The Fifteen Minute Film Festival exclusively accepts entries via FilmFreeway.com, the world’s best online submission platform. FilmFreeway offers free HD online screeners, unlimited video storage, digital press kits, and more. Click the blue rectangle above to submit with FilmFreeway. Our low entry fee (always $5) allows you to spend more on your own film’s budget.

You can submit with the confidence of knowing that your film will be judged on the merits of its story first and foremost, and that our process of picking our winning films will be fair to all who enter. The Fifteen Minute Film Festival is brought to you by experienced filmmakers who want to see you succeed. We seek diversity of content and genre, but reserve the right to use our own good taste when making the final decisions.

Thank you, and happy submitting!

Awards & Prizes

From all entries, fifteen films will be selected to be shown at the Festival. From those fifteen, three will have been selected as the first through third place winners, and there will be an audience choice winner selected the day of the Festival. Honorable Mention Awards may also be given. All fifteen winning submissions will receive “Official Selection” laurels upon notification of acceptance, and the first through third place winners will receive additional laurels, as will the Audience Choice winner, and any Honorable Mention winners. Attending filmmakers from each of the fifteen selected films will receive one (1) free pass to the Festival.

In addition, the film awarded First Place will receive $100, Second Place will get $50, and Third Place $25.

Rules & Terms

All films must be complete upon submission. No works in progress will be accepted. Films made after 2020 are preferred, but it is not a requirement. Short films up to fifteen minutes in length including credits qualify. The Festival will not post your film anywhere online, but we will list a title/screen shot on our website, and we can post a link to your website if you would like. You may be asked to send a digital file of a poster for your film. By submitting, you agree that you own all copyrights and intellectual properties to your work. Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry. Any violations of that agreement will result in immediate disqualification from the Festival, and The Fifteen Minute Film Festival, its coordinators, vendors, directors, or exhibitors are not to be held responsible.

The Fifteen Minute Film Festival reserves the right to use any part of your submission for promotional purposes regarding the Festival itself. This includes social media, advertising, and other related outlets to promote the Festival.

Submitting does not guarantee selection. We reserve the right to disqualify anyone based on violation of our rules, objectionable content, or any other reason. Films not submitted in English must be subtitled. Please, no pornography or animal cruelty.

All entries must be submitted by the final deadline, which is May 31, 2023.

All winners will be notified of acceptance shortly after the May 31, 2023 deadline. All decisions made by the judges, programmers, and organizers will be final, with no refund of entry fees. FilmFreeway is the only platform to be used to submit your entry to the Festival. There is no limit on the number of films you can submit, but each entry requires its own fee/submission.

The submitters of each of the fifteen films selected for the Festival will be asked either to send a DVD or a Blue-ray disc, or authorize the Festival to download a digital copy once notified of acceptance into the Festival. Sorry, but discs cannot be returned. If there are technical issues with your disc, we will ask you to send a new copy. We recommend that you test your media before sending.