Scumdance is a one day film festival celebrating the best of underground film. We do our best to curate those films made by the true artist… those who speak with a voice and vision outside the realm of standard faire. We specialize in horror, avant-garde, music based, and experimental films.

Awards & Prizes

Best Short (as voted by festival judges) and Audience Favorite Short.
Best Feature (as voted by festival judges) and Audience Favorite Feature.

Best Score/Soundtrack
Best Acting (non-gender specific)
Best Animation/stop-motion
Best Directing
Best Cinematography

2019 Winners:
Judges Favorite Feature: Troublemaker
Judges Favorite Short: Rear View Mirror
Audience Favorite Feature: Llamageddon
Audience Favorite Short: Record St.

Rules & Terms

Please send us your most entertaining live action, stop motion, and animated shorts and features, but any submissions that are deemed to be overtly racist, sexist, homophobic, featuring animal or child abuse, or otherwise just plain outside the bounds of bad taste will be flatly rejected.
Shorts - 30 min or less
Features - 30 min or more
17 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Robert Husted

    AMAZING FESTIVAL. I don't even know where to begin, but I'll give it a shot: first off, Travis and the entire team are, hands-down, the most wonderfully filmmaker-friendly folks we've ever been lucky enough to encounter in all our festival travels. Our acceptance email was greeted with a follow-up email that included feedback from their judges that made us feel about 1,000 feet tall (no joke, they were poster-worthy quotes!). Their communication skills are also second-to-none - having been around the festival block a few times now already, I tell you that many are bad at just staying in touch and providing basic updates on how things are going. The Scumdance crew was incredible at keeping us looped in on every change/adjustment/pivot due to COVID-19, and also did not hesitate to come up with a sterling backup plan that still made the festival feel like a "festival" despite the lack of live screenings. Finally, the festival itself - what can I say, except "WOW!!" The programming was amazing, the sense of community was incredible, and everyone is made to feel as if they're inside a propulsive cyclone of awesomeness - from the actual screening days/links, to the filmmaker Q&As, to the social media presence that makes you feel like you're a part of something truly cool and important - this fest is one of the greats, and you should not hesitate to enter. Seriously, SCUMDANCE RULES!!!!!

    September 2020
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  • Hunter Collins

    Wonderful time at a chill bar with cheap drinks where we met new friends for life. A quintessential Reno experience.

    September 2019
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  • Jason C. Wilson

    Scumdance was great! Good communication and an amazing staff. Makes me want to start another film just to enter their festival again!

    August 2019
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  • Stefen Harris

    Excellent communication by the organisers. It was a real blast having our film Blue Moon selected and screened at the festival.

    July 2019
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  • Björn pinxten

    We were not there but Travis is a good communicator. Hopefully we can join the festival next time.

    July 2019
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