SeriesFest

A Celebration of Episodic Storytelling

Colorado Pilots In Progress

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Submissions open fall 2025

View on FilmFreeway.

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Dates & Fees
Entry Materials
Awards & Prizes

Previous Winners

Submission FAQs

All Festival Submissions:

Colorado has so much to offer storytellers from mountains, cityscape,  to a standout creative community.

For Season 11,  SeriesFest is excited to focus the signature Pilots in Progress program to support our home state creatives.  Colorado Pilots in Progress offers an opportunity for Colorado creators to  securely screen a rough cut of their pilot for constructive feedback from fellow creators and industry to help fine tune and finalize their project. Selected creators will work with the SeriesFest team to construct a personalized post-screening feedback questionnaire. Viewers will complete an audience questionnaire for the creator to review and, at their discretion, incorporate into a final edit or future episodes.

“SeriesFest really is the premier place to be if you care about episodic content.“

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland
Executive Director at SAG-AFTRA

KEY DATES & FEES

Submissions for SeriesFest: Season 11 open August 21, 2024.

Early Bird Deadline
10/21/24

Standard
$35

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$25

Student
$15

Regular Deadline
12/3/24

Standard
$45

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$35

Student
$20

Final Deadline
1/14/25

Standard
$65

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$50

Student
$40

Submissions are open, and listed prices are available through 11:59 PM (local time) on the date shown.

Certain projects that exhibit a commitment to engaging underrepresented communities may be eligible for our Inclusion Initiative Submission Fee Waiver. Learn more.

AWARDS & PRIZES

*This competition is neither juried nor eligible for an audience award.

Special Awards

INCLUSIVITY INITIATIVE AWARDS

This category is eligible for Inclusivity Initiative Awards including The Caz Matthews Fund, The Inclusive Creator Fund presented by the Anna & John J. Sie and the Global Down Syndrome Foundations, and The Intersectionality Fund. Theses awards will be given to the episodic projects and teams who demonstrate a thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate approach to using storytelling as a means of leveling the playing field for underrepresented people including women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and alternatively abled voices.
Learn more about our Inclusivity Initiative here.

Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, presented by Canva

SeriesFest is partnering with Canva, our Official Design Partner, to acknowledge the creativity and skill necessary to build the perfect series format deck. SeriesFest Official Selections and Storytellers Initiative Semi-Finalists who choose to create their series format decks on Canva will have the opportunity to win the award, which includes a $5,000 cash prize.
Learn more here.

ENTRY MATERIALS

Partially Produced Pilot
Ranging from 10-60 minutes.

Pilots must be based in and created in Colorado. Pilots should be near completion in that the structure and story arc are in place, but not yet picture locked. Unfinished versions with incomplete or temporary sound, missing scenes, no credits or titles, unfinished visual effects, etc. are all ok! When possible, please provide an on-screen description of missing elements as placeholders within the continuity of the film. You should also list other general elements that are missing or incomplete on a title card before the project begins. Make sure your project can be edited to incorporate viewer feedback after the screening!

FilmFreeway Entry Fee
(see above)

Series Format Deck
All submissions must include a Series Format Deck—uploaded to the FilmFreeway application page under “Files & Attachments”.
View an example.

An effective Series Format Deck introduces your project in a visually exciting and emotionally powerful way.  It captures the reader’s imagination, allowing them to see the full scope of the series and embrace the characters. The Series Format deck is essential to our review process, providing a clear and compelling way for us to understand your vision.

The Series Format Deck should be 2–15 pages, must be in English, and include the following:

  • Log Line
  • Pilot Synopsis
  • Season One Outline
  • Main Character Descriptions (Up to 5)
    • For unscripted pilots, include key onscreen subjects/talent
  • Tone of your series (can include no more than 2 comparisons)
  • Producing Team
  • Key Creatives
  • Goals for your Series
  • A Creator Statement that includes: Why This Idea, Why Me, and Why Now?

If your submission is selected for final programming you will be required to submit more information regarding your pilot, cast, and crew so SeriesFest can maximize your experience with executives at the Festival in May. Full details will be sent to submissions selected for SeriesFest: Season 11 in an acceptance email by April 2025.

Not sure where to get started on your Series Format Deck? You don’t have to start from a blank page. Check out our template—created in Canva, and make it your own!

Pilot in Progress One Sheet answering the following questions: 

  • What are the missing elements in your pilot?
  • What do you need in order to complete your pilot?
  • What do you hope to gain by submitting your pilot in progress?

Please note, entry materials will not be returned

Pilots selected do not need to retain any sort of premiere status, however, programmers do consider premiere status, previous festival screenings, and awards when deciding on official competition selections. If your pilot has been released via any home video outlet, broadcast on television, or had a ticketed public theatrical exhibition anywhere in the USA, it is not eligible for this festival. Submissions are welcome from around the world, but submissions must be in English or include English subtitles.

The information above is provided as a general guideline and is subject to change. Guidelines are updated annually before submissions open. To be eligible for consideration in SeriesFest: Season 12, you must provide all required materials at the time of submission. Awards are contingent on partner funding—please review the available awards at the time of your application for the most accurate information.

Previous Award Winner

BREWABILITY

A cool job can be hard to find for anyone, but especially for disabled adults. Enter Brewability: a brewery, restaurant, and music venue in Colorado, where employees with disabilities run the show.

SeriesFest: Season 10, 2024

Thank you to our partner

Company 3

Company 3 is a comprehensive postproduction facility for features, episodic, commercials, and music videos. Known for its creative color artistry, pioneering technology, and global reach, Company 3 is trusted to deliver a quality product every time. It is home to one of the largest and most talented pools of colorists and visual effects artists working in post-production today with a client list that includes many of the most respected and talented film and entertainment professionals in the industry. Company 3 offers solutions-based services ranging from color correction, Digital Intermediate (DI), and file-based workflows to visual effects and online services. Through its virtual outposts, Company 3 Colorists are available to clients around the world..