After a mini-hiatus, Short Com will be making it's return in 2019 in Edinburgh at the Cameo Cinema.

Short Com is a short comedy film festival that has grown from strength to strength from humble beginnings back in 2011, where it started in Manchester.

Short Com prides itself on the quality of its programme and the range of comedy stylings it has screened. The most emphatic thing we look for in a film is its content, its ability to make an audience laugh or smile. Short Com has screened films from BAFTA nominated films and multiple award winners to simple home made films that have warmed and vastly amused audiences.

Short Com has screened during the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, in London and for the first time in Bristol and finished its run and closed with its award ceremony at the Glasgow Short Film Festival. One of the largest short film festivals in the UK.

Why submit to Short Com? Short Com prides itself on the quality of its programme. There is a great deal of honour to selected filmmakers who make it to the annual best of screenings. Plus it will be taking place during the world's largest arts and culture festival. In the past we have been sponsored by Blackmagic Design, Final Draft and Festival Formula all donating fantastic prizes for winning films in our category awards section. We will be looking to work with new brands to continue this tradition and bring some excellent prizes.

To get an idea of what we have screened in the past, you cans see some of the previous years winners in the links below.

http://www.shortcom.co.uk/wp/2014-2015-best-of-select-and-winners/

http://www.shortcom.co.uk/wp/2015-international-selection/

http://www.shortcom.co.uk/short-com-festival/short-com-2016-best-of-programme/

*Feature Films

We have the opportunity to extend our programming to feature films. This depends on the quality of the film and appeal it can bring. Features must be a Scottish film premier.
Contact Chris Aitken directly at info@shortcom.co.uk for enquiries.

Awards & Prizes

Digital certificate awarded to those screened at the awards ceremony.

Further prizes will be announced in due course but we are delighted to be continuing our partnership with film festival strategy experts Festival Formula.

Festival Formula are a consultancy company helping filmmakers focus on how to spend their budget on best suited festivals across the worldwide circuit. They will be offering to the Short Com prize table a chat about the winning project either face-to-face in London or via videocall with a view to recommending festivals to submit to as well as other areas to focus on. If the winning filmmaker would like to and is eligible to join their slate they would be offered discount.

$500 for funniest film as decided by a panel of industry experts.

3 Copies of top screenwriting software Final Draft for those with the best written films.

Rules & Terms

Films ideally should be no longer than twenty minutes for extended narrative based shorts. Do be warned though, usually the shorter the film the better. Our audiences are used to shorter films and it would have to be something exceptional to keep an audiences’ attention if a long short. There is no set minimum length and we have shown shorts under a minute.

Sketch vs. Narrative. We are a fan of both and this year we will be creating two separate programmes. We have a tendency at Short Com for putting funny content before production values and we aim to continue that. But we will also running a ‘Vision Category’ that focuses on directorial vision in comedy.

Films must be released after March 2018. Try to be honest please.

End of year deadline 1st of June 2019

Foreign language entries must contain English subtitles.

Content must not be offensive to minorities or portray racism. Politically incorrect is okay but try to know your boundaries.

The filmmaker gives permission for Short Com to use images and footage of their film for the purposes of promoting Short Com events.

A final disclaimer. You have the right to submit the film and are responsible for any copyrighted material within your film. Short Com cannot be held responsible for the promotion and distribution of materials that contain footage or music that does not have the required legal permissions. Basically we’re not having our arse sued because you’ve been a bit lazy. Short Com is under no obligation to screen films that do not satisfy the criteria set above.

For Film schools or individuals who would like to submit several films, get in touch regarding a discount for packaged submissions.