IMDb qualifier's Independent Shorts Awards (ISA) is an international film festival, with monthly live screenings in Burbank, CA, and an annual live screening and awards event in North Hollywood, CA.
Each month, the submitted projects are judged by a random team of invited experts from academia and film industry, against a high standard of merit. The monthly winners are automatically qualified to compete and be screened at ISA annual event. Some of them are invited to be screened at the monthly event.
Every submission can add numerous additional judging categories.
Awards & Prizes
All entries are promoted through our social media and website with a dedicated page. For this purpose, we recommend that projects must be fully entered on FilmFreeway, including downloadable poster and trailer.
All projects officially selected in each month receive the Independent Shorts Awards laurel and certificate and are rated at their IMDb pages (if applicable). Also, some selected works will be reviewed by ISA team. These reviews are published on ISA website and shared at each film IMDb page (if applicable). Some filmmakers, screenwriters and actors/actresses are invited for an interview or to provide ISA with BTS material to be published also in ISA website.
Judges score quality and creativity of entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded monthly at four levels:
Platinum Awards, Gold Awards, Silver Awards, and Bronze Awards. It can be given also Honorable Mentions.
The awards by category: Best Short Script Best Narrative Short Best Indie Short Best Student Short Best Animation Short Best Documentary Short Best Experimental Short Best Microfilm Best Music Video Best Drama Short Best Comedy Short Best Dark Comedy Short Best Thriller Short Best Parody Short Best Horror Short Best Crime Short Best Film Noir Short Best Mystery Short Best Fantasy Short Best Sci-Fi Short Best Western Short Best Children Short Best LGBT Short Best Women Short Best Web Series/TV Pilot Best Web and New Media Best Mobile Short Best Drone Short Best First Time Director Best Young Filmmaker Best Director (Male) Best Director (Female) Best Student Director Best Acting Ensemble Best Acting Duo Best Actor Best Actress Best Child/Young Actor Best Child/Young Actress Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Sound Design Best Original Score Best Original Story Best Special FX Best Visual FX Best Trailer/Teaser
Rules & Terms
All genres are accepted with a maximum length of 55 minutes. For student fees, it is mandatory the student status evidence (e.g copy of student card included in the project).
The films must include English subtitles (unless the spoken language is English).
By submitting your film, you agree that: 1. Independent Shorts Awards can use parts of your film (including trailer/teaser/film poster) for promotional purpose. 2. Entry fees are non-refundable. 3. You own all the rights to the film.
Independent Shorts Awards does not accept the following:
1. Extremist or propaganda content from religious or political organizations. 2. Films which are made before 2000. 3. Films with a poor production standard (bad sound, lack of subtitles/captions for non-English films, or video resolution less than 720p HD).