๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’ ๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐…๐ˆ๐‹๐Œ ๐…๐„๐’๐“๐ˆ๐•๐€๐‹
We launch the careers of filmmakers and screenwriters.

"๐‘พ๐’† ๐’˜๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’• ๐’๐’‡ ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š ๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’† ๐‘ณ๐’Š๐’‡๐’•-๐‘ถ๐’‡๐’‡ ๐‘ญ๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’‚๐’ ๐’Š๐’ 2025 ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’๐’๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’„๐’๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’•โ€”๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘บ๐’†๐’‚๐’”๐’๐’ ๐‘จ๐’˜๐’‚๐’“๐’…๐’” #16โ€”๐’‚๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’“๐’†๐’๐’๐’˜๐’๐’†๐’… ๐‘ท๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’˜๐’๐’๐’… ๐‘บ๐’•๐’–๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐‘ณ๐’๐’๐’…๐’๐’. ๐‘ฐ๐’• ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’˜๐’๐’๐’…๐’†๐’“๐’‡๐’–๐’ ๐’‡๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’‚๐’ ๐’‹๐’๐’–๐’“๐’๐’†๐’š! ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’Œ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’•๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’†๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž! ๐‘พ๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’… ๐’‚ ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‡๐’–๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’๐’•๐’š ๐’๐’‡ ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐’•๐’ ๐’๐’†๐’•๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ. ๐‘จ๐’ƒ๐’”๐’๐’๐’–๐’•๐’†๐’๐’š ๐’•๐’๐’‘ ๐’๐’๐’•๐’„๐’‰, ๐’•๐’‰๐’–๐’Ž๐’ƒ๐’” ๐’–๐’‘!" โญโญโญโญโญ -- ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ต ๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป - ๐—™๐—ถ๐—น๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ

๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ... ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐ง๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐›๐š๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ.

๐‡๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐š๐ญ๐žโ€ฆ

๐ŸŽฅ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐›๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐š๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ข
picked up by Netflix (and later the BBC) via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐“๐ž๐ž๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐› ๐›๐ฒ ๐Œ๐š๐๐ฌ ๐„๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ก๐ฌ๐ž๐ง
Distributed by California Pictures via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ž ๐›๐ฒ ๐Œ๐š๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ
Distributed to Amazon Prime by Indie Rights, Santa Monica. Via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐Š๐ž๐ง ๐…๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ฒ ๐‰๐จ๐ฌ๐ก ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ž๐ซ
Picked up by Devilworks Via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐Ÿ† ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ž:
Oscar Winners Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton for the Silent Child, Brian Jordan Alveraz for You Are What I Want and The Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallow, Stephanie Koenig for The Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallow, and Charlotte Le Bon for Judith Hotel.

๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿโ€™๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐€๐ฅ๐ฏ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ณ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Š๐จ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ . ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐š๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿโ€™๐ฌ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐š๐ฌ ๐›๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐š ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฉ๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ.

๐Ÿ”ด ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜-๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—š๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น...
youtube.com/liftoffglobalnetwork?sub_confirmation=1

"๐‘ช๐’๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’๐’•๐’๐’š ๐’†๐’™๐’„๐’†๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’•. ๐‘ถ๐’๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’‡๐’‚๐’—๐’๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’•๐’† ๐’‡๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’‚๐’๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’• ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’†๐’“๐’”." โญโญโญโญโญ
๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น, ๐——๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ/๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ

โญ Lift-Off Season Awards Qualifying
โญ Focus Groups, Networking, Workshops & Events
โญ In-Competition Online Screenings
โญ Season Award Nominations Screened at Pinewood Studios
โญ Network Hub Access, Focus Groups & more...!

Learn more about the Lift-Off Season
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/season

Calling all indie filmmakers! Are you ready to showcase your talents to the world? Look no further than the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival. For over a decade, we have been a premier destination for emerging Hollywood talent, providing exceptional opportunities for filmmakers to showcase their work and connect with industry professionals.

๐‹๐จ๐ฌ ๐€๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ฉ๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ.
This year, as part of the Lift-Off Global Network, we will be hosting a month-long celebration of creativity, featuring online screenings and in-person networking events. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this exciting festival and submit your work today! Join us in celebrating the best in independent filmmaking. Submit your film to the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival today.

๐ŸŽฅ ๐Ž๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก
All selected films are screened online during the festival month, allowing a global audience to view and engage with the content.

๐ŸŒ†๐ˆ๐ง-๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ-๐๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ & ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ 
During the festival, filmmakers can participate in city-based physical screenings, where they pitch their projects and network with industry professionals.

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ๐‰๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ & ๐€๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐•๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐
Both a jury and the online audience vote for the top films, determining which films move forward to the Network Round.

๐Ÿ’ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ (๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐)
Films that advance to this stage receive valuable audience feedback and have the chance to be seen by more decision-makers and professionals in the industry.

