The Port Townsend Film Festival has opened its submission periods for its next short screenplay competition, as well as for films to be included in its 26th annual in-person …
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The Port Townsend Film Festival has opened its submission periods for its next short screenplay competition, as well as for films to be included in its 26th annual in-person festival.
Screenplay submissions are due Jan. 26, while film submissions are due April 15 for this year’s festival, which will run from Sept. 18-21.
The screenplay competition is accepting submissions from writers in the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, as well as the Puget Sound islands, in the Washington state counties of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason and San Juan.
The winning script will receive full production by a team of experienced filmmakers in 2026, as well as inclusion in 2026’s Port Townsend Film Festival lineup.
For film submissions, the Port Townsend Film Festival offers discount codes to directors who identify as LGBTQ+ and/or “people of the global majority,” a collective term for people of Indigenous, African, Asian, or Latin American descent, who constitute approximately 85% of the global population.
The 2025 festival includes a “Women & Film” track, including networking events, a reception and panel discussion, and highlighted marketing featuring the women-made films in its lineup.
The festival likewise encourages short film submissions from Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas and Puget Sound islands-based filmmakers, with selected films set to be featured in a “Local Shorts” block in 2025’s festival lineup.
“As much as we showcase films from throughout the country and across the world, we want to make sure we’re not forgetting the number of talented folks we have in our own backyard,” said PTFF Executive Director Danni McClelland.
Filmmakers selected for screening at the Port Townsend Film Festival are eligible for cash prizes, as well as jury and audience favorite awards, and also receive lifelong fee waivers for future submissions, plus invitations to return to future festivals as instructors at filmmaker forums, for further networking and education opportunities.
PTFF alumni are also eligible for filmmaker residencies in Port Townsend, and PTFF producing grants of as much as $100,000 for new film projects.
PTFF alumni should email PTFF Program Manager Christy Spencer at christy@ptfilm.org with their names, the years they screened at the festival, and their film titles, to receive single-use waiver codes, to ensure they pay no fees.
PTFF Marketing and Development Director Keith Hitchcock explained that fees vary according to “when the project is submitted, what product they submