With a heavy heart, we must announce that Project Twenty1’s Competition has been canceled for 2020 due to safety concerns and funding challenges due to COVID-19. This was a decision made by not just the founders, but also the entire board of directors.

We still welcome creatives to share information and resources with one another. We’d love to see people share projects that they’ve created in the past, foster productive conversations about creativity, and come together virtually while we’re all apart. Please join us on Facebook to keep informed on our upcoming programs in 2020 and beyond.

Think you can make a great short in 21 Days? We do, too.

Project Twenty1 challenges you to create an original short video, animation, or VR project in 21 Days. All projects must contain a secret element, Passage, chosen by this year’s host, Felicia Day (The Guild, MST3K). Participants from all over the world are invited to join. Project Twenty1 provides the motivation, deadline, and access to working entertainment industry judges, as well as unconventional screening opportunities. You just have to provide the short.

Top shorts will be judged by executives from Amazon Studios, A Better Tomorrow Films (John Woo’s production company), Atomic Cartoons (Hilda, The Last Kids on Earth), and more. Official Selections will be streamed online via Project Twenty1’s social channels. In addition, top projects will receive awards certificates, as well as move on to theatrical and broadcast exhibition consideration through our 2020 screening partners.

“If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.”
– Wedge Wegman, Project Twenty1 Alumna

…be seven minutes or less.
…be created within the 21 days.
…include the Secret Element.

Additional Rules & Guidelines>>
Team Signup Walkthrough>>
Host A Project Twenty1 Launch in Your Town>>

21 – LIGHT – KEY – BETWEEN THE LINES

START WITH A CRASH – JUMP – CELL – DISCONNECT

Watch Past Project Twenty1 Winners>>

Best Short (Grand Prize)

Best Live-Action

Best Animation

Best V/R

Best Director

Best Acting

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Music

Online Audience Award

Best Marketing

EPIC Award*

More Info>>

Selecting Our Secret Element This Year:

Day 0: Today – Nov 9

Assemble your team & signup! Create a New Project on FilmFreeway.com. Title it (Your Team Name). Skip the project details – you’ll make that later! Just fill out the contact info and Submit it to Project Twenty1.

For the first time this year, Teams may still sign up DURING the 21 days!

Day 1: Oct 20

Learn the Element! Join us online when we reveal the “Secret Element” you will be incorporating into your short. Then it’s off to the races!

Days 1-21: Oct 20-Nov 10

Create! Make a short project that you’ve been dying to make forever. Comedy, horror, sci-fi, mob drama, it doesn’t matter! It can even be a book trailer, a proof-of-concept, a documentary about your latest immersive project. As long as it follows the requirements above.

Don’t forget to keep building your FilmFreeway page as you go, so when the deadline creeps up, all you have to do is push SUBMIT.

Day 21: Nov 10

Upload your final file to your existing FilmFreeway page before the deadline!

Click for bios of entertainment industry professionals evaluating the top Project Twenty1 projects. More judges TBA!

What do I get from participating?

The greatest reward of Project Twenty1 is a completed project. Think of it as NaNoWriMo, for film, animation, and VR! The better your project is, the more opportunities Project Twenty1 can potentially get for it.

For example, Project Twenty1 partners with film festivals, broadcasters, screening partners, and new media outlets to exhibit projects. It’s essentially a waived submission fee for your project.

Since these partners vary, the opportunities have ranged from playing 24/7 in the lobby of a business to exhibiting as a part of a traditional film festival with a red carpet event, to getting broadcast on the award-winning PhillyCAM production, Optical Toys! 

After our panel of screeners view and rate all of the submitted projects, the top projects finished on time will be submitted to the industry judges.

Judges will determine awards, including but not limited to:

Best Film

Best Animation

Best V/R

Best Director

Best Acting

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Music

EPIC Award (Award for participant who exhibits exemplary participation within the Project Twenty1 community. Think of it as the “Miss Congeniality” of content creation.)

What’s the best way to get on a Team/recruit Team members?

If you’ve signed up to be a Team leader:

There are several ways to find cast, crew, and volunteers to help you with your short. There is no limit on team size, especially since it often takes a lot of actors, writers, musicians, editors, animators, VFX artists, producers, and general create people to make a short film, animation, or VR project!

Host a Project Twenty1 Launch Event in your town!

Post a call on social media with the hashtag #projecttwenty1 and we will post your request on our Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Remember to include your town, as Project Twenty1 is an international competition.

Post your request to local groups on Facebook, Craigslist, Mandy and your local film commissions.

Ask your friends and family to help! Your mom might be the next Francis Ford Copolla. Your best friend could be an actor incognito! Your dog…yeah, your dog is probably going to be more famous than all of us, but you already knew that.

If you’re looking for a Team:

The best way to make sure that you can participate in Project Twenty1 is to form your own Team!

You are also welcomed to join other peoples’ Teams by following the #projecttwenty1 hashtag and in Project Twenty1’s Facebook Group to reach out to people in your area so you can jump on their team.

You are welcomed to participate on multpile teams, and Teams are welcomed (and encouraged!) to collaborte with each other.

Does the 7-minute limit include credits?

