We’ve rounded up the top film festivals, writing competitions, and grants with winter or spring deadlines. It’s time to polish that script, shoot that video, upload that film. We’ll be updating this list as more submission dates become available, so check back often.
Film/Video/TV Festivals, Contests, Labs & Screenings
Nashville Film Festival (WAB 1/10)
LA Film Festival (1/10, late shorts 2/8, late feature & doc 2/14)
Soho International Film Festival (WAB 2/15)
Edinburgh International Film Festival (2/4, late 2/18)
NYTVF History Unscripted Development Pipeline (2/24)
Female Eye Film Festival (late 1/31, WAB 2/28)
Brooklyn FIlm Festival (2/21, late 3/7)
Festival de Cannes (shorts 3/3, features 3/10)
Independent Filmmaker Lab: Documentary (3/7)
Nantucket Film Festival (early 1/20, reg 3/3, late 3/10)
Tribeca #6SECFILMS Competition (3/27)
Independent Filmmaker Lab: Narrative (4/4)
NYC PictureStart Film Festival (shorts; late 3/31, final 4/25)
Asian American International Film Festival (work-in-progress 4/30)
Just for Laughs and NYTVF TV Comedy Search (5/9)
Woods Hole Film Festival (early 3/1, final 5/15)
Aesthetica Short Film Festival (5/31)
Chicago Comedy Film Festival (accepts webisodes; late 5/1, WAB 6/1)
Hamptons International Film Festival (early 4/7, reg 5/5, late 6/2, WAB 6/16)
NYTVF Independent Pilot Competition (early 5/9, reg 6/13, final 6/27)
Diabolique International Film Festival (horror, fantasy, sci-fi; early 5/31, final 6/30)
Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge (7/1)
Austin Film Festival (early 4/30, reg 6/16, late 7/15)
Big Apple Film Festival (early 6/30, reg 8/1, late 8/15, WAB 9/1)
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (ongoing)
Big Vision Empty Wallet (ongoing)
Screenwriting & TV Writing Competitions
Nashville Film Festival (screenplay & teleplay; late 1/31)
Female Eye Film Festival Script Development Program (WAB 2/28)
Nickelodeon Writing Program (2/28)
Showtime’s Tony Cox Screenplay Competition (reg 3/3, late 3/10)
Asian American International Film Festival (4/4)
Woods Hole Film Festival (early 3/1, final 4/10)
Scriptapalooza Television (4/14)
Creative World Awards (feature, short, TV; reg 1/15, late 2/20, final 4/15)
Page International Awards (reg 2/15, late 3/15, last-minute 4/15)
Scriptapalooza (early 1/6, first 3/3, reg 4/14, final 4/21)
NYC PictureStart Film Festival (short; late 3/31, final 4/25)
Nicholl Fellowship (4/10, final 5/1)
CBS Writers Mentoring Program (5/1)
RBC’s Emerging Storytellers (5/2)
Script Pipeline (screenwriting & TV writing; early 3/1, reg 5/1, late 5/7)
Austin Screenplay & Teleplay Competition (early 4/30, reg 5/21)
NBC Writers On The Verge (5/30)
WB Writers’ Workshop (5/31)
Industry Insider Television Writing Contest (early 3/31, reg 5/31, final 6/30)
Slamdance Screenplay Competition (feature, short, webisode, TV; early 4/8, reg 6/10, late 7/22, WAB 7/29)
Big Break Contest (7/31)
Sundance Screenwriting Lab (US 5/1, intl’ 8/15 postmarked)
Grants & Other Funding
TFI’s Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund (2/4)
PUMA Impact Award (documentary films; 4/28)
From the Heart Production’s Roy W. Dean Grant (4/30)
WIF Film Finishing Fund (early 5/23, final 6/6)
Ford Foundation JustFilms Grants (rolling)
(Updated 3/16/14)
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