Submission Guidelines!

Eligibility Criteria

Participants:
Filmmakers currently, 18 years or older, residing or studying in South Jersey OR Filmmakers submitting a short film with at least 2 scenes filmed in Salem County, NJ
Film Length:
4-7 minutes
Opening / Closing credits are not included in the 4-7minutes however, credits combined cannot exceed 2 minutes
Submission Window
March 17th-31st 2026

To be eligible for consideration, all submissions must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe upon the rights of any third party. Entries must be suitable for public exhibition and may not contain obscene, indecent, pornographic, or defamatory material. Submissions may not invade the privacy or rights of any individual, company, organization, or entity, nor may they violate any applicable laws or regulations. All copyrighted elements used in the film must be owned by the entrant or used with proper permission.

The Salem County Film Festival Committee, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any entry containing prohibited, inappropriate, or objectionable content. The Committee also reserves the right to make the final determination regarding eligibility, to refuse to screen any film, to make announcements at screenings regarding film content, and to require edits or alterations to remove offensive or defamatory material.

Where to Register (FREE)

It is free to submit!! Registering does not mean you are required to submit a film—it simply lets us know that you’re interested in participating. CLICK HERE FOR Filmmaker Registration

Eligible Participants must meet the criteria below :

Filmmakers must be 18 years or older to submit, unless the film is submitted through an accredited school film class or program. In those cases, the supervising professor or instructor must handle the submission process on behalf of the students.
Filmmakers residing or studying in South Jersey OR Filmmakers submitting a short film with at least 2 scenes filmed in Salem County, NJ

Important Dates!

Submission Window: March 17- 31, 2026
Nominees Announced: April 18, 2026
Festival & Screening: April 25, 2026

Films previously submitted to and/ or won at other festivals

Films that have been submitted to or have won awards at other festivals are still eligible for submission as long as the film meets the eligibility criteria for the Salem County Film Festival 2026

Genre

Genre is chosen by Filmmaker
Visit Backstage "Intro to Genres" to learn more!

Film Ratio Specs

Video Codec: H.264
Media: Online Submission
File Type: MPEG 4 (.mp4), MPEG 4 (.m4v), QuickTime (.mov)
Resolution: HD 1080 (1920x1080)
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
Pixel Ratio: Square (1:1)
Frame Rate: 24 FPS, 24 FPS (23.976), 25 FPS, 30 FPS (29.97)
Audio Codec: AAC (.aac), WAV (.wav), MPEG4 (.mp4)
Maximum File Size: 2.0GB

Short films explained

Visit Backstage "What is a short film? " to see examples!

When writing your short film, a good rule of thumb is: 1 page of script = approximately 1 minute of screen time. Therefore, for a 4–7 minute short film, your script should be roughly 4–7 pages.

Categories and Award Titles

Submission Categories

High School Filmmakers
Collegiate Filmmakers
Independent Filmmakers

Jury Awards

Best Narrative
Best Cinematography
Best Actor / Ensemble
Best Editing
Best Composition / Use of Music

Judges

Judge identities will be announced after the winning films are revealed to prevent any potential bias or undue influence. Each judge will be a working industry professional evaluating submissions within their respective categories.

Multiple Submissions / Teams

Multiple Submissions - If you submit more than one version of your film. The latest submission will be the version judged.

Multiple Teams - You are allowed to participate in more than one production crew/cast etc. as long as you are not the submitting filmmaker.

How to Submit

An email will be sent to each registered filmmaker with submission instructions and a link to upload their film.

Movie Posters

We encourage you to upload a poster with your film! Follow the specs below:

JPEG format – 8.5 x 11 Inches (Vertical)
150 DPI (RGB)
Include the Salem County Logo

Social Media

We encourage you to share behind-the-scenes moments from your process on your preferred platforms! Social media is a great way to connect with fellow local filmmakers.

Use #SalemCountyFilmFestival so we can find and share your work!