VertiStar Vertical Film Fest (1)

Festival start: 15 April 2026      Festival end: 24 July 2026

Calling all industry professionals and blossoming talent! Like the stars you are, it's your time to shine! Welcome to the premier VertiStar Vertical Film Fest. Created by industry professionals to feature the exciting, ground-breaking, and disrupting genre of vertical micro-dramas and creator content.

Our goal is to acknowledge and celebrate emerging talent and raise the standard of quality in this space.

VertiStar’s mission is to empower the next generation of storytellers, social media influencers, and artists by delivering cinematic short-form content through a mobile-first platform that fuses entertainment, commerce, and culture.

To this end we are only accepting vertical-format micro-drama features; any genre, but primarily: Romance, Drama, Thriller, Action, Comedy, Quick Reels, & All AI. Our audience and judges will decide the winners of these categories.
***EVERY VIEWER'S "LIKES" COUNT !!!***

This is a hybrid event with initial digital screenings and voting on the VertiStar.app followed by a day-long live event on July 24, 2026 featuring a networking event, breakout sessions, and showings of all the winning entries by category and laureled award recognitions.

Purchase Tickets at: https://vertistar.app/festival-attendees/#register

Cash Prizes: 7,250$

$1000 USD for Best Romance
$1000USD for Best Comedy
$1000USD for Best Drama
$1000USD for Best Thriller
$1000USD for Best Action
$1000USD for Best All AI
$1000 for People's Choice
$250 for Best Quick Flicks
Laurels for runner-up in each genre; and accepted laurels in every genre

Created by industry professionals to feature the exciting, ground-breaking, and disrupting genre of vertical micro-dramas and creator content, VertiStar Vertical Film Festival is committed to acknowledging and celebrating emerging talent and raising the standard of quality in this space.


ELIGIBILITY:

Open to all filmmakers worldwide.


SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

By submitting, you agree to all festival terms and certify that your work is original and does not infringe on the rights of others.

In order to be considered, each submission must be accompanied by a submission fee paid in full and a completed film and the script. Once we have all necessary materials, the submission will be marked “In Consideration.” It is the submitter’s responsibility to make sure that all submission requirements are met. For all submission inquiries, please email info@vertistar.app Subject: Film Festival Submission Inquiry.


Rights & Usage

By submitting to the VertiStar Vertical Film Festival, filmmakers grant the festival the rights to stream, upload, and share all submitted materials on our official platforms including (but not limited to) our website, mobile app, and social media channels for promotional and screening purposes. This includes films, episodes, trailers, stills, and film excerpts.

Submissions will be used for public voting, featured playlists, and promotional campaigns. The submitter affirms they own the rights or have permission to submit the film and associated media.

All projects must be submitted via secure online screener - either uploaded directly to Festhome or embedded into your submission from a third-party service (such as Vimeo, YouTube, or frame.io). We do not accept any films that must be downloaded (ex: Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc.).

The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active throughout the entire submission cycle (i.e. until July 15, 2026). If you change your screener URL or password, please see that it’s updated on Festhome immediately. If we discover an error with your screener before our final deadline, we will email you, asking you to fix it. Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees. If we discover that a screener is incomplete after our final deadline, it may be directly disqualified without refund of submission fees.


SUBTITLES

All films must be submitted with English subtitles.


SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

Please review all submission categories carefully before submitting your project. All entrants are required to pay the submission fee of their film’s appropriate category. If you believe you have submitted your film to the wrong category, contact us immediately. While we can typically facilitate a change in category, the entrant will be responsible for any changes in submission fees.

Submission to multiple categories is not encouraged. Please read category descriptions carefully to determine where your submission belongs. If you wish to submit to multiple categories, a separate submission fee must be paid for each category. VertiStar Vertical Film Festival reserves the right to determine eligibility of a submission in each respective category. Refunds will not be offered for submission to an inappropriate category.

Our submission categories are defined by genre. If you have questions about any of our submission categories, please email info@vertistar.app , Subject: Film Festival Submission Inquiry.

