funding & competitions related links: competitions & production schemes Competitions - festival screenings and prize money

48 Hour Film Challenge
A new meaning to 'short films'. Select a genre. Receive a character, prop and line of dialogue to appear in your film. The rest is up to you to decide- and to create and complete - in 48 hours!
www.48hourfilm.com

Animate!
A project that promotes and commissions innovative animation. Funded by the Arts Council England and Channel 4.
www.animateonline.org

BBC New Music Shorts
BBC Film Network, Electric Proms and New Talent challenge filmmakers to make original new films inspired by new music tracks.
www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/newmusicshorts2007

Channel 4: 4Talent
A comprehensive portal page linking to the many wonderful short film schemes run by Channel 4 including 3 Minute Wonders, New Documentary strand, 4Laughs, Comedy Lab, animate!, Animator in Residence.
www.channel4.com/4talent

Maya Vision: The Short Film Completion Fund
The UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund sets aside £50000 to support filmmakers and production companies in securing vital funds for the completion of short film projects that have already been shot but lack the funds to finish. The scheme is run and produced by Maya Vision.
www.mayavisionint.com/...

MySpace: MyMovie Mash-up
My Space, in partnership with Vertigo films and Film4, ran a competition looking for a director for their first user-generated feature film (budgeted at over £1 million). The film is scheduled for a full theatrical release in 2008. Keep checking for news of any new similar schemes.
www.myspace.com/mymoviemashup

Straight8
A filmmaking event with a difference - Shoot a film on a single cartridge of super 8mm film. Edit in-camera. Send it back, un-processed. The first time you see your film is with a packed cinema audience. Creative and inspiring results that do the festival circuit.
www.straight8.net

UK Film Council/Channel 4: Cinema Extreme
Cinema Extreme is a short film development and production programme with regional workshops for writers and directors. It is dedicated to finding 'filmmakers with a distinctive directorial voice and cinematic flair'. This is not a scheme for inexperienced or first-time filmmakers.
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/filmmaking/shorts/cinemaextreme

UK Film Council: Digital Shorts / Digital Shorts Plus
The New Cinema Fund has partnered with organisations in each region and nation of the UK to enable filmmakers to make innovative shorts using digital technology. Digital shorts can be up to 10 minutes in length and a budget up to £10000, where as the Digital Shorts Plus scheme (for filmmakers progressing on from Digital Shorts) can go up to £18000.
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/filmmaking/shorts/digitalshorts

British Council screening scheme
The British Council's long-established scheme takes selected films and showcases them to various film festivals around the world, saving you the time, money and effort. If you are very lucky you might also find yourself with a travel grant and reduced entry costs.
www.britishcouncil.org

BAFTA: Short Film & Short Animation Award
The Short Film Award provides an opportunity for British filmmakers to demonstrate their skills to the world.
www.bafta.org

BBC New Talent: New Filmmakers Award
The chance to have your short film screened at Encounters festival in Bristol and on BBC Three. The winning films also receive a prize.
www.bbc.co.uk/talent

CobraVision Short Film Competition
A short film competition which gives aspiring filmmakers the chance to get their film shown on national TV - as 50 second shorts are screened before the movies on iTV4. Prizes include filmmaking software for monthly winners, and annual prizes of over £10000.
www.cobravision.co.uk

Channel 4: Three Minute Wonders
Three Minute Wonder is a short Channel 4 television slot that broadcasts first time directors' three-minute documentaries in the middle of the channel's weekday primetime schedule.
www.channel4.com

Depict!
Part of Bristol's Encounters Festival, Depict challenges filmmakers from across the globe to come up with a compelling, imaginative idea and distil it into 90 seconds of cinematic originality.
www.depict.org

European Film Awards (EFA)
The annual European Film Awards (EFA) is the European equivalent of the Oscars. This prestigious award also comes with a generous cash prize, so is worth a shot. Short films qualify for the EFA awards by first winning a UIP award. The Prix UIP are held at selected short film festivals around the continent, from Cork, Ireland, Tampere, Finland and Grimstad, Norway to Edinburgh Film Festival in the UK.
www.europeanfilmacademy.org
www.europeanfilmacademy.org/htm/4PrixUIP.html

Filmaka
A contest site with monthly themes where filmmakers can submit short films for viewing, voting, and selection by a panel which includes well-known Hollywood personalities. Cash prizes are available and the opportunity to make a feature film as 'Filmaka of the Year'.
www.filmaka.com

Oscars: Shorts
Fantastic exposure not to mention esteem. The Academy Awards are open to short documentaries, live action and animation.
www.oscar.com

Radar
The Radar Festival gives non-pro music video makers industry exposure, cash prizes and professional commissions.
www.radarfestival.com

TCM Classic Shorts
The Turner Classic Movies (TCM) short film competition, now open to entries from Europe, Middle East and Africa, offers £10000 in prize money, a showcase on the TCM channel and some great kudos for the CV. TCM is part of the annual London International Film Festival.
www.tcmonline.co.uk

Très Court International Festival
Fifty short films are selected for this international short film festival, which are then screened in various cities around France. A jury also awards four prizes.
www.trescourt.com

Tongues On Fire
This annual Asian women's film festival offers a cash prize of £1000 and a work placement with a professional director.
www.tonguesonfire.com

For more film competitions - great and small - don't forget to visit the ever helpful filmmaking resource that is: www.britfilms.com/newsandevents

See also our main related links section

For information on funding schemes, applications etc., see also our filmmaking guide: funding

See also our legal guide: funding

If you spot (or work for) an organisation that is not listed in any of the related links sections of the guide and that you feel should be, please email us a link and information. NB - As space is limited, unfortunately we do have to be fairly selective and can’t guarantee to include every suggestion that we receive.

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