Nominations open for Sony Future Filmmaker Awards

Free to enter, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards elevate the original voices that bring a fresh perspective to storytelling.

Award Categories

• Fiction
  • This category awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Submissions must be between 5 to 20 minutes in length and be narrative-led to convey an original fictional story or event. Dramatized factual subjects should be entered into this category rather than Non-Fiction.
• Non-Fiction
  • This category awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Submissions must be between 5 to 20 minutes in length and be predominantly factual in content. Archive footage, documentary footage, reenactments and animation are eligible, but dramatized factual subjects will not qualify and should be entered into another category.
• Environment
  • This category awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Submissions must be between 5 to 20 minutes in length and be environment-focused.
  • All styles and techniques are eligible, and subject matter can be interpretations of real-life events, people, organizations and events, but must be clearly stated in the description.
  • The Environment category is part of Creators for the Planet, a global year-round engagement program set up by Creo and developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures.
• Animation
  • This category awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Submissions must be between 2 to 20 minutes in length and include at least 75% of animated footage to qualify for this category.
• Student
  • The Student category rewards filmmakers studying a film course at a registered institution at a diploma or degree level worldwide.
  • This category awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Institutions that make up the shortlist are selected by continent to ensure a diverse range of global talent. Entries can be of any genre. Submissions must be between 5 to 20 minutes in length.
• Future Format
  • Submissions to this category must be shot exclusively on a smart phone. The competition awards one winner and a shortlist of up to five. Entries can be of any genre. Submissions must be between 2 to 5 minutes in length.

Benefits

• All 30 shortlisted filmmakers are flown to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California
• Ceremony attendance
• Four-day workshop program at Sony Pictures Studios
• Camera plus lens
• Certificate
• Trophy
• Note: Includes flights and accommodation for the shortlisted filmmaker. Should the filmmaker have worked with a cinematographer/director on the selected film, and that individual be credited accordingly, they may also attend the four-day program, but their associated costs (including flight and accommodation) must be covered at their own expense.
• Topics covered in workshops will include: casting, physical production, animation, legal, CGI, innovation at Sony, pitching process, sound and music mixing, post-production, talent agencies, TV and studio tours.
• Student category winner and institution each receive Sony camera equipment.

Eligibility Criteria

• Films must be created in the last two years.
• You can enter one film per category. The film you enter into each category must be different.
• If you are under 18, you can enter the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards but you must have your parent’s or legal guardian’s consent to participate.
• Works entered to previous editions of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards can’t be entered unless it’s been significantly edited.
• You should be studying at, or have graduated in 2023 from, an institution, that teaches higher education filmmaking and enrolled in a filmmaking element/module to enter the Student category.
• You can enter the student category that is currently open when you graduate. For example, if you graduate in the summer of 2023 you can enter the 2024 Awards currently open.
• To enter any of the six categories you must hold the ownership rights and/or have the permission of the rights holder to the film you are submitting. The workshop program at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California is aimed at Directors and Directors of Photography (DoP).

Requirements

• Videos can be shot on any kind of device or camera.
• The length of your video must be the same as stated in the category description.
• One submission per person per category.
• Please make sure your submission is in English (or includes English subtitles).
• Audio is delivered as mono/stereo and not 5.1 surround sound.
• You must own full copyright of your entry.
• Entries must have been created in 2022 or 2023.
• Please refer to category descriptions for specific entry requirements.
• Note: Except entries to the Future Format category which must be shot on a smart phone.

For more information, visit Creo.