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival will not pre-screen or evaluate films prior to submission for the purpose of recommending a category for submission.


GEORGIA FILMS

A discounted submission fee is available for submissions that were both shot in Georgia and come from a director with a current Georgia address. Projects that meet both qualifications can submit at a discount.

In order to qualify for a Georgia Film discount, your project must be:
Filmed at least partially in Georgia-AND-
By a director currently residing in the state of Georgia
Films that are not live-action (animation or AI) are also eligible for the discount, if the director resides in-state and the project was partially produced in Georgia.
If this applies to your project, email info@VertiStar.app (Subject: Film Festival Georgia Discount Inquiry), to obtain the discount code.

All films submitted with this code must adhere to the rules of the festival at large and the category to which they submit. If you submit using this code without meeting the necessary criteria, you will be disqualified from consideration for the festival and will not be issued a refund.

Submitting with the Georgia Film code will not impact a film’s chances of being accepted into the festival either positively or negatively. This code is intended as a way to support our local filmmaking community by offering a low-cost means of entry (and also makes it easier for us to identify local films in our submissions pool).


COMPLETION DATE

Any project that was completed on or after October 1, 2023 will be eligible for consideration at the 2026 VertiStar Vertical Film Festival.


PREMIERE STATUS

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival does not require a World Premiere in any category, but we do consider premiere status when making final selections.

Feature films that have acquired US distribution of any kind prior to selection at VertiStar Vertical Film Festival are not eligible for competition.

Feature films that have been (or will be) publicly released online, on VOD, or DVD prior to the 2026 VertiStar Vertical Film Festival are not eligible to screen.

It is the submitter’s responsibility to notify VertiStar Vertical Film Festival of any updates in premiere status as they occur, especially if the film is selected for another festival in the state of Georgia.


DEADLINES

Please keep track of deadlines closely if you plan on submitting within a certain submission window. All deadlines are set for 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time.

You can find a full list of deadlines under the “Dates & Deadlines” section of our Festhome page.


ACCEPTED FILMS

All works selected must be ready with a final version.
Upon acceptance into the 2026 VertiStar Vertical Film Festival, you grant VertiStar Vertical Film Festival the right to utilize an excerpt from your film for promotional purposes.

Schedule and screening venues are decided solely at the discretion of the programming staff.


SCREENING FEES

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival does not pay screening fees for submitted films. By submitting your project, you acknowledge that VertiStar Vertical Film Festival will not pay to present your work.


THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival regularly uses private, secure third party software to organize, track, and review submissions. By submitting to our festival, you are authorizing us to handle your film using those third party softwares.


CODE OF CONDUCT

Please be advised that the VertiStar Vertical Film Festival has instituted a code of conduct by which all attendees of the festival are expected to follow. Those who fail to follow the terms of this code of conduct will face possible dismissal from the festival. Possible grounds for dismissal may include, but are not limited to, the following: gross misconduct or insubordination, theft of property or misuse of agency materials, abuse or mistreatment of clients, guests, staff or other volunteers, failure to abide by agency policies and procedures, any form of harassment or assault. To view the full code of conduct, please visit: https://vertistar.app


COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS

By entering your film for consideration to the 2026 VertiStar Vertical Film Festival, you authorize that your work is cleared for festival exhibition and accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein.

The submitter and all filmmakers associated with the project shall indemnify and hold harmless the VertiStar Vertical Film Festival, VertiStar Inc., and any representative or affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.


REFUNDS & DISQUALIFICATION

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival reserves the right to disqualify any submission without refund, even after a film has been invited or final programming has been announced, at the sole discretion of VertiStar Vertical Film Festival staff.

VertiStar Vertical Film Festival reserves the right to decline any submission for consideration for any reason.

If you have any questions that are not answered here or in our Submission FAQ, please email us at info@VertiStar.app : Subject: Film Festival Inquiry. We are unable to address inquiries via phone.