STILL THE SAME GREAT FESTIVAL
DIFFERENT NAME AND LOCATION
2 Festivals in 1
C.R.I.S.F.F New York City The Cutting Room NYC
Venus Italian Int'l Film Festival

We welcome a new year with live events.
The all new Venus on Broadway Int'l Film Festival
IMDB AWARD FESTIVAL
Welcomes Indie Filmmakers and Scriptwriters

New York City welcomes hundreds of filmmakers, and scriptwriters to VOBI Film Festival. in the heart of New York City.

The Festival is focused on emerging, yet overlooked filmmakers, and writers and aims to show quality film of true indie filmmakers and honor their hard work and dedication.

VOBI will be providing a showcase for the best independent cinema, from NYC and around the world, to the public and entertainment industry. Dec 19th will screen the best indie films, hold live performances with opening and closing Gala Events. The Festival gives filmmakers the opportunity for potential distribution and funding, as well as awarding the top films across numerous categories, giving them the opportunity to mingle and network with press, supporters, and fans.

Event location Secrets Speakeasy 707 8th Ave NYC


All Official Selections will receiveVOBI Official Laurel
All Winners will receive a Trophy and Winning Official Laurel

Before you submit your film, please read these Rules and Terms.

If selected, please send specific Tech Specs listed below.

By submitting your film into competition VOBI you agree that you shall be bound by the terms of these Rules and Terms.
VOBI is open to any short film. Submitting your film is not a guarantee of selection. All the official selection, nominees and the winners will be listed on our website. All the winning films will receive a trophy. Please note that we do not offer waivers.

"Technical Specifications Sheet for VOBI

NO Mpeg4 or AVI files

"Codecs: ProRes 422 ONLY
Resolution: 1920x1080, square pixels: content that is not natively 16:9 to be padded into full HD 1920x1080 envelope.
Picture: Rec. 709 color space, gamma 2.2, 4:2:2 chroma subsampling. 8 Bit color depth preferred but 10 Bit color depth accepted. Keep video levels within the safety area, which are white video levels at 100 IRE, color levels at 100% and black levels at 0 baseline.
Frame Rate: Progressive; frame rates, CBR, 23.98 & 29.97 or 25 fps.
Audio: 24 bit, 48 Khz PCM. Stereo/LtRt only.
Audio levels have to be an average of -6db to Odb, not above.
Foreign language films must have English subtitles.
Subtitles: The subtitles stay within the lower third safety area within the body of film.

Wrapper: Quicktime (.mov) only

Film file name should clearly reflect the actual title of the film. There should be no slates, bars/tone or extraneous information contained in the file. The backup file should match identically to the submitted video file in duration and on-screen content. The film should have 3 seconds of black before first frame of action or audio and 3 seconds of black after last image or audio at the end.
Delivery: Filmmakers make their films a downloadable Link from acceptable websites:
• FilmFreeway
• Vimeo
• Wetranfer.com
• FTP using FileZilla
• We would like USB 3.0 hard drive, ExFat, Mac compatible.
• Backup film files should be on a USB 3.0 thumb drive or portable hard drive, ProRes
422, Mac compatible."