๐Ÿ† ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ž๐
From the Network Round, top films are chosen as Season Award Nominees, showcasing the best of the best from all participating films.

๐ŸŽฌ ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ
Season Award Nominees are then screened at the prestigious John Barry Theatre in Pinewood Studios, offering further exposure to key industry players.

๐Ÿ… ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ & ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ
At the grand finale, the Season Awards Event, the winning films are screened, and the filmmakers are awarded the coveted Lift-Off Trophy, marking the peak of the festival journey.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Join us at the famous Lift-Off Networking-Speed-Date session, followed by drinks and a party! Can't attend live? Don't worry - there are plenty of online events and networking opportunities.

Festival Winners are placed on the shortlist for the Lift-Off Season Awards Nominations to be considered by the Lift-Off Jury. Season Award Nominations are screened at the prestigious John Barry cinema in Pinewood Studios. The Season Awards recognise the best films from across the Lift-Off Season.

Find out more about the Season Awards
๐Ÿ‘‰liftoff.network/seasonawards

You'll find free content on our YouTube Channel, such as live workshops, interviews with filmmakers, news updates, and more. Subscribe!
๐Ÿ‘‰ https://www.youtube.com/c/liftoffglobalnetwork

๐†๐„๐“ ๐…๐‘๐„๐„ ๐’๐”๐๐Œ๐ˆ๐’๐’๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ ๐“๐Ž ๐€๐‹๐‹ ๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐…๐ˆ๐‹๐Œ ๐…๐„๐’๐“๐ˆ๐•๐€๐‹๐’ ๐–๐ˆ๐“๐‡ ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Š ๐Œ๐„๐Œ๐๐„๐‘๐’๐‡๐ˆ๐:

โญ Fee waivers to all Lift-Off Festivals & Showcases (worth $300)
โญ Apply for representation at international film markets, including Cannes, EFM, and AFM
โญ Access to international film jobs
โญ Networking, Workshops & Online Events

Find out more about Lift-Off Network Membership
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/membership

๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’! ๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’! ๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’! ๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’! ๐‹๐Ž๐’ ๐€๐๐†๐„๐‹๐„๐’!

Awards & Prizes

๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ๐’:
๐Ÿ†๐Ÿš€ Various Season Award Nominations from the Network Round

๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Šโ€™๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐Œ๐๐„๐“๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ & ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ๐’ ๐’๐“๐‘๐”๐‚๐“๐”๐‘๐„
The Official Selections are reviewed by the Judging Panel and receive scores from the attending audience throughout the festival. After the festival closes, the weighted scores are combined, and the top-scoring films are promoted into the internal 'Network Round'.

The Network Round is hosted on the Lift-Off Network Hub, where the Lift-Off Jury and Network Hub Members score the films and vote for the winners.

After the festival closes, prizes are awarded, and winning projects are placed on the Season Award Nominations Shortlist. Lift-Off Season Award Nominations are allocated by the Jury based on merit within each category.

๐’๐„๐€๐’๐Ž๐ ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ ๐๐Ž๐Œ๐ˆ๐๐€๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’
The Lift-Off Season Awards honour the very best projects from across the entire Lift-Off Season.

At the end of the season, all long-listed films are reviewed by our Season Awards Jury, who select the final nominations. These films are then screened at our headquarters, the prestigious John Barry Theatre at Pinewood Studios.

This exclusive event is attended by Lift-Off filmmakers, judges, jury members, Pinewood industry professionals, and invited reviewers, who cast their final scores live during the screenings.

For more information ๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/seasonawards

The season concludes in February with our Season Awards Night, where the winners from these screenings are honoured with our iconic Lift-Off trophies.

Find out more about our awards & judging process:
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/awards

Rules & Terms

๐’๐”๐๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ & ๐‘๐”๐‹๐„๐’:
All support queries must be sent via. support@liftoff.network
All submissions are to be sent digitally via FilmFreeway
Project feedback (where applicable) is sent shortly after the festival closes.
If you pay a submission fee, we will screen your work. Our online programmes are separated into categories based on your content's level of storytelling, production value, impact and acting.
We have two separate voting committees during the festival - the official judging panel & the general public
The official jury allocates Season Award Nomination
Proudly, we have no other restrictions for screening your work. This includes your work's premier status, age, and/or whether your work is available online.

๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Š๐ˆ๐๐† & ๐„๐•๐„๐๐“๐’: Lift-Off creates opportunities for filmmakers to connect, showcase their work, and celebrate their achievements.

Our in-person networking events run when there is enough demand, with a minimum of 10 confirmed attendees. If we cannot host due to costs or low uptake, those who register will be invited to the following yearโ€™s event or to another Lift-Off festival of their choice. At the same time, we are doubling down on our online events, which remove barriers, increase accessibility, and connect filmmakers worldwide.

