The Good Life Experience Short Film Award

Filmmakers are invited to submit short films of no longer than 20 minutes for The Good Life’s Experience second short film competition. This will be the 6th edition of the Good Life Experience and this is the second year that the Good Life Experience has added a film competition to its outstanding programme of talks, workshops, outdoor events and musical performances.

A cash prize will be awarded to the winner of this competition as well as 4 tickets + Bell Tents to each of the highly commended and commended. The festival will take place from the 12th - 15th of September 2019 at the Hawarden Estate, Flintshire in North Wales.

The theme of this year’s competition is: OPEN. This is open to interpretation and adaptation however the filmmaker sees appropriate.

This competition specifically targets young and emerging filmmakers, with the aim of nurturing and supporting new talent in British cinema. Filmmakers who enter must not have previously made a feature-length film.

This call for short films refers to those works completed January 2018 or later. All genres are welcome (including fiction, documentary, animation and experimental work).

As previously stated, the aim of the Good Life Experience Short Film Award is to nurture and support young and emerging filmmakers from Britain, in the knowledge that making films can be a real challenge both financially and creatively and with hope that the prize money will be invested into future film projects by the winning filmmaker(s).

A shortlist compiled from all eligible films will be announced 28/8/2019. A high-profile jury of international film specialists and established filmmakers will choose the competition winner, to be announced during the festival.

All shortlisted films will be screened at the festival during a Short Film Competition screening in our purpose built screening tent.

Please read the guidelines and regulations carefully before submitting your film.
On behalf of the founders of The Good Life Experience,

Good Luck.

GOOD LIFE EXPERIENCE 2019 SHORT FILM AWARD COMPETITION GUIDELINES

• We will accept entries from filmmakers from or working in the UK and Ireland.

We are particularly interested in giving exposure to young and emerging filmmakers living and working in Britain.

To this end, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have previously completed a feature-length film.* By ‘feature-length’ we mean any film longer than 60 minutes.

Films entered can be of any theme or genre; fiction, documentary, or experimental, and shot in any format.

Only recent films directed by filmmakers will be accepted – the film must have been completed in January 2018 or after.

We will accept films that have previously been screened on television, at other festivals or in cinemas. Films are not required to retain premiere status.

Films should be no longer than 20 minutes. But films much shorter than this are welcome too.

Applicants may submit more than one film.

We will only accept films in English or with English subtitles (the dialogue could be in any language). Applicants are responsible for all translation and subtitling. Any film received which is either not in English or does not have English subtitles will be ineligible for the competition.

Viewing copies should be submitted through FilmFreeway.

If you are unable to submit your film via FilmFreeway then please submit EITHER by sending a password protected online link (eg Vimeo) with the completed submission form to film@thegoodlifeexperience, OR post 3 DVD copies of the film plus the completed submissions form to our address listed below.

Please ensure DVD copies are clearly labeled with the title of the film and name of the director and producer.

Viewing copies and promotional materials submitted cannot be returned to the sender and will be stored in our festival archive. These are kept exclusively for research and non-commercial purposes.

The Good Life Experience retains the right to digitise or duplicate films for internal usage and press purposes.

All deliveries from outside the European Union should be marked with the phrase “no commercial value – for cultural purposes only” in order to avoid any unnecessary customs fees. Applicants are responsible for the cost of posting the entry forms and viewing copies to us. Please note that packages arriving with outstanding courier or custom fees will be refused by the festival office.

The completed entry forms and viewing copies should be postmarked no later than 7/09/2018.

As detailed on FilmFreeway there are entry fees.

The Good Life Experience will not pay any screening fee for selected short films to be screened in the festival.

We welcome stills, press releases and other promotional materials to accompany entries, which we may use for promotional purposes. These materials can be sent on CD together with the DVDs and entry forms. Digital stills and press packs can also be emailed to film@thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk with the title of your film in the subject box. Digital stills submitted should be in JPEG format and must be at least 300 dpi and no less than 500KB.

By submitting your film to the Good Life Experience Short Film Competition, the copyright holder of your film authorises the festival to make clips of a maximum of two minutes available on online broadcast channels affiliated to the festival (i.e. The Good Life Experience’s media page https://www.thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk/). The purpose of this is solely to promote the festival and your film.

We will contact all applicants in September 2019. If your film is shortlisted we will contact you to arrange for a screening copy to be sent to the screening tent in North Wales.

Screening copies must be sent on one of the following professional exhibition formats: DCP or high-resolution digital file. Films received in any formats other than those listed above will not be screened, and it will remain the responsibility of the filmmaker/distributor to send an additional copy in an acceptable format.

Applicants are responsible for the cost of sending the screening copies to the festival by courier. The festival will cover the cost of returning/forwarding screening copies after the festival has closed. The distributor of the film agrees to work with the festival organisers and the staff at the screening tent in order to ensure the timely transport of the film before the festival. Only copies in good enough condition to be projected reliably will be accepted.

The director and the beneficiaries of the submitted film undertake not to withdraw the film from the competition as of the announcement of the festival programme 7/09/2019.

The Good Life Experience wishes to promote, support and accompany a selection of the short films on its website following the main festival. The festival has the right to screen clips of under twenty minutes free of charge, and undertakes to inform the director and producer of the film in advance.

Films can either be submitted through FilmFreeway or three copies of the completed entry form, three viewing copies on DVD, or an online Vimeo or YouTube link to the film, along with promotional materials should be postmarked no later than 1/8/2019 to: 

HAWARDEN ESTATE FARM SHOP, CHESTER RD, HAWARDEN, FLINTSHIRE CH5 3FB

If you have any queries regarding the submission guidelines and regulations, please email the festival at film@thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk