How to submit an AI film to festivals

BY JOSHUA MAYA · GREENLIGHT AI · PUBLISHED OCT 17, 2026 · 7 MIN READ

When I finished my first AI short I had a film and no idea what to do with it. Festival websites are full of jargon: "premiere status," "screener," "Gold pricing," "late deadline." On top of that, every festival treats AI differently. Some welcome it, some ask you to disclose it, and a few don't say anything at all.

This is the process I use now, step by step. I'm keeping it general on purpose. Festival rules and dates change every season, and I'd rather send you to the source than hand you a date that's gone stale. Where I cite a specific rule, I link to the page I read it on.

Step 1: Decide where your film fits

There are roughly two kinds of places to send an AI film:

• AI-specific festivals and contests. Everyone there is working with these tools, judges know what good AI work looks like, and many entries are free or cheap. Several are run by the AI platforms themselves.
• General festivals that accept AI work. Bigger audiences, more prestige, higher fees and more competition. Your film competes against live-action shorts, so story and craft matter even more than the tech.

Most people should start with the first group. I track AI film festivals and contests, with deadlines, fees and AI rules, in the free Festival Finder. The data is pulled from public pages, so still confirm everything on the official site.

Step 2: Read the rules (yes, all of them)

This is the step that saves you money. Before you pay a fee, check:

• Completion date. Many festivals only accept films finished after a certain date.
• Runtime. Short-film categories have a maximum length, and it varies a lot.
• Premiere status. Some festivals want a world, national or regional premiere. Posting the full film publicly can affect your eligibility at festivals that care about premieres. If a big festival is your goal, read its rule before you put the film on YouTube.
• AI policy. Is AI allowed? Is disclosure required? Does it need to be "made with" one specific tool? Platform-run contests often require that the film be made mostly in their tool.
• Category. Pick the one you actually fit. Entering the wrong category is a common way to lose a fee.
• Rights. You need to own or license everything: music, voices and any reference material.

Step 3: Write your AI disclosure statement

Even when a festival doesn't require one, I include it. It's honest, it answers the judges' first question, and the rules are moving in this direction. Sundance's 2027 submissions FAQ says it has no restrictions on AI use but requires disclosure of any AI use. It also warns that failing to disclose could lead to disqualification.

A good disclosure is specific. Compare these two:

Vague: "This film was made with AI tools."

Specific: "Written, directed and edited by Joshua Maya. Story developed with ChatGPT. Characters and environments generated in OpenArt; motion generated with Seedance; all dialogue performed by the director and voice-cloned from his own voice; score generated with Suno (paid commercial tier); upscaled with Topaz; edited in Final Cut Pro. No real person's likeness or voice was used without consent."

The second version tells the jury what you did and what the tools did. It shows you have the rights, and it heads off the questions they'd otherwise ask. Keep notes on your tools while you make the film. Writing the disclosure from memory afterward is painful.

Step 4: Set up FilmFreeway (or the festival's own form)

Most festivals use FilmFreeway. A filmmaker account is free and includes HD video uploads. Some festivals use their own submission form or another platform instead, so follow whatever the festival's site says.

On FilmFreeway you build one project page and reuse it for every submission:

• Title, logline (one sentence) and a short synopsis
• Runtime, completion date, country, language and genre
• Director bio and statement (this is a good place to talk about your AI process)
• Credits, poster and stills
• Your screener, uploaded directly or linked as a private video

FilmFreeway also sells an optional Gold membership. According to its help page, Gold costs $14.99/month or $119.99/year. It gives 10% to 50% off entries at participating "Gold" festivals and removes FilmFreeway's service fees. It only pays off if you're submitting to several Gold festivals in a short window, so do the math against your actual list first.

Step 5: Get your deliverables ready

Have these in a folder before the deadline week:

• Screener: a private, watchable link or upload of the final cut.
• Master file: a high-quality export (H.264 or ProRes, 1080p or higher). AI video is often generated at low resolution. I draft at 480p and upscale my keepers to 2K before the final edit, so the festival cut holds up on a big screen.
• Subtitles: an English .srt file, even if your film is in English. Some festivals ask for burned-in subtitles instead, so check.
• Poster (usually portrait) plus 3–5 stills and a 16:9 key image.
• Logline, synopsis, director bio and headshot.
• Credits list and your AI disclosure.
• Rights paperwork: music license or plan terms, voice consent, and anything else a festival might ask you to prove.
• Trailer (optional): 30–90 seconds, handy for socials if you get selected.

Exact specs vary by festival, so always use the festival's own deliverables list. Selected films often get a second, stricter list (a screening file format, for example).

Step 6: Be strategic about fees and deadlines

Most festivals have tiered deadlines (early, regular, late, sometimes extended), and the fee rises at each tier. Some practical rules:

• Enter early. It's the cheapest tier, and you aren't rushing your deliverables.
• Set a season budget and log every fee in a spreadsheet before you pay. Columns: festival, deadline, fee, date submitted, notification date, result.
• Start with free AI contests. Several AI-specific festivals and platform contests charge nothing. That's where I'm spending first.
• Ask about fee waivers. Some festivals offer them, especially to students or first-time filmmakers. A polite, short email doesn't hurt. Don't expect one, though.
• Mind the time zone. Deadlines are often listed in the organizer's local time.

Step 7: After you hit submit

Put each notification date in your calendar. Expect plenty of rejections, which are completely normal even for great films. Keep your project page up to date as you get selections or laurels. If a festival you care about has premiere rules, hold off on releasing the full film publicly until you know where it's going. Release behind-the-scenes clips in the meantime.

What I'm doing with my own films

I made my tech-noir short FEMTECH for the Higgsfield Global Film Festival. That's an example of a platform-run contest where the tool requirement is part of the rules. All the Pretty Seahorses is the film I'm taking through this process now, starting with free and low-cost AI festivals and setting a hard budget for anything paid. I'll report back on what happens, rejections included, because that's the point of building this studio in public. You can watch both films on the case study page.

Sources checked October 17, 2026: Sundance 2027 Submissions FAQ · FilmFreeway Gold FAQ · FilmFreeway: how it works. Rules change, so confirm on the official page before you pay. Not legal advice. Not affiliated with any festival.

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