Yes. Since this year, Project Twenty1 is focused on helping creatives make a project that focuses on quality over quantity, we require that the project – including credits – is 7-minutes or less. After the project is complete, you are welcomed to make longer cuts! But trust us – we’ve been doing this for a long time. Seven is heaven.

Do I have to make the project in a specific genre or style?

Project Twenty1 has no style or genre restriction. We want you to make the short project that you’ve been meaning to make, not a genre you hate or a project that won’t make sense out of the context of this Competition.

Past Project Twenty1 projects have been:

Live-Action Video

Stop-Motion

2-D Animation

3-D Animation

Mixed-Media

Cut-Paper Animation

Sand Animation

Westerns

Silent Film

Comedy

Drama

Horror

Sci-Fi

Thriller

Experimental

Documentary

Romance

Music Video

Mixed-Genre

16MM film (converted to digital for final submission)

& More

What happens if I don’t finish on time?

You are still welcomed to submit your late project, but it will not qualify for awards. But since we just want you to *finish* the darned thing, you will still qualify for potential exhibition through our festival, broadcast, and screening partners. We also encourage you to submit it to other film festivals, upload it to your YouTube – whatever you like. Just finish the thing!

Top films will compete for Awards & Prizes, including the below. Check back regularly as prizes are always being updated.

• Submission of your project to over a dozen other festivals for the next year
• Screenplay consulting from Barri Evins
• 1 year Adobe Creative Cloud license

Top films will be submitted to Project Twenty1 screening partners around the world, saving Project Twenty1 participants on entry fees and bringing your work to more audiences than any single festival could.

Do you run a festival, screening, venue, or broadcast, and want to be a Screening Partner with Project Twenty1? Contact us.

Since 2006, the following film festivals and screening partners have exhibited work and/or reviewed Project Twenty1 Films for screening consideration:

Alaska Film Festival

American Conservation Film Festival

Asbury Park Film Festival

Austin Underground Film Festival

Backseat Film Festival

Bare Bones SCRIPT-2-SCREEN FILM FESTIVAL

BENDFILM FESTIVAL

Big Bang Film Festival

BOSNIAN-HERZEGOVINIAN FILM FESTIVAL (BHFF)

Bronzeville Film Festival (part of Bronzeville Cultural Festival)

Cinema Undercover*

Comic Book Sunday

Connecticut Film Festival

Crossroads Film Festival

Crown Point Film Festival

Cupcake Bandit Film Festival

Delray Beach Film Festival

Estes Park Film Festival

Everett Women’s Film Festival

Florida Film Festival

Gloucester City Minifest

Holly Shorts

Hollywood Shorts

Indie Hall

International House Philadelphia: Independent Screen Series

M.A.L.I. WOMEN’S FILM & PERFORMANCE ARTS FESTIVAL

Media Arts Council (MAC) Film Festival

Marbar/Marathon Grill* (Shorts & Shots featured short series)

Member Movie Nights*

Movies on the Hill*

No Festival Required

Norristown Film Festival* (a part of the Norristown Arts Hill Annual Festival)*

Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Philadelphia Filmathon*

Philadelphia Film Society/Philadelphia Film Festival (with Cinema Undercover Program)

Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” Series

Slamdance Film Festival

SPE Women’s Film Festival

Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival

Terror Film Festival

Thriller! Chiller! International Film Festival

The Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival

The Bridge Cinemadelux, Philadelphia

Thriller! Chiller!

Zombie Love Film Festival

*Festival, program, or screening series administered by or sponsored by Project Twenty1

Check back as this list is being updated regularly. Signups are open until Nov. 10th. (Discounted) Regular Signups end October 19th!

Team Sickening Belfy – Wedge Wegman

To: Many Cooks – Bryan Donoghue

Rusty Eveland – Rusty Eveland

Team Philagape – Chris Pierdomenico

Team Malicious Intent – Shannon Hall

Green Tater Productions – Ryan Crowley-Hughes

Rebel Pictures – Michael McCallum

Smarticle Productions – Andrea Hays

Justice Productions – Doug Seidel

Sadbomb Productions – Tyson Lenz

Frog Feet Films – Bryce Hallett

Drop the HAT – Jason Heffner

Ocelot InstaShort – Jessica Day

Team Omnibus – Mike Mercadante

V-Neck Hoodie Productions – Erik Schoenecker

Mad Matt Flix – Matthew Judkins

Wish My Ego Well – Hannah McDonnell

Legendary Studios – Armik Pabla

Tiny Rhino Productions – Marlene Free

I AM – Tarun Sardana

AKLE Productions – Alissa Chavez

Team Kungfudork Studios – Dieter Wagner

Bad Apple Productions – Mike Raisch

ShoChu Cat – Men Wai Peng

Yellowberri – Derrick Hunt

Magic Broom Productions – Rosie Divine

Serendipitous7 – Tara Smith

Team Turtle Power – Matthew Sundell

Team Platinum – Chris Casaburi

The Lawnmower – Tanner Menghini

Working Title – Liv Baker

Dave’s PTSD – Goren Henry

Team Shadow – Landen Belardes

The Dead Clown – James Hayden

Slumber – Jaan Larkin

Transcendence – Bianca C.P.