This is Toronto's [online] comedy festival.

Be part of an incredible comedy community that has been gathering every March in Toronto for 16 years! Connect with other creators and showcase your work to TOsketchfest's audience of comedy lovers from across North America.

In lieu of a live, in-person festival, TOsketchfest moves online in 2021. Submit your digital shorts, shot-at-home solo pieces/sketches, live sketch shows shot for the screen... send us anything scripted that we can watch from the comfort and safety of our homes!

TOsketchfest 21 will include a variety of performances and events...
- Digital shorts and comedic short films
- Shot-at-home sketches and character pieces
- "Shot live" stage productions
- Professional development/learning opportunities
- Social events and networking

What Can I Submit?
Submit your favourite scripted content developed for screens. We are looking for pre-shot/pre-produced work only, not live streaming events. Each piece you submit requires a separate application. Short form content is any single piece that is less than 10 minutes (digital shorts, shot-live sketches, TikToks/micro-comedy, character pieces etc.) Long form content is any single piece up 10-20 minutes (comedic short film, shot-live show).

Do you have a show that's outside the box? Maybe a live podcast recording or other audio content, a panel show, something interactive/partially scripted? Reach out to us to discuss before completing your application. Email us at info@torontosketchfest.com

This is an international festival with a focus on Canadian content. Submissions from any part of the world are welcome, as long as the content was created between January 1 2020 and January 31, 2021.

What's In it For Me?
TOsketchfest will return 100% of ticket sales/streaming revenue to the content creators by way of a shared revenue pool. This applies to all pieces that are submitted here and selected for screening during the Digital Festival.

TOsketchfest's priority is to drive views, likes, comments and shares to the individual creators' digital channels. Every effort will be made to push viewers to your owned channels to help build your audience.

TOsketchfest offers creators professional development/learning opportunities, social and networking events and skill sharing opportunities which are either free or offered at low-cost.

Awards & Prizes

Our Awards program includes a Best of the Fest Award, Audience Choice Award, Producers' Pick Award (most content is eligible for these awards), and Outstanding Comedy Short (for digital shorts/short films).

More info:
https://www.torontosketchfest.com/the-festival/awards/

Rules & Terms

**APPLICATION DEADLINE** – Submissions must be completed by 11:59 pm February 1, 2021. Submissions will be juried by the Festival producers and an advisory panel of industry professionals. Artists will be notified of programming decisions by email before March 1st 2021.

**APPLICATION FEE** – The processing fee for all applications is $25 (CAD and includes HST). The submission fee is non-refundable.

**ACCESSIBILITY** – Closer to the Festival dates, all selected entrants will be required to provide accessibility information about their content, for uses such as sensory descriptions and captioning.

TOSketchfest is committed to increasing accessibility at every level of the Festival. If you require any accommodations for this submission process or would like to discuss accessibility further, please reach out to Damien Nelson, Associate Producer, at damien@torontosketchfest.com.

**FILMMAKER SUBMISSIONS**

We will accept the following Short Form submissions up to 10mins:
– Comedy shorts
– Shot-at-home comedy sketches/character pieces
– Live sketch, specifically shot for the screen (pro-quality shoots, multi-camera, mixed audio etc.)
– Comedic web series episodes
– Comedic animation
– Comedic music videos
– TikToks / micro-comedy

(no stand-up sets or improv scenes/formats please)

We will also accept Long Format content, 10 to 20 minutes:

– Comedic short films
– Live sketch comedy shows, specifically shot for the screen (pro-quality shoots, multi-camera, mixed audio etc.)

**COPYRIGHT / INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY**
The work you submit to the Festival may not violate or infringe any copyright, patent, privacy right, publicity right, trademark, service mark or any other personal or property right of any person or entity. By submitting an application to TOsketchfest you agree that you have paid and/or will pay in full all license fees, clearance fees, and other obligations, of any kind, arising from the exhibition of the Film in connection with the Festival.

**SUBMISSION GUIDELINES**
This festival is rooted in the traditions of sketch comedy. The content you submit must be scripted, and it must be comedic. Ensemble work, solo work, music, animation, digital shorts... these are all eligible as long as they are scripted. We will not accept improv or stand-up sets. If you have content that is outside the box (i.e. podcast or other audio, panel shows, partially-scripted/interactive) please contact us by email before submitting and application (info@torontosketchfest.com)

We accept applications from new, emerging, and established troupes, but your TOsketchfest submission should not be your first piece of work. You must have some history of live or online performance or digital content creation. We are actively seeking work from creators from equity-seeking groups. If you require accommodations or assistance in order to complete your application, please contact us by email (info@torontosketchfest.com)

If you are a comedic content creator with a history of presentation at TOsketchfest and you are planning to create new content that cannot be submitted before February 1st, please contact us by email to discuss (info@torontosketchfest.com)

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If you have any questions about submitting to TOsketchfest21, please feel free to reach out to Damien Nelson, Associate Producer, at damien@torontosketchfest.com

1 Review
Overall Rating
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  • Neagle & Samad

    We were honoured to be part of this fantastic festival, run by a terrific team who constantly updated us and publicised the festival across all social media streams.

    April 2019
    Helpful