Submit Your Film

The festival also strives to reflect the unique cultural diversity of the neighborhoods of DTLA and L.A.’s surrounding Eastside communities – home to more ethnic groups than any other place in the world.

Finally, the festival embraces DTLA as a nexus of the New Urbanism movement. It provides a platform for films that explore the history, architecture, cultural diversity and contemporary social and political issues of the modern urban landscape. At the same time, it strives to call attention to DTLA’s historic and increasing important role In Los Angeles’ creative industries where film, music, video games and digital entertainment media converge.

Prizes are awarded in all the major categories (best picture, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, actors etc.), divided by genre: narrative feature, documentary feature, and shorts.

InkTip: Where producers go for scripts and writers.
Winners of the screenwriting competition will receive an InkTip Script Listing to promote themselves and their scripts to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents.
Companies who are InkTip members include: ABC, Anonymous Content, APA, CBS Films, HBO Films, ICM, Paradigm, Paramount Pictures, Hallmark Channel, FX, Universal, WME, Echo Lake, Zero Gravity, Bad Robot, 20th Century Fox, and many more. Producers have made more than 375 films from scripts and writers found through InkTip.

DTLA Film Festival (Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles) – October 23-27, 2019.

SUBMISSIONS RULES:

DTLA Film Festival accepts no responsibility for loss or damage of entries during shipment to or from the festival.

1. Entries must be submitted by April 1, 2019 (Regular Deadline). Late submissions will be accepted June 15, 2019, however, higher fees will apply.

2. Completed submission form, submitted electronically via FilmFreeway. DVD’s are not accepted.

3. All entries must be in English or contain English subtitles (unless special arrangements have been made with festival.)

4. If selected to screen at DTLAFF 2019, all filmmakers of feature-length films including documentaries are required to submit a DCP screening copy (must meet the below DCP Hard Drive requirements) and a back-up Blu-Ray. Entrants will be solely responsible for delivering their exhibition video materials to DTLAFF. Screening copies (DCPs and back-up Bly-Rays) will be available for retrieval by the filmmakers or his/her designated representative at the filmmakers’ cost at the conclusion of the festival.

DCP Hard Drive Formatting
·We are only capable of playing two types of aspect ratios in our cinema (Flat and Scope):
1. 2K Flat (1.85:1) Resolution: 1998×1080
2. 2k Scope (2.39:1) Resolution: 2048×858
3. 4k Flat (1.85:1) Resolution: 3996×2160
4. 4K Scope (2.39:1) Resolution: 4096×1716
The L60/alchemy can do max:
3D @ 2K resolution – 120 fps total – i.e. 60 per eye.
3D @ 4K resolution – 60 fps total – i.e. 30 per eye.
·Please note the hard drive that will hold the DCP must be formatted for Linux EXT2, or Linux EXT3 to work properly with the servers.
·Your content must be PC compatible as our projectors will not read MAC files.
·The content needs to be an unencrypted wrapped DCP file (It can be encrypted as long as we have keys/KDMs).
NOTE: For shorts and Web series and TV pilots if selected your final screening copy must be:

Quicktime .mov format
ProRes 422 HQ codec
Uncompressed Stereo or 5.1 surround Linear PCM audio embedded in the QT file
1 second of black & silence at the beginning and end of the QT files
For publications purposes, if your film/video is selected for screening, entrants must be prepared to supply at least three electronic images (publicity stills) either in jpeg or PDF format, 300 dpi, under 2K. Selected filmmakers have the option of submitting a standard size movie poster which will be displayed prior to their screening.

NOTE: Only electronic images will be accepted for the official festival catalog-program. We also encourage submitting as much publicity material that is available and a complete credit list. These additional materials cannot be returned. Any materials that entrants wish to be seen by the programming committee should be submitted in duplicate with this application.

Exceptions to the festival regulations must be authorized by the festival’s Director of Programming.

DTLAFF does NOT CONSIDER films that require SCREENING RENTAL FEES.