The World Drive-In Movie Festival will be held the opening night of Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree on Oct. 6, 2023, and is a celebration of low-budget exploitation films made outside the financial support systems of Los Angeles, New York, and London.

The World-Drive In Movie Festival salutes and highlights films by guerrilla filmmakers with no marketing budget.

Awards & Prizes

Two winning feature films and eight shorts will all be screened at The World Drive-In Movie Festival on the evening of Oct. 6, 2023. Joe Bob Briggs will host and present the awards — the coveted Hubbie, an engraved Chevy hubcap.

The eight winning short films will receive 2 tickets to the drive-in for the night their films screen. The two winning selections in the Features category will receive 2 tickets to the drive-in, two nights' board plus domestic airfare within the U.S. or Canada for two people to the event.

Rules & Terms

• ANY FILM, winning or not, THAT WAS ENTERED IN EITHER the 2021 Mutant Fest or 2022 World Drive-In Movie Festival MAY NOT BE ENTERED IN THIS YEAR'S FILM FEST. Films that were entered in prior years will be disqualified.

• Any type of exploitation genre or subgenre film is welcome, however, they must have been financed outside of the traditional studio systems of Los Angeles, New York, and London.

• A feature film that is widely available for viewing on a major streaming service (TubiTV, Shudder, Amazon, Screambox, etc.) at the time of its submission will be disqualified from competition.

• There are no restrictions on region, though non-native films should be subtitled.

• Winners must be able to send in their film to be played at the drive-in in digital format; we are unable to accept films sent in on DVDs or Blu-rays. Winners should be prepared to provide a short biography and an interesting note or two about their movie's production that could be mentioned during the Hubbie awards ceremony.

• If the winning filmmaker has already purchased tickets on their own, they may assign their 2 tickets to someone who worked on the film or a family member. The film fest is not able to provide more than 2 tickets for each winning film, nor are we able to provide passes for the whole weekend. If you're not able to attend, please give us advance notice and we'll make sure you get your award!
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jake McClellan

    Our feature received a hubby award and it was such a great experience even if we were unable to attend in person! Not only was the festival's team SO supportive and kind, the mutants really got behind our film and spread the word to others. It really helped our film get some beginning traction. Only kinda-con was that it was screened super late so many mutants were bummed they couldnt stay up all night but thats the drive-in style, baby!! Super great experience all around.

    December 2022
    Helpful
  • Chad Campbell

    What an incredible time. Getting to hear my film get "Drive-in Totals" while going on stage to accept an award from Joe Bob and Darcy was easily one of, if not THE, best moments of my filmmaking career. I was honored to be selected, thrilled to see my film simulcast on 3 drive-in screens, and humbled by all the talent around me. Highly recommend!

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Mitchell Branget

    Joe Bob Briggs is a legend amongst horror fans, this is him putting his money where is mouth is after the "Keep Rolling" speech from S.2 of Last Drive In. It was the first year so of course learning curves are expected, there was some slight communication issues with film makers finding their screening times and who was main event film vs runner up films. BUT overall the festival was amazing, being selected was a true honour, I can't wait for next year. The Drive In will NEVER die.

    August 2021
    Helpful
  • Jeff Wedding

    This was the absolute BEST experience a filmmaker could have. The outstanding Mutant Fest crew, coupled with the hospitality of the Mahoning staff, is unparalleled. Joe Bob and Darcy couldn't have been more welcoming and pleasant. If you have a film ready to unleash, you MUST submit it to this amazing event. I guarantee it will not disappoint.

    August 2021
    Helpful
  • Brian Cunningham

    This was an amazing experience! They treated the filmmakers with great respect and made sure LOSS PREVENTION was seen by a huge drive-in audience, plus Joe Bob Briggs did an intro and interview and honored the films with the Hubbie award. The crew was hospitable and helped us work out travel arrangements to make sure we could attend. Overall the best festival experience I've had in 10 years of making movies. Great to see a festival that is truly focused on honoring small genre films.

    August 2021
    Helpful