Each season concludes with the Lift-Off Season Awards and our prestigious nomination screenings, where selected films are celebrated on the big screen and recognised within the Lift-Off community.

๐ˆ๐Œ๐๐Ž๐‘๐“๐€๐๐“ ๐๐Ž๐“๐„:The online festivals are NOT pay-for-vote platforms. Whilst participating filmmakers may invite their team, friends and family to participate & vote, it is encouraged that ALL attending audiences engage with as much of the content as possible and vote accordingly. We are doing our best to invite new and exciting audiences to genuine indie content - if you can encourage your audiences to do the same, we will build a wonderful network of opportunities for all, no matter where you are starting your career.
164 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Mark Wenning

    Seems like a scam to get aspiring filmmakers to sell tickets to their friends. I submitted 1 film to Berlin lift-off and it was SELECTED! Then ALL 3 I submitted to Tokyo Lift-off were SELECTED, then ALL 6 I submitted to New York Lift-off were SELECTED and then all 5 submitted to LA Lift-off were SELECTED! Either I'm a really good filmmaker or..... all one has to do to be OFFICIALLY SELECTED is to submit a film. Realizing this, I immediately removed all Lift-Off "Official Selection" laurels off my film thumbnails on Vimeo, as it just felt too embarrassing to tout it. I DID think the festival meet-ups offered to young filmmakers is worthwhile for young filmmakers though I did not participate in any (not interested). At first, I did watch a number of festival films initially BUT eventually gave up as the cost/benefit (number of "good" films I saw versus the overwhelming number of "bad" ones) was just too much. If the festival or the filmmaker provided a synopsis for the films the process could have been more rewarding....or at least let the filmmaker choose the thumbnail displayed for the film (rather than your arbitrary/staff selection for the thumbnail) could give a clue as to what the films are about. Meetups and filmmaker contact details could have been more useful if filmmakers were willing to watch more films and maybe spot an animator or sound designer they might like to work with. Communication with festival staff is problematic especially if one has submitted more than one film.

    March 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Mark, first off we are not a normal "Film Festival" - so please don't compare us with others because what we offer is something completely different. For years we have been trying to do something valuable for the submission fee. One of the biggest problems facing the industry at yours/our level is that not enough filmmakers are watching the work of their peers, not enough filmmakers are getting a chance to discover new audiences. Submission fees against the rate of acceptance can be downright criminal. In fringe theatre (off Broadway), or indie music for instance it's the opposite, but in indie film it is rare that selected filmmakers actively look to meet others of "their kind". The sad thing is that in the rare cases when filmmakers do, the rewards both professionally and artistically can be sky high. We noticed in our first 10 years constant patterns of filmmakers turning up for their laurels, watching their films, and going home. Active "networking" and growth through the absorption of projects led us to believe that at the submissions level we needed to give everyone a chance. We select a high number, that's true, but we have to in order to find those that are willing to engage with what we offer (you not being one of them as you have admitted) we offer so much to those that are willing to watch, learn and engage with us. In your review you literally admit to not turning up to anything we offered you. We think in future that before you submit to something you read what you are submitting to, everything we do and offer is on our FilmFreeway page, including our practices and how we select our winners. Votes from friends and family is not how you win a trophy at Lift-Off, we have a jury for that, and nominations for our Season Awards is painstakingly managed. Slander aside, we do take your points about the thumbnails and such-like on and will review those. But we wholeheartedly reject your slanderous accusations that we might be a scam. We really care about indie filmmakers. See here to see us and the filmmakers we award at the end of the Lift-Off Season: https://www.youtube.com/@LiftOffGlobalNetwork

  • Christoph Baumann

    We were part of every single Lift-Off Festival in 2025 and were nominated for the closing eventโ€”the Season Awards #16โ€”at the renowned Pinewood Studios in London. It was a wonderful festival journey! Thank you to the entire team! We had a lot of fun and plenty of opportunities to network. Absolutely top notch, thumbs up!

    March 2026
    Helpful
  • Yuliya Levashova

    Thank you very much for the wonderful festival! I ๐Ÿ™Œโค๏ธ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ

    January 2026
    Helpful
  • Al Calderaro

    Many thanks to the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival for selecting our documentary feature The Judge - Character. Cases. Courage.
    Al Calderaro, Executive Producer

    December 2025
    Helpful
  • Abigaili DJJ Li Hongmei

    Iโ€™m truly grateful to the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival for appreciating my film and giving it a place among your selected works. Your encouragement strengthens my resolve to continue creating heartfelt, meaningful stories. I look forward to sharing even better work with you in the future.

    Warm regards,
    Abigaili DJJ (Li Hongmei)
    SoulWing Pictures

    November 2025
    Helpful