Making movies can be tough, but securing distribution is even harder. A film is nothing without an audience to watch it, and to close that gap is Ripcord, a new platform where fans can discover new creators and support their films directly. They're also expanding beyond the digital world with their inaugural short film festival. Filmmakers, take note: submissions are now open!
Ripcord’s Halloween Film Festival runs from October 19-29, beginning with a free online phase through October 22, showcasing 50 new short films ranging from horror and sci-fi to thriller and fantasy. Audiences can vote on their favorites, and the top 10 finalists will be flown to Los Angeles, where their films will be screened for a live audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre and compete for a set of prizes worth a whopping $200,000 in total.
First place will earn $100,000 for their efforts, while second place will earn $50,000, third place gets $25,000, fourth place earns $4,000, and the remaining fifth through tenth place will each receive $3,500 each. With prizes totaling nearly a quarter of a million, it may be the largest prize pool dedicated solely to independent genre short films.
“Too many great independent films never find an audience, not because they aren't good enough, but because the traditional path to distribution shuts most filmmakers out entirely,” said Ripcord’s founder Charlie Cleveland. “Ripcord exists to remove that gatekeeper and provide filmmakers with a direct line to the fans who are hungry for their work, and give those fans a real hand in discovering what's next. This festival is the first step in building that home.”
Every year, breakout horror hits from independent filmmakers launch their careers solely because they were lucky enough to have the right distributor or studio sign on and add legitimacy to the work. Ripcord lets audiences control the narrative and gives their voices a runway to shape the future of horror.
Ripcord’s Halloween Film Festival is curated by The Genre Film Lab’s Vanessa Meyer, with Cleveland, Color Out of Space producer Stacy Jorgensen, and Wayward Entertainment’s John Hegeman serving as festival directors.
Filmmakers can submit their short films to the festival via FilmFreeway, now through October 1. Eligible films must be between four and 30 minutes long, have been produced in the last two years by citizens of the U.S. or Canada (minus Québec), and fit into the four genres accepted by the festival.
