Digital Short Series Competition

Submissions closed

View on FilmFreeway.

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Dates & Fees
Entry Materials
Awards & Prizes

Previous Winners
Previous Jury Members

Submission FAQs

All Festival Submissions:

International Spotlight Competition

Independent Pilot Competition: Drama

Independent Pilot Competition: Comedy

Pitch-A-Thon!

This category is for the rule breakers!

Each year, the Digital Short Series Competition exhibits creatives who are telling episodic stories without the restriction of traditional run times. SeriesFest is looking to find and honor exciting new digital series with episodes under 15 minutes.

“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
$70

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$50

Student
$40

Regular Deadline
12/3/24

Standard
$90

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$70

Student
$60

Final Deadline
1/14/25

Standard
$120

FilmFreeway Gold Member
$100

Student
$75

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

Best of Digital Short Series
Best Performance
Best Director
Best Writer
Audience Award
Creator To Watch Award
Inclusivity Initiative Awards
Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, presented by Canva

Winners will be determined by a jury of high-profile industry and talent during the annual festival. Winners are announced at our Awards Ceremony and are included on our website and in media announcements. View previous jury members and winners below.

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: Season 11 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

Produced Digital Short pilot episode and subsequent episodes submitted via FilmFreeway’s Secure Online Screener system. Each episode must be under 15 minutes. Creators are encouraged to submit multiple episodes totaling no more than 20 minutes of run time. International productions are eligible.

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!

FilmFreeway Entry Fee
(see above)

Press Kit Material
Any available press kit material.

Please note, entry materials will not be returned

Previous Award Winners

Cooper’s Bar

SeriesFest: Season 7, 2021

Dreaming Whilst Black

SeriesFest: Season 6, 2020

Dick Bunny

SeriesFest: Season 10, 2024

Good Guy with a Pun

SeriesFest: Season 10, 2024

Frederick Douglass Boulevard aka Food & Drink Boulevard aka F.D.B.

SeriesFest: Season 9, 2023

Human Interest

SeriesFest: Season 5, 2019

Early to Rise

SeriesFest: Season 6, 2020

Freeze

SeriesFest: Season 6, 2020

If I’m Alive Next Week

SeriesFest: Season 6, 2020

Previous Jury Members

Kasey Newton

Director, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships Tubi

Jason Hiro Kim

Vice President Good Karma Productions

Julie Dejoie

Executive Producer Snowfall

Bruce Robertson

Chief Storyteller 11:11 Productions

Geneva Wasserman

EVP, Head of Film/TV Development Dentsu

Daryn Carp

Host PeopleTV’s Reality Check

Rob Yang

Actor Succession

Kuye Youngblood

General Manager BRIC TV

Thank you to our partners

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..

This category is for the rule-breakers!

Submissions are Closed

Check out our Submission FAQs or email us at info@seriesfest.com.
Visit our page on FilmFreeway.

KEY DATES & FEES

	Early-Bird Deadline OCT 01, 2023	Regular Deadline DEC 01, 2023	Final Deadline JAN 11, 2024
Standard	~~$60~~	~~$80~~	~~$110~~
FilmFreeway Gold Member	~~$40~~	~~$60~~	~~$90~~
Student	~~$35~~	~~$45~~	~~$55~~

AWARDS & PRIZES

Official Selections are up for the following awards:

Best of Digital Short Series
Best Performance
Best Director
Best Writer
Audience Award

Winners will be determined by a jury of high-profile industry and talent during the annual festival. Awards are announced at our Awards Ceremony and will be included in our website and media announcements. Past jurors include David Person (IFC), Liz Shannon Miller (Collider), Kuye Youngblood (BricTV), Jose Acevedo (Comedy Central), and Brian Newman (Sub-Genre). Scroll down to see the complete list of last year’s jurors and winners.

INCLUSIVITY INITIATIVE AWARDS

This category is eligible for Inclusivity Initiative Awards including the Level Forward Impact Award, the Caz Matthews Fund, and the Inclusive Creator Fund presented by the Anna & John J. Sie and the Global Down Syndrome Foundations. 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

OUTSTANDING SERIES FORMAT DECK PRESENTED BY CANVA

SeriesFest is partnering with Canva, our Preferred Design Platform, to acknowledge the creativity and skill necessary to build the perfect series format deck. SeriesFest: Season 10 Official Selections who choose to create their series format decks on Canva will have the opportunity to win the inaugural Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, a $5,000 cash prize, for the best series format deck submission created in Canva.

learn more

ENTRY MATERIALS

Produced Pilot
Submitted via FilmFreeway’s Secure Online Screener system. Each episode must be under 15 minutes. Creators are encouraged to submit multiple episodes totaling 20 minutes of run time. International productions are eligible.

Series Format Deck
All submissions must include a Series Format Deck which can either be submitted using a Canva file URL hyper linked under “Project Links” or as a PDF under “Files & Attachments”. 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 should be no longer than 15 pages and include the following:

Log Line
Pilot Synopsis
Season One Outline
Main Character Descriptions (Up to 5)
Tone of your series (can include no more than 2 comps)
Producing Team
Key Creatives
Goals for your Series
A Creator Statement that includes Why This Idea, Why Me, and Why Now?

Not sure where to get started on your Series Format Deck? You don’t have to start from a blank page. Check out the SERIESFEST – APPROVED TEMPLATE created in Canva. Personalize it, and make it your own!

Press Kit Material
Any available press kit material

FilmFreeway Entry Fee

Please note, entry materials will not be returned

INCLUSION INITIATIVE WAIVER APPLICATION

SeriesFest, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, is launching a sequence of opportunities to make our festival more accessible for all content creators and to celebrate a commitment to diversity and equity, including a waiver for submissions. Pilots applying for the Independent Pilot, Digital Short Series, Unscripted, and Lat Night competitions have the opportunity to apply for a submission waiver.

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