The Annual Awards Screening of the Maple Summit Film Festival will take place in November 2020 (exact dates and venue TBC) in or near Uniontown, PA.
1. 2020 Cycle One Submission Deadlines
Submissions for Cycle One will be accepted from 1 January 2020 to 24 April 2020. The early bird deadline is Friday 31 January 2020; the regular deadline is Friday 27 March 2020; the late deadline is Friday 24 April 2020. Submissions for Cycle Two will be accepted from 1 June 2020 to 25 September 2020. The early bird deadline is Friday 26 June 2020; the regular deadline is Friday 28 August 2020; the late deadline is Friday 25 September 2020. Early entry is encouraged but in no way guarantees acceptance.
2. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via password protected online screeners ONLY. We do not accept films sent over by DVD.
We do not accept subsequent cuts or more complete versions of submitted films, therefore changing or updating the originally submitted link is not accepted. Only one version of the film will be reviewed by programmers.
3. Submission Eligibility
- All submissions must have been completed after 1 January 2019.
- Films with distribution, which have not had a theatrical and/or day-and-date release are accepted.
4. Premiere Status
- There is no premiere policy for MicroShorts, Music Videos, Short Narrative films, and Feature Narrative.
- Submitted films may have screened at other Festivals, both physical and online.
5. Submission Fee
All submissions for Maple Summit Film Festival are to be paid through FilmFreeway platform. The submission fee is non-refundable.
6. Shipping - for finalist films ONLY
If selected for the Annual Award Screening, your DVD/Blu-Ray should be sent to:
Maple Summit Film Festival
c/o Robert Hensley Creative LLC
6545 Simpson Avenue, Unit 2
North Hollywood, CA 91606
United States
All shipping and postage costs for DVD/Blu-Rays and additional materials sent to Maple Summit Film Festival must be borne by the submitting party. The festival will not accept Cash On Delivery shipments. The festival will not absorb any fees incurred in U.S. customs. All charges must be pre-paid.
7. Selection of Films
Submissions are reviewed and selected under criteria, including but not limited to:
- Quality of narrative and production values.
- Craftsmanship.
- Independent nature of the production.
8. Notification
Maple Summit Film Festival endeavors to complete selection of "Official Selections" within 7 days of the late deadline. "Finalist" selection procedures will be completed within 21 days from the closing of the late deadline, and inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been named a finalist from the Cycle or not after that time.
9. Finalists
Finalists from each Cycle will receive a Filmmaker Festival Pack via email within a week of the completion of Cycle Two, which will include important information on shipping assets to the Festival, press and publicity, guest accreditation, contact information and how to make the most of participating in the Festival.
10. Annual Award Screenings - for finalist films ONLY
Selected films MUST provide a DVD or Blu-Ray (Region 1) of their film in order to be screened at the Maple Summit Film Festival. The film title MUST be clearly labelled on the DVD/Blu-Ray. All foreign language films MUST contain English subtitles files.
Finalist films and assets must be received by the festival no later than TEN days prior to its scheduled screening date. Maple Summit Film Festival aspires to provide the best quality projection possible but will not be held liable for any failure in the technical quality of the projection, nor will fees be refunded in any such case. Maple Summit Film Festival assumes that the submitting party or filmmaker(s) or entrant(s) or print source company has insured for damage and loss of the festival assets.
11. Scheduling - for finalist films ONLY
Screenings are scheduled at the discretion of the festival. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, the festival reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Maple Summit Film Festival will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.
No film may be withdrawn from the festival program after its selection as a finalist.
12. Promotion - for selected films ONLY
Finalist films must acknowledge that Maple Summit Film Festival reserves the right to promote the films on Maple Summit Film Festival website and social media using both images and video that you provide.
13. Annual Festival Awards
Jury prizes for Best MicroShort/Music Video, Best Short Narrative Film, Best Feature Narrative Film, and Best Conservation Documentary Film.
All finalist films' online screeners must be made available for the duration of the festival (January 1- November 30, 2020) for all the judges panel.