Entry Information

At this time, our film festival is open to 9th-12th grade students only. But if the film was created by mixed ages and one of the primary makers (director, cinematographer, editor) was in high school, you may enter it.

If a student who is a California resident made a film while in a summer or year-abroad program, they may enter that film.

At this time we are requiring that the filmmaker must be a California resident. But if a film was made that included students from other states, but one of the primary makers (director, cinematographer, editor) was a California resident, that student may enter the film.

We are interested in the ideas and concerns of young filmmakers and are therefore open to all content. However, films that are excessively violent, or that depict underage drinking or drug use for no apparent reason, or that are sexually exploitive, will likely not be selected.

We encourage submission of PSAs or Public Service Announcements, but we do not accept commercials or journalistic segments.  If the journalistic segment stands alone as a documentary, we are interested in considering it.

Of course! The filmmaker must be in high school, but the actors can be any age. In fact, when telling a story, we think it’s best to use actors that are similar in age to the characters they are portraying.

Well, you could submit it, but we most likely will not watch it if it is longer than 10 minutes. It is our mission to showcase as many excellent films as possible in a program that is a reasonable length. Accepting a longer film would mean having to turn away too many other films. If your film’s length is close to 10 minutes (like 11-12 minutes), go ahead and send it. We will watch it if we find we are short on entries.

Absolutely! The festival event is an exciting opportunity to see your film on the big screen.  The filmmakers will be introduced at the screening so that the audience can meet the filmmakers and talk to them at the reception afterwards. You should also attend The Day After where each year our guest speaker gives the student filmmakers special feedback.

Sometimes we extend the deadline. If you have missed the posted deadline, please email filmfestival@hw.com to inquire about an extension.

We are not a distributor. We post the Act 1 and Act 2 reels that are shown at the theater on our Vimeo and Website for archival purposes.

By no means! You continue to own the copyright to your film and may distribute it in any manner you choose. Our interests are in making the work of young filmmakers available for educational purposes only.

You may have screened your film in other festivals. We do not require it to be a premiere screening. We prefer that it not be online so that our audience is more likely to be seeing it for the first time. But having your film online would not disqualify you from entering our festival.

Our industry professional judges help us determine various awards in categories such as directing, cinematography, editing, etc. These honors are announced that night and are listed on our website under Previous Festivals. All selected filmmakers receive trophies the night of the festival. If you cannot attend, we will mail your trophy. Sometimes we have additional prizes that vary from year to year such as scholarships.

We do not limit the number of submissions from an individual filmmaker, school or program. Since we receive many films, we request that you send us only your very best work.

We don’t have a system for feedback or the time for filmmakers to make significant revisions. Therefore we must receive films that are completed. If you miss the deadline, contact us or consider submitting the film the following year.

No. You may use any music in your project, whether it is by the filmmaker, a band you know, or commercial music. When students enter their film on FilmFreeway, they take responsibility for having secured the rights. One problem we have run into is when we post your film on our website. If you have not secured the rights to the music, YouTube will block the film. So we encourage filmmakers to be legal in your music choices.