no later than the acceptance date listed on this site. Additional information regarding scheduled screenings will be sent via email once your film is selected by one of our venues. Notices are sent out every Monday for new bookings.

FESTIVAL SCREENING FORMATS
Festival Screening Formats must be in H264, mov, mp4 or avi format (1920x1080)
Exhibition screener cannot contain watermark, time code or other markings of ownership.

RULINGS:
The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival staff reserves the right to rule on cases not covered by these regulations.

PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT:
By submitting to the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, the Submitter has read and agree to the Participation Agreement and the Rules and Terms for the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. The Participation Agreement is to be considered a part of the Rules and Terms is hereby incorporated by this reference. All references to the Rules and Terms shall also expressly include reference to the Participation Agreement. The Rules and Terms are legally binding.
KIDS FIRST! Film Festival
112 W. San Francisco St., Suite 305A
Santa Fe, NM 87504
admin@kidsfirst.org