Palm Springs Underground Movie Awards

All films in all genres will be considered. We consider a short short to be under 5 minutes. Filmmakers certify they have the rights to music used in their films. Please upload a digital screener to FilmFreeway

Requirements
For Short Films, the films need to be 50 minutes or less. We prefer most films sit on the shorter end of that spectrum—the average film we feature is 10 minutes. The longer your film (over 15 minutes), the tougher judges we tend to be.

For Feature Films, the films need to be at least 50 minutes.

*Premier Status *
No premiere status is required. So, don’t wait to submit your film.

Rights:
We require films to have all necessary rights and releases secured for us to feature them. Yes, this includes music.

Free to View:
We only select films that are free for audiences.

*What We Look For
We look for great stories that brave new territory. We value great characters, interesting new worlds, and stories that surprise us over fancy visual effects, famous actors, or silly one-liners that often feed much of online videos. The best way to understand what we look for is to watch the short films in our collection. You can get a good sense of our taste by looking at what we have curated in the past.

What We Avoid
We have no hard and fast rules. Every film is different and there are always exceptions. In general, though, the following tend to not be a good fit for us

Refund Policy
Unfortunately we cannot refund a submission fee once you’ve submitted your film. Please make absolutely sure you want to submit your film before doing so. As with other festivals, your fee is paid for your film to be considered. By no means does submitting your film guarantee that your film will be accepted for Short of the Week. If your film is not accepted, your submission fee is not refunded. We receive thousands of submissions every year and only about 4% are selected.