The Maverick Movie Awards exists to honor the art and craftsmanship of groundbreaking cinema. We offer an increasingly unique and truly competitive opportunity to test your mettle where the budget is immaterial, the star power is inconsequential, and any and all true independent, underground, student project and even studio backed films submitted to us are eligible to receive a Maverick Movie Award.

Mavericks earn their stripes!

We are an actual contest for true artists and not an "endorsement-by-entry" awards platform for rubber neckers. In other words, merely submitting a movie or series for consideration to the Maverick Movie Awards will not in and of itself guarantee a nomination, let alone an award. So if you're ready to get your distinction on, please submit your movie with confidence knowing it will be treated with the utmost respect and attention you and your collaborators have earned by getting it done and out into the world.

We not only watch every single submission, we critically examine it!

What we want to see is work made with clear vision and a clever approach to storytelling. We want to dance on the ground you break and gutsy moviemakers are encouraged to submit to our intensive review process.

We can dig it!

The Maverick Movie Awards recognize and celebrate everything from big-budget pictures to low-budget indies, global issue documentaries, screwball comedies, computer-animated movies, action-horror flicks, video art, found footage, music videos, webisodes and everything in-between. And as a cooperative of moviemakers honoring moviemakers with no screening events to organize and therefore distract us from our mission - nor jeopardize premiere status for any other competition or festival submission - we're ready to recognize and laud your work as a true maverick!

Once we've reviewed all the movie submissions received in a given year they are separated by feature, short and web series in length and classified an a qualified entry. After each qualified entry has been examined and reviewed, a moviemaker is eligible to receive one or more MAVERICK MOVIE AWARD nomination in each award category with the award winner selected from a list of no less than TWO and no more than TEN nominees. We issue only one award in each category.

We reserve the right to not issue an award by de facto. If we receive only one entry for consideration of any particular category we will examine said movie within the context of its genre and decide whether or not that movie merits the award for its category. In other words, a movie doesn't automatically win an award for being the sole entry in any given category. Also, we may choose to increase or decrease nominations in any category, add and remove categories, and re-categorize entries as long as the change of criteria extends to all qualified entries equitably.

We NEVER nominate to nominate because we merely received a movie for consideration. MMA is not a "pay-to-play" platform and rest assured we EXAMINE every detail.

​So without further ado, the Maverick Movie Award categories are:

BEST FEATURE (NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION)
BEST SHORT (NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION)
BEST WEB SERIES (by season)

In recognition of production in feature, short, and web series:
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST SCREENPLAY
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST EDITING
BEST MUSIC
BEST SPECIAL FX

In recognition of the acting craft in feature, short and web series:
BEST ACTOR in a LEAD role
BEST ACTRESS in a LEAD role
BEST ACTOR in a SUPPORTING role
BEST ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING role
BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
At our discretion we may offer an award for any remarkable detail we recognize as a significant accomplishment in its execution or completion of a movie or series. In the past, we've honored particular lines of dialogue, an artist's unique expression of a character or plot point and other maverick badassery in general.

Excluding commercial and industrial work, all motion pictures produced within the last three years are eligible. Unless there are no qualifiers for a specific award, one Maverick Award honor is bestowed upon one of any number of qualified nominees in each length of feature, short and web series with the potential for any number of Special Achievement awards for any entry for any reason.

Award and nominee selections are made by the cooperative’s judges and/or directors and are final. Screeners submitted for review via physical media will not be returned and your entry may not be withdrawn from awards consideration once it has been screened and vetted by the awards submission team. Nominations may be declined by any honoree for any reason but please keep in mind that you are then taking an opportunity away from a fellow creative who may have benefitted from the recognition instead should you decide to decline a nomination once it has been posted on our website. (Don't be that asshole.)

Nominees and winners are posted on our website, maverickmovieawards.com, at the close of each season with each preceding season archived for posterity. Excluding sponsored prizes where applicable, the Maverick Movie Awards does not provide trophies, plaques, paper certificates, or any type of material Maverick Award; however, the MMA does provide winners and nominees with access to free downloadable Maverick Movie Award certificates or a limited license to use of our artwork in order to craft your own trophies, certificates and/or laurels as for your movie's or series' marketing purposes only. If selected, the moviemaker, controlling company, and/or submitter grants unrestricted rights/permission to the Maverick Movie Awards to list and promote the winning and/or nominated movie (not the movie itself, trailers, or any online content), its advertising/promotional material(s), as well as any individual, group, company, and/or organization listed in the movie credits for the life of the Maverick Movie Awards.

The Maverick Movie Awards does not pay any fees to list and/or promote submitted and/or selected movies or associated promotional/advertising material(s). The moviemaker, controlling company, and/or submitter attests that any and all image, music, and/or other applicable rights have been legally cleared and granted.

If not selected (and also as this may apply to those selected as Maverick Award winners or nominees), the moviemaker, controlling company, and/or submitter agrees to act like a grownup person (even if you are a minor) and not to sue or threaten to sue the Maverick Movie Awards, its parent company, its directors, staff, volunteers, sponsors, affiliates, and/or partners, or to take legal action or inflict litigation of any kind, and furthermore promises not to crank call us, write us flaming e-mails, or write, publish, and/or disseminate any derogatory whining or disgruntled rants anywhere, including Internet postings, blogs, tweets, or social media outlets of any kind, etc., etc.

By submitting to the Maverick Movie Awards the moviemaker, controlling company, and/or submitter agrees that they have the right and authority to submit and have read, fully understand, and unconditionally agree to all of the Maverick Movie Awards’ submission guidelines and the complete terms and conditions of the Maverick Movie Awards.

Overall Rating
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Networking
  • Thank you MMA for creating a powerhouse festival for mavericks! Excited that my feature horror, SACRED SUN, won BEST GENRE SCRIPT (2023) and that my brute, UK comedy, VOODOO VALENTINOS, reached the final seven NOMINEES for MOST MAVERICK CONCEPT (2023). You guys really do make a difference!

    February 2024
  • Eban Schletter

    I'm thrilled to have been selected by this festival and to be in such great company. I really love the spirit of this organization in championing independent, unique films. Thank you so much for your recognition of the music in Asteria!

    February 2024
  • David Llauger Meiselman

    Great... very excited to be selected for such a cool and prestigious
    award! Thank you Thank you!

    January 2024
  • Tom Lop

    WordLotto was so honored to be selected as a web series at the Maverick Movie Awards. My pilot was part of an amazing block of films that I was very proud to be a part of. They set the bar very high for what they selected and it really shows. Will definitely submit my next film. Great experience.

    January 2024
  • Wolfgang Moser

    Thank you very much! It's a great honor for me!

    January 2024