SeriesFest: Season 11 submissions open August 21, 2024.
Each spring, the SeriesFest community—made of emerging talent, established artists, and industry professionals—gathers to celebrate the innovative work of independent content creators. Situated in Denver, CO, it’s a television festival like no other!
INDEPENDENT PILOT COMPETITION: DRAMA
18–60 minutes
The pilot program that started it all! Headed into its 11th season, SeriesFest’s Independent Pilot Competition: Drama provides a platform for the most innovative drama pilots—live-action or animated.
INDEPENDENT PILOT COMPETITION: COMEDY
18–60 minutes
The pilot program that started it all! Headed into its 11th season, SeriesFest’s Independent Pilot Competition provides a platform for the most innovative comedy pilots—live-action or animated.
DIGITAL SHORT SERIES COMPETITION
15 minutes or less
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.
LATE NIGHT COMPETITION
30 minutes or less
A category like no other…. SeriesFest’s Late Night Competition is for live-action or animated programs with episodes under 30 minutes featuring the strange, absurd, comedic, sketch, or “what the hell?”
COLORADO PILOTS IN PROGRESS
10–60 minutes
Colorado has so much to offer storytellers from mountains and cityscape to a stand-out creative community. Our signature Pilots in Progress program is now focused on supporting our home-state creatives. This is an exciting opportunity for Colorado creators to screen a rough cut of their pilot for constructive feedback from fellow creators and industry professionals. It’s the perfect opportunity to fine-tune and finalize your project!
UNSCRIPTED SERIES COMPETITION
Under 45 minutes
Do you have a non-fiction story to tell? SeriesFest’s Unscripted Series Competition celebrates and showcases the remarkable impact of unscripted storytelling. Submissions from all formats of unscripted will be considered including limited series and reality series under 45 minutes in length.
INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
18–60 minutes
Storytelling is universal. Presented in partnership with Liberty Global, SeriesFest’s annual International Spotlight invites viewers to discover some of today’s best television shows from around the world.
PITCH-A-THON!
Independent content creators will have the opportunity to participate in an exclusive live pitch session with top television, new media, and digital execs in hopes of moving their projects—and careers—forward. Pitched projects must be strictly in the script phase (un-produced).
SeriesFest: Season 11 Official Selections
Once submissions are closed, our team of experienced producers, writers, programmers, and filmmakers carefully reviews each application and pilot to narrow it down to a select group of comedies, dramas, and unscripted series representing the highest reviewed submissions in each category.
Official Selections will be screened at SeriesFest: Season 11 (April 30–May 4, 2025)
Official Selections are determined on the basis of the following elements:
- Originality and creativity
- Overall quality of all elements & aspects of the production of each entry, including, without limitation, writing, acting, directing, editing, etc.
- Adherence to and appropriateness for a particular format or type of program
- The ability to develop story through a first season and thorough drafting of the arc.
