Video Contests, Film Festivals, and Awards

Red Rock Film Festival of Zion Canyon: The Difference Between Submission Categories and Categories of Competition -- Just Ask

By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted May 1, 2013, 14:35

After several requests the Red Rock Film Festival of Zion Canyon listened and opened up a new competition category for College Students in addition to its Young Filmmaker category. Finding the category is as easy as finding the term "student fee". 

Just because a film festival only has three or even 12 categories of submission does not mean that those are the categories of competition which can have one, two or three dozen categories, including student categories which at times are too many or too complicated to include on a submission form. A simple suggestion from a judge, sponsor or filmmaker is sometimes all it takes to get that category of competition or that extra chance for you to win that title.

If you missed the Red Rock July deadline, there is still time to enter as a College student by selecting the International & US Shorts or International & US Short-Shorts category and paying the student fee at http://www.withoutabox.com/login/4410. All genres are considered and students may enter their films as animation, documentary, dramatic fiction, experimental or music video. Here is even more good news: films submitted to the student fee categories will also be considered for the main categories if they qualify. 

Several festivals may not be as obvious with a custom-catored "College Student" category as categories of submission are often different than the categories of competition. An easy tip to find the college category is simple: look for the "student fee" and look through the rules. 

Film Festivals such as Red Rock and Sundance will use the submission categories as a way to classify their submissions by genre and length and the categories of competition may include up to two dozen different categories such as animated short, music video, experimental short, documentary short, fiction (dramatic short), documentary feature, fiction feature, young filmmaker short, college student short and Red Rock originals such as "Short-Short" (films 5 minutes or less), "Featurette" (films 30-59 minutes) and "Aglet" (micro cinema).

The 5th Annual Red Rock Film Festival for instance, awarded 22 jury categories plus two special achievement awards. This many categories would not fit on an entry form, so filmmakers should never assume the categories of submission are the jury categories. With just two short submission categories (US and International) Sundance for instance, awarded seven short film categories including nods for documentary, animation, and comedic storytelling. To enter the Red Rock Film Festival down south visit www.redrockfilmfestival.com.

Resources:

www.redrockfilmfestival.com