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Festival Circuit Releases Winter-Spring Dates — Submission Deadlines Announced

Festival Circuit Releases Winter-Spring 2025 Submission Calendar as Documentary Entries Surge 18 %

Los Angeles, November 24, 2025 — Festival Circuit, the industry’s largest open-submission platform, on Monday unveiled deadlines for its 2025 winter-spring portfolio, listing 54 juried competitions in 27 states that will accept entries between January 1 and April 15. The drop arrives as post-strike production rebounds: the National Association of Theatre Owners projects a 22 % increase in independently completed features this season, reversing three years of pandemic-era decline.

Circuit programmers expect roughly 28,000 films—18 % more than last winter—vying for 1,100 available slots, according to internal forecasts shared with Variety. “The pipeline is full again,” said Maya Delgado, Festival Circuit’s chief executive. “Streamers green-lit fewer projects during the dual strikes, so filmmakers returned to the festival model as both a launch pad and a market.” Entry fees remain flat for a third consecutive year, with early-bird rates starting at $40 for shorts and $60 for features.

The winter-spring slate is anchored by returning Oscar-qualifiers such as the San Diego International Film Festival (Feb. 15 early deadline) and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (Nov. 15 final deadline).

Newcomers include the Arkansas Shorts Summit and the Vero Beach “Life Worth Living” competition, each offering cash prizes up to $2,500. Filmmakers who submit before February 15 lock in discounted rates and triple their chances of programming staff review, data from the 2024 circuit show.

Documentary submissions are driving the uptick, fueled by audience demand for true-crime and climate-crisis narratives. A 2025 Pew Research study found that 62 % of 18- to 29-year-olds prefer factual content over scripted, up from 47 % in 2020. “Festivals are no longer just a path to distribution—they’re the distribution,” Delgado noted. “Sales agents scout the first weekend, and streamers routinely close deals before awards are handed out.”

To manage volume, Festival Circuit has added AI-assisted pre-screening that tags technical issues such as dropped audio or incorrect aspect ratios, reducing staff review time by 30 %. Accepted filmmakers will be notified on a rolling basis beginning March 1, with final waves completed by May 15. All selected entries receive complimentary access to Circuit’s year-round industry portal, which last year brokered 140 acquisition leads valued at $9.4 million.

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“Winter-spring festivals have become the first genuine market of the year,” Delgado said. “A premiere in March can land a global streaming deal by June—our timeline puts filmmakers inside that window early, where the competition is lighter and the programmer attention is highest.”

About Festival Circuit

Launched in 2011, Festival Circuit operates the largest open-submission network in North America, processing more than 125,000 entries annually for 200+ juried events. The platform’s proprietary dashboard tracks acceptance rates, audience metrics, and real-time sales leads, providing filmmakers with data historically available only to distributors.