Please Send To Technical Director

Sam Berland
76-12 35 Ave., Apt. 2E
Jackson Heights, NY 11372

email address:
playitagain.sams@verizon.net

1. VOBI only accepts digital submissions.
2. Films made in languages other than English must have English subtitles.
3. VOBI is hereby granted the rights to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted for promotional purposes of the festival. The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements, rules and regulations.
4. VOBIreserves the right to refuse entries.
5. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the VOBI from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits and publicity.
6. VOBI will not refund any fees if the filmmaker fails to submit the film in the correct category. The Festival will make changes were necessary. Films submitted without the correct fees or proper submission media may be deemed ineligible at the discretion of the VOBI of the expenses incurred by the filmmaker.
7. An official selection and a nominee will be privately screened for the VOBI judging panel, and will not be screened initially to the public.
8. After a film has an official selection, the filmmaker will be notified, and eventually the film will be listed on the festival website under Official Selections. The Official Selection status means your film will be screened at the festival, and it means that you are now eligible for the nomination and you can use the festival Laurel on your poster.
9. All the Winners of each category will receive a trophy.
10. All entry fees are non-refundable.
11. We require an official, poster, synopsis and a link to your short film. Please select the correct category while submitting. We reserve right to re-assign films to the appropriate category.
12. VOBI reserves the right to reject any film or screenplay that it contains prohibited content that is offensive, or has inappropriate sexual content.
14. VOBI may without advance notice amend these Rules and Terms from time to time. Each and every such amendment shall be become effective immediately. It is your responsibility to periodically check for updates of these Rules and Terms.
15. The festival will take place on May 19 2024

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

DISCLAIMER:

VOBI reserves the right to hold a public exhibition in NYC. Therefore, all filmmakers understand and accept and grant full and unrestricted permission for VOBI to screen the film at times the festival chooses and to charge an admission fee for the presentation.

The Filmmaker understands and accepts that they do not participate in receiving any funds from the Box-office proceeds which are fully retained by the festival to help cover the overall cost of the festival presentation. It should be noted for the record that box-office proceeds never cover the cost of presentation of the Short Film Programs.

Required Legal Stuff: The filmmaker releases the festival VOBI from any and all liability for damages or destruction of the entered DCP. The Filmmaker understands that the entered DCP will be retained in a secure facility by the festival, and every effort will be taken to protect and control the viewing of this production. The festival assumes no liability whatsoever for theft, copyright violations or piracy of the entry.

The Filmmaker accepts and understands that the festival will do everything possible to present the video in the best possible manner but the festival VOBI is not responsible for any and all malfunctions during the presentation of the production at its festival screening. All entries are carefully pre-screened prior to the public showing to assure that the DCP does perform to industry Standards. The Festival VOBI assumes no responsibility for any technical difficulties in the presentation of this film at the actual event.
VOBI reserves the complete right to make changes in the program dates and times and to possibly not screen the video, despite its being selected for screening.
The filmmaker will be responsible to present to VOBI. a new / DCP for the actual presentation of the film at the festival.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lainie Ventura

    This was my first time at The Cutting Room International Film Festival. All of us at EnSuite were thrilled and honored to be a part of it. Kathrina put together a wonderful event and it’s so obvious how much respect and love she has for actors and filmmakers. We had an amazing time meeting other filmmakers and viewing their films. Big plus of the evening was winning a best actress award! Thank you Katerina for a spectacular festival experience. Looking forward to future CRIFF events!

    February 2023
  • Thrilled to have participated in yet another Cutting Room International Short Film Festival, and to have picked up an award for Best International Music Video. Couldn't make the trip to NYC this time, but as always, it's a great short film festival powered by the passionate exuberance of the festival director Kathrina Miccio. The Cutting Room is also wonderful venue for the festival, right in the heart of the big apple. Can't wait for the next one.

    February 2023
  • Wendell Laurent

    I had an amazing experience once again this year at the CRISFF. Kathrina Miccio again curated an extraordinary group of films that I was honored for my film to be among. From the beautiful and quaint venue with its awesome sound system (I never heard my film sound that good!), to the impressive quality of films, to the ample opportunity to network with other filmmakers and other industry folks, it would be very difficult to beat the experience of this festival. I can't recommend it highly enough!

    February 2023
  • bela wolf

    Kat Miccio, Jen and co. pulled off a fun, delicious , entertaining film festival! Richard Lael Lillard and I had the best time! On and off the red carpet. Looking forward to next year!!

    February 2023
  • Gerry Ferretti

    Fantastic Festival! Great atmosphere, communication and attention to detail. Kat Miccio is a great host who really cares about the films and the filmmakers. As a person involved in film festivals myself I really recognize the hard work and commitment that is put into making the Cutting Room so successful. I recommend this festival to both experienced and up and coming filmmakers and I look forward to submitting my next project there.

    February 2023