Filmmakers interested in participating must submit shorts that meet the following criteria:
•Films must be easily categorized as science-fiction or fantasy.
•Films must run a maximum of five minutes, including credits (no minimum running time).
•Films must contain no profane language or offensive imagery; if CSL and the Saint Louis Science Center deem a work inappropriate for viewing by audiences of all ages, it will be eliminated from consideration.
•Films must include sound (e.g., dialogue, ambient sound, effects, and/or music).
•All conceivable approaches – including experimental, narrative, and animated– are acceptable. The shorts can be shot in any film or video format, in either color or black-and-white.
•Films must have a production date no earlier than 2014.
In addition, the following conditions apply:
•Filmmakers must have secured rights to any music, words, or images used in the work.
•Filmmakers will retain ownership rights to submitted works, but by submitting a short to the competition, a filmmaker grants the Saint Louis Science Center the right to screen the work in its exhibition spaces. Submission of a short does not guarantee its use.
•Filmmakers must live within a specified geographical location, which includes the states Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
•All films must be submitted using FilmFreeway with a secure online screener link. No entry fee is required. Submission deadline is March 31, 2020.