Toronto Youth Shorts is currently accepting short films to be considered for our 13th season, taking place in 2022. Submissions are only accepted online through FilmFreeway.
FILM FESTIVAL FEES AND DEADLINES
i. OPENING DEADLINE: There is no fee if you submit by April 30, 2021.
ii. EARLY DEADLINE: The fee to submit during May 1 - December 17, 2021 is $8.
iii. REGULAR DEADLINE The fee to submit during December 18, 2021 - April 1, 2022 is $15.
iv. EXTENDED DEADLINE: The fee to submit during April 2 - May 6, 2022 is $25.
v. Those who are enrolled in an Ontario primary (elementary) or secondary institution (high school) during the 2021-2022 school year are exempt from submission fees. EMAIL US A COPY OF YOUR STUDENT CARD OR PROOF OF ENROLLMENT FOR A WAIVER CODE.
SELECTION AND ELIGIBILITY
i. Toronto Youth Shorts is open to program short films by directors who are aged 30 and under on August 1, 2022. Proof of age may be required
ii. The director must be born in, residing in, attending school in, or will return to school in the province of Ontario.
iii. All entries must be submitted by either the director, producer, or official distributor of the work.
iv. Works in progress or incomplete entries are ineligible. If you are submitting a rough cut and update your submission later, we cannot guarantee that the updated version will be reviews.
FILM TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
i. Films submitted to the film festival must be 20 minutes or less, including credits. No exceptions.
ii. Films can be of any language but films with dialogue not in English require English subtitles as open captions (hard-coded onto the film). NOTE: we would greatly appreciate if you can provide open captions on all films selected for the festival, including English language films, to help with audience accessibility.
iii. For exhibition formats, MOV and MP4 files are preferred, with file sizes under 2GB for smooth playback on most systems. Please do not use Apple's ProRes codec.
iv. All files must be formatted to 16:9 aspect ratio. Letterbox or pillarbox any film that is not in that aspect ratio.
v. 4K, 2K, and 1080p resolution accepted but must adhere to the file size and aspect ratio requirement above.
PLEASE NOTE: We HIGHLY encourage you to upload your film to Filmfreeway directly and much prefer it over you using a Vimeo or YouTube link. It provides a better viewing environment for our programming team and expedites the programming process much more efficiently for the festival.
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
i. All films selected for the film festival are eligible for awards, which are determined by a third party jury panel.
ii. Results of the awards will be announced at a ceremony taking place at the end of the festival run.
NOTIFICATION
i. Entrants will be notified of acceptance by email. Please ensure your FilmFreeway account is linked to a primary email that you check on a regular basis.
ii. Submissions may not be withdrawn from the festival once they have been accepted except under the sole discretion of the festival.
iii. Festival organizers reserve the right to pull any admitted works from the festival lineup at any point.
FILM FESTIVAL FEES AND DEADLINES
i. OPENING DEADLINE: There is no fee if you submit by April 30, 2021.
ii. EARLY DEADLINE: The fee to submit during May 1 - December 17, 2021 is $8.
iii. REGULAR DEADLINE The fee to submit during December 18, 2021 - April 1, 2022 is $15.
iv. EXTENDED DEADLINE: The fee to submit during April 2 - May 6, 2022 is $25.
v. Those who are enrolled in an Ontario primary (elementary) or secondary institution (high school) during the 2021-2022 school year are exempt from submission fees. EMAIL US A COPY OF YOUR STUDENT CARD OR PROOF OF ENROLLMENT FOR A WAIVER CODE.
SELECTION AND ELIGIBILITY
i. Toronto Youth Shorts is open to program short films by directors who are aged 30 and under on August 1, 2022. Proof of age may be required
ii. The director must be born in, residing in, attending school in, or will return to school in the province of Ontario.
iii. All entries must be submitted by either the director, producer, or official distributor of the work.
iv. Works in progress or incomplete entries are ineligible. If you are submitting a rough cut and update your submission later, we cannot guarantee that the updated version will be reviews.
FILM TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
i. Films submitted to the film festival must be 20 minutes or less, including credits. No exceptions.
ii. Films can be of any language but films with dialogue not in English require English subtitles as open captions (hard-coded onto the film). NOTE: we would greatly appreciate if you can provide open captions on all films selected for the festival, including English language films, to help with audience accessibility.
iii. For exhibition formats, MOV and MP4 files are preferred, with file sizes under 2GB for smooth playback on most systems. Please do not use Apple's ProRes codec.
iv. All files must be formatted to 16:9 aspect ratio. Letterbox or pillarbox any film that is not in that aspect ratio.
v. 4K, 2K, and 1080p resolution accepted but must adhere to the file size and aspect ratio requirement above.
PLEASE NOTE: We HIGHLY encourage you to upload your film to Filmfreeway directly and much prefer it over you using a Vimeo or YouTube link. It provides a better viewing environment for our programming team and expedites the programming process much more efficiently for the festival.
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
i. All films selected for the film festival are eligible for awards, which are determined by a third party jury panel.
ii. Results of the awards will be announced at a ceremony taking place at the end of the festival run.
NOTIFICATION
i. Entrants will be notified of acceptance by email. Please ensure your FilmFreeway account is linked to a primary email that you check on a regular basis.
ii. Submissions may not be withdrawn from the festival once they have been accepted except under the sole discretion of the festival.
iii. Festival organizers reserve the right to pull any admitted works from the festival lineup at any point.
