1. General Fiction (30 minutes or less)

This includes drama, comedy, sci-fi, detective, you name it! If it doesn’t fit into any of the other more specific categories, it probably belongs in here.

2. Documentary (30 minutes or less)

If you have a non-fiction story to tell, whether it be a biography, an expose on a ne’er-do-weller, a tale of local activism, the history of Play Dough, or any other person, place, or thing of interest that has a story just waiting to be told, your film would fit perfectly into this category.

3. Student Film (20 minutes)

Students, high school or college, are encouraged to submit their wares in this category created just for them. As we are well aware, young folks are always on the forefront of style, trends, and ideas. Pop culture is at their mercy, and marketing execs are always playing catch up. Thus, the Student Film category goes directly to the source for something new, something different, something challenging. For the student filmmaker: you’ll get a chance to meet and share ideas with experienced film pros from around the area. And, we think this is a pretty good forum for you to show what you’ve been up to, and, if it’s good, you’ll pick up an award to put on your dresser…and résumé.

4. Horror/Thriller (30 minutes or less)

In many ways, horror and thriller movies make up the foundation of low budget film, historically and even today. The so-called B movie genre certainly hit its high point decades ago, but there is still a thriving underground community of writers, directors, and actors committed to churning out low budget cult favorites. Some of these films are used as launching pads for careers, but others are made simply for the thrill of thrilling others.

5. Animation (10 minutes or less)

Animation is as popular as ever. Some of the biggest box office hits in recent years have been animated movies (Cars, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Lion King, etc). They even have their own category at the Oscars. Not that we model ourselves after the Academy Awards, but we figured, given its popularity and increasing importance, we would offer this genre a category all to itself. Animated shorts (10 mins or less) are highly encouraged.

6. Music Video (6 minutes or less)

This category was a late addition and was included to give music video auteurs a forum. If full length movies are novels, then music videos are the short stories of the film world. Music videos are also distinctly different in that the visual storytelling is an accompaniment to the soundtrack, not the other way around.