Now going into our 11th year! The Awesome Con Short Film Festival is one of the funnest and most fan friendly film festivals that you'll attend or be part of, and it takes place inside one the biggest pop culture convention in the united states, Awesome Con in Washington DC.

Every year Awesome Con has movie stars guests, pop culture icons, cult legends and must see comic book and fine artist from around the world that take part in their show, and every year its averages about 70,000 and plus attendees, thus making it the perfect place to have your film be seen by a true pop culture audience.

The goal of the film festival is to get your film seen and noticed and enjoyed, by not just your friends and family and other filmmakers, but by a real audience. And the truth is, in this type of setting, you never really know who might be sitting and watching your film.

Each day of the convention there will be a block of films selected by the festival judges and screened in mixed genres. The genres that we will be screening are Horror, Sci Fi, Action, Drama, Comedy, Web Series, Animation, Documentary and Music Video

The end of each screening block will be followed by a filmmakers Q&A with any attending filmmakers whose works were shown.

Our industry professional judges will vote for "Best Film", "Best Cinematography" and "Awesome Performance" Awards.

Plus the audience will vote for "Awesome Film Award" Audience choice award.

If your film is chosen to be part of the festival, your film will receive a single three day pass to Awesome Con, which can be used to attend the festival and the massive pop culture convention.

15 MIN RUN TIME LIMIT

If the film is over 15mins and under 30min, it can still be under consideration, but since its a short film festival, longer films have more of a challenge to program in.

Awesome Con itself is a family convention. You can submit any film you want, but the content and quality and how it is perceived within the structure of the festival will be a factor in its judging. But please submit anything you feel strongly about, we do want to see it.

Your film does not need to be a premiere and it can exist online to be considered for the festival. But if the film does exist online, just as a screening courtesy, if it is chosen, try your best to make it not view-able during the screening weekend.

If your film is in a foreign dialogue with English not being the central language of the movie, please submit the film in English subtitle form.

And of course, submission into the festival does NOT guarantee it will be screened at the festival. NO REFUNDS

Please make sure you hold all copyrights to your film and its elements.

And finally, if your film is chosen, please have promotional material ready to be submitted as it will integrated into Awesome Con and Awesome Con Short Film Festival marketing materials.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Awesome Con Short Film Festival know their audience so well, which means their programming is top notch! We had three of our clients screen in their 2025 edition and some even walked away with awards to show off!

    🎬 In Old Ranchos
    🎬 Pocketman
    🎬 Triptych (winner of Best Cinematography and Best Actor)

    April 2025
  • Clayton Henderson

    Thank you for the “awesome” screening of our short film, Fast. This was my first time to attend and screen at this festival, and I hope it won’t be my last! Fun weekend of film, comics, shopping and celebrities.

    April 2025
  • Wendy Tesoroni

    Had a BLAST. This was my first Awesome Con and first festival my film was selected to, so thank you for making it such a fun experience. Great communication, great feedback, networking, just all around a wonderful experience! Joe was incredible!

    April 2025
  • Dylan Hintz

    We love the experience we have every year we get to participate in the AwesomeCon Short Film Festival.

    December 2024
  • Ted Hogeman

    Awesome-Con Short Film Festival is one of those offbeat festivals, where almost anything goes, and you can see some of the coolest, most-kickass, widest variety of shorts gathered in any place. Truly a pleasure to attend, and a fascinating array of filmmakers each year.

    May 2024