The Great Film Club

✨ PLEASE READ ALL DETAILS CAREFULLY BEFORE SUBMITTING ✨

We prioritize films and filmmakers who can attend our events in the city where the screening is held.

The Great Film Club is a community-first screening series created by local filmmakers, for local filmmakers. Our mission is to bring filmmakers together, spark collaboration, and help creatives meet one another face-to-face. We host:

📍 Weekly screenings in Los Angeles
📍 Monthly screenings in New York City

Every event includes a curated short film program (about two hours) followed by a one-hour filmmaker mixer, because community is at the heart of everything we do.

We believe that meaningful connections happen in person — which is why attendance matters. If you can’t attend in the city where we’re screening, your film is less likely to be programmed for a weekly event. (Our annual festival does accept international submissions search on FilmFreeway for The Great Film Festival.)

TYPES OF SCREENING EVENTS

Below is a fully updated breakdown of our current recurring events:

1. SHORT FILM OPEN MICS (Weekly – Los Angeles, Monthly – NYC)

A filmmaker-favorite.
This event accepts any short film under 10 minutes as long as it shows artistic intention and does not promote hate or discrimination.

Submissions remain open until all slots are filled.

Under 10 minutes = automatic acceptance if the filmmaker can attend.

Local filmmakers are prioritized.

2. GREAT FILMS NIGHT (Curated Selections)

A curated program for short films 0–20 minutes in length.

Films are reviewed by our team.

Not all films are selected.

If you do not receive an email from us, your film was not chosen for that month’s lineup.

Local filmmakers are prioritized for programming and the in-person mixer.

3. REEL LADIES NIGHT

A celebration of women-led cinema.

This event highlights films directed, written, DP’d, and/or produced by women.

Under 10 minutes = automatic acceptance (pending filmmaker attendance).

10–20 minutes = reviewed and curated by our team.

Please mention in your cover letter if you’d like your film considered specifically for this event.

4. RAINBOW REELS

Our LGBTQ+ filmmaker showcase.

This event highlights films directed, written, DP’d, and/or produced by LGBTQ+ creators.

Under 10 minutes = automatic acceptance (pending filmmaker attendance).

10–20 minutes = reviewed and curated by our team.

Please note your interest in Rainbow Reels in your cover letter.

5. ANIMATION NIGHT

A celebration of animated storytelling by local filmmakers.

All forms of hand-drawn, stop-motion, claymation, traditional, 2D/3D animation are encouraged — as long as the work is human-made.

Shorts under 10 minutes are prioritized, though we will review films up to 20 minutes.

Please note in your cover letter if you’d like to be considered for Animation Night.

IMPORTANT SUBMISSION NOTES

Attendance Matters

Because our mission centers in-person community-building, we prioritize filmmakers who can physically attend the event. This is the #1 reason international or out-of-state submissions are not selected for weekly screenings.

If You Are Local

And you weren’t selected yet — please know it may simply be because we haven’t reached your film in our queue. We receive an overwhelming number of submissions every month.

There is definitely still hope, and you’re welcome to submit again.

Submit Only One Film at a Time

Submitting multiple films at once oversaturates our review feed, and we may unintentionally skip over your work.
Please submit just one film so we can give it the attention it deserves.

We Do Not Accept AI-Generated Films

The Great Film Club is dedicated to human-made filmmaking, creative labor, and artistic integrity.

We do not accept films generated by AI or containing AI-generated visual sequences.
You must be able to verify that you (or your team) created the work yourselves.