1. Eligibility:
- The fund is open to filmmakers worldwide.
- Production of the film can take place anywhere worldwide.
- All participants (writer / director / producer) must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.
- Production / development companies are allowed to enter.
2. Timeline
- Round 1 (October 2nd - December 21st)
- Materials required: pitch deck & script.
- Participants progressing to Round 2 chosen by February 1st.
- Round 2 (February 1st - February 15th)
- Selected participants must submit additional documents outlined below. Following that, selected participants will be invited to an interview.
- Winners & shortlisted projects announced by mid-March latest.
3. Submission Guidelines:
- Materials necessary at this stage are pitch decks and scripts.
- We will not watch any films previously shot or completed, as this is a film fund for projects in development and not a festival or a completion fund.
- Submissions must be original, unpublished works. Submissions cannot be IP-based in any form and must not be an adaptation of any existing work or product.
- Pitch decks must be in English and not exceed 20 pages. Pitch decks must include: logline, a short synopsis (one pager), creative vision, information of the team, along with any additional information you believe necessary.
- The scripts can be in any language, but the script you submit for us to read must be in English (translated if English is not the original language). Scripts cannot exceed 30 pages.
- No documentary or animation submissions accepted.
- Submissions must have a writer, director, and producer attached. Two of those roles can be the same person, but there needs to be a team of at least two attached to the project.
- Additional finance available / planned for the project is allowed and encouraged, filmmakers must let us know of any additional planned / secured finance as soon as able. There is no cap on additional finance required and there is no cap for the total budget of the project. You don't have to have all financing in place to submit or be selected for our fund, however we will expect the chosen project to go into production by October 15th, 2026.
- As an auteur-driven company, Look Aside has no intent of changing your script or adapting your story - this is your project and we will choose a winner that we feel has a completed creative vision that we connect to, both personally and professionally, and that we will not alter as much as possible. Keeping this in mind, we recommend submitting scripts and packages that are as polished and finalised as possible.
- There is no limit of submissions per team.
- Only electronic submissions (PDF) will be accepted.
4. Future Materials
- If advanced to round 2: participants will be asked to submit an industry standard proposed schedule for the project. The winning script must enter production by 15th of October, 2026 latest.
- If advanced to round 2: participants will be asked to submit an industry standard proposed budget for the project. Participants should be prepared to pay all cast/crew at least minimum wage, as it is in their respective country of production. Participants must budget pay for themselves as well. Participants must budget post-production as well. Participants should budget festival fees as well.
- If advanced to round 2: participants will be asked to submit details on any existing crew / cast attachments and will be encouraged to send any additional documents our way as well.
- After we review the above, selected participants will be invited for an interview.
5. Project Development:
- The funding award is intended for the production of the submitted script. Any significant changes to the script or significant deviations from the original proposal must be approved by Look Aside in writing.
- Look Aside will take a hands-off approach to the production, however the winning participants must be prepared to provide regular updates to the company for any and all major parts of production. The winning participant must be prepared to submit all proper documentation to Look Aside. This submission timeline for all documentation is to be discussed in detail with the winning participants.
- The winning participants must provide Look Aside with an expenses report following production and post-production of the project.
- The winning participants will be in charge of selecting their own crew and cast members, however any lead actors or HoDs must also be discussed with Look Aside. The winning participants must also be prepared to accept trainees in different departments appointed by Look Aside.
- Participants should expect a collaborative process where the project remains their own to control, but Look Aside is a respected and active partner.
6. Intellectual Property:
- By submitting materials, participants confirm that they are the sole author and copyright holder of the work.
- The participants understand and agree that any possible project similarities in plot, characters, tone, genre, or script structure with any current or future Look Aside projects will be purely and entirely coincidental.
- The participant retains all intellectual property rights to their script.
- Look Aside understands that any documents sent from the participants are confidential information and agrees not to disclose it to any third party except to its employees and professional advisers.
7. Stipulations:
- The funding must be exclusively for the production of the submitted script.
- The funding award is non-transferable and non-negotiable.
- The funding will be accessible in three stages: one part before pre-production, one part before production, and one part before post-production.
- The participants reserve the right to withdraw their submission at any point, but refunds will not be provided.
- Please understand that we're a small team looking in-depth through a lot of submissions, so unfortunately we cannot provide individual feedback if your project is not selected.
8. Disqualification:
- Look Aside reserves the right to disqualify any participants who violate these Terms and Conditions.
9. Amendments:
- Look Aside reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions at any time. Any changes will be communicated to participants.
10. Indemnification:
- Participants agree to hold Look Aside harmless from any claims, damages, or liabilities arising from the submission or production of their short film.
By submitting a project, participants agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions. By submitting a project, the participants agree to be added to Look Aside’s email list for news and updates. For any inquiries related to the fund, please contact submissions@lookasidefilms.com.
