2021 Registration
EFC Submission Deadline: April 12th
General Rules and Guidelines
Students’ films can be entered into one of the following divisions:
Storytellers: Grades 6 – 8
Visionaries: Grades 9 – 12
Filmmakers in the Storyteller division may submit a film up to 4 minutes in length.
Filmmakers in the Visionaries division may submit a film up to 6 minutes in length.
Award categories include:
- Narrative– a story of connected events, real or imaginary. May contain elements of humor, narration, non-fiction, etc.
- Documentary– a non-fiction film intended to instruct, inform the audience or maintain an historical record.
- Comedy– Ha! (You get it.)
- Experimental– films that explores alternatives to traditional narratives.
- Social Impact – films that engage with social issues.
- 2021 Special Category: My COVID Life–short films that reflect the pain, humor, boredom, anxiety, darkness and light of living through COVID-19
Awards are determined by the EFC Committee. Not all categories may receive awards, and the MF reserves the right to add awards for outstanding achievement.
Illegal use of copyrighted material is prohibited and may disqualify your submission.
No film will be accepted if it has been submitted to our previous EFC program.
Montclair Film reserves the right to show and use stills from all submissions and EFC events for promotional purposes.
By submitting a film to the Emerging Filmmaker Competition, the filmmaker agrees to and is aware of these policies and general rules.
When completing the form below, the person listed as the main contact will be the one who receives correspondence from the Emerging Filmmaker Competition (EFC) and Montclair Film. They will be responsible for communicating with the rest of the group.
Film Specs
If your film is chosen to be viewed during the Montclair Film Festival, it needs to be compatible with our screens. Films can be shot on any format (smart phone, video, digital video, etc.).
Filming Specs: (iMovie, Final Cut Pro are programs that meet these requirements)
- 1998 x 1080 Pro Res 422(HQ) for Flat or 2048 x 858 Pro Res 422(HQ) for Scope
- Frame rate should be 23.98fps or 24fps (progressive only, NO INTERLACE)
- Stereo or 5.1 Linear PCM
Registration
To ensure a blind jury, please submit your short without any credits. If your film is chosen, you can save time and energy by having a copy with credits ready to go. Absolutely no names, credit listings or school credits can be visible on the submitted film.
EFC Registration Number: When you register, you will receive a confirmation email with your EFC registration number. This number will be used to identify your film so that the judging remains blind.
Title: When uploading your film for submission, please label the uploaded file with your EFC registration number followed by your film’s title. For example, 6587MyFilmTitle.mov.
Summary: All submissions must include a paragraph summary of your submitted short. The summary can be a PDF or Word Doc and should also be labeled with your registration number followed by the film title (e.g., 6587MyFilmTitle.MOV).
Films should be uploaded by April 12, 2021 to: http://montclairfilm.org/EFC-Upload.
Mailing your Film
You can mail your film on a thumb drive along with a summary of your film. Please include your EFC registration number on both your thumb drive and your summary.
Films can be mailed to the following address and must be postmarked by April 12, 2021.
Montclair Film
505 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042
Need Help Getting Started?
Check out Montclair Film Academy for Filmmaking Classes and Workshops!