WAIFF LA USA 2027Submission checklist

Official requirements

• Use the official FilmFreeway route and the actual medium: live-action/animated shorts 3–40 minutes, features 40+, documentary 5–120, vertical 30 seconds–3 minutes, music video 1–10 minutes, advertising 15 seconds–3 minutes, XR 3–10 minutes, gaming a 3–10-minute gameplay demonstration. XR needs a screen-captured walkthrough; cinematics-only gaming work should check Animated Short.
• Entrants must be at least 13; under-18s need guardian consent at submission. Eligible current students or ages 13–18 may claim reduced fees and verify status at the finalist stage. Every entered category has its own requirements and fee. Student/youth awards are cross-category flags, not separate competition categories.
• Submit MP4/MOV at HD 1920×1080 minimum; 4K is preferred rather than universally compulsory. Attach one representative still at least 1920×1080, a synopsis of no more than 150 words, a director/creative-lead biography of no more than 100 words and full credits.
• Non-English work requires English subtitles, burned in or soft. Every entry needs a Production Journal identifying AI tools; missing journals are not reviewed. C2PA is encouraged, not compulsory. Finalists may later need DCP/ProRes; it is not a confirmed initial expense for every entrant.
• AI must be incorporated in production, with a named director/creative lead taking responsibility. Document consent for identifiable faces/voices and clear music, footage and other assets. Do not import an AI percentage or compulsory tool brand from another WAIFF edition.
• Prior online, streaming and festival releases are allowed, with no premiere or completion-date restriction. Submission accepts the current terms, including screening, whole-work/excerpt promotion and relevant partner sublicensing, plus separate perpetual non-commercial archive/research uses.

Our preparation tips

• Check medium, candidate category, runtime and file together rather than selecting by story genre alone. Forty minutes overlaps short and feature definitions, and documentary features may need a category decision. Ask about credits, classification and fees first; the organiser reserves reclassification rights.
• Organise the Production Journal by tool, use, shots/sounds, human decisions and permission records. This is our suggested structure, not an invented official long-form template. Describe the actual process; training-data provenance does not replace asset clearance.
• Budget at the standard rate. European-student answers do not establish this event’s enrolled-student eligibility; an under-18 answer does not prove age 13+. Claim reductions only when eligible and retain category, round, status and payment evidence.
• Read permissions in four layers: five-year screening/promotion for all submissions; perpetual non-commercial archival uses for all; perpetual catalog/showcase/promotion after accepting a Tier 1 award; and separate commercial compilation/channel provisions. Retained copyright does not mean one screening only.
• Commercial compilations allocate 40% of net revenue collectively to creators, normally by relative runtime. A specific compilation has a written opt-out within 30 days of notice; this does not cancel all catalog rights. Commercial channels need prior written approval per channel, with at least 40% of attributable channel net revenue for the creator. Net revenue is not gross income.
• Compare whole-film promotion and perpetual uses with other premiere, exclusive-distribution, music and performer commitments. Retain the submission-date terms. To withdraw, give written notice. Ending the surviving licences requires a separate written request and is at the organiser’s discretion; withdrawal itself does not end them.
• Play through the full screener, check subtitles and word limits, and retain the FilmFreeway entry ID and receipt. Upload, payment, a Film Atlas save or a checklist tick does not automatically establish successful entry. Verify US ties and Cannes criteria separately; selection and income are not guaranteed.

Still to confirm

• Exact clocks/time zones for the final and fee-round deadlines, explicit dollar currency, payment extras and a real checkout receipt.
• Title/credit timing, the 40-minute overlap, actual reclassification and how vertical work meets the general HD specification. Questionnaire answers cannot establish these details.
• Exact age and under-18 consent, enrolled-student/13–18 discounts and flag-award status still need evidence; the questionnaire is not proof.
• General terms require AI in making, while the Documentary category also accepts work about AI impact or using AI tools. Ask whether theme-only non-AI-production documentaries qualify instead of using that sentence to bypass the general rule.
• Personal acceptance and co-rightsholder authority for five-year/perpetual uses, award-catalog conditions, specific-compilation opt-out, channel approvals and surviving withdrawal. No live contractual operation was tested.
• Cannes needs US ties and Headquarters category eligibility, potentially a separate agreement. Final venue/programme, organiser delivery, signed-in forms and receipt were not verified.

Sources reviewed

The checklist above is readable here in full. These official links provide evidence and a place to check later changes; reading them does not establish that an entry has been accepted.

• Official US site: nine categories, standards, materials and dates↗
• Full terms, updated 23 October 2026: eligibility, fees, rights and withdrawal↗
• Officially linked FilmFreeway: categories, fee tiers and event dates↗

Standalone public checklist reviewed 26 October 2026 using the US edition’s 23 October terms, not another WAIFF region’s rules. No dedicated ZIP/PDF, login, payment, live submission or eligibility/award confirmation.