There are a lot of film festivals out there, but very few of them have a specific category where fan films only compete against other fan films. That “levels the playing field”—at least a little bit—as a fair amount of independent films are made by people with more experience (and often more funding) than your typical fan film.
IndieBOOM! is one of those rare film festivals with a exclusive “fan film” category…along with many other categories (comedy, drama, documentary, animation, scifi/thriller, music video…you can view the entire list here). It’s a real film festival, entering its third year of presenting awards to both aspiring and accomplished independent filmmakers…including fan filmmakers!
Does your fan film qualify?
If your fan film runtime is less than 40 minutes (and the CBS fan film guidelines pretty much ensure that if your fan film is Star Trek-based), then yes…YOU qualify! In the first year of IndieBOOM!, a Star Wars fan film from Mexico won in the category. And last year, a Star Trek fan film, THE FEDERATION FILES: “Walking Bear, Running Wolf” took first place as best fan film against two Star Wars, one Blade, one Superman, and one Stranger Things fan film competitor finalists.
How does judging work?
A panel of judges chose the films that make it as finalists. Those, in turn, will be posted online and to IndieBOOM!‘s ROKU channel for viewing. The film that gets the most views on their website and ROKU app in each category receives “Winning Laurels” (first prize) in that category. Also, the panel of judges will choose their favorite selection among all finalists, which will receive the Jury Prize Laurels. And finally, the overall most-viewed film of the festival will receive Fan Favorite Laurels and a cash prize of $500!
All winning Selections will have the option of streaming on BKOD for a worldwide audience!
How much does it cost to enter?
The early-bird deadline has already passed (sorry), so the entry fee is now $45 per film. The regular deadline is September 10, but there’s also a late deadline of November 10 where the entry fee is still only $45. (Why doesn’t it go up? I have no idea, but that’s what’s published on the website.) And finally, for those real procrastinators, there’s an extended deadline of December 10, but the entry fee for that does go up to $55.
There is no restriction for what year the fan film was released or whether or not it has been on YouTube or Vimeo previously. All are welcome.
So get your fan films entered. Just click on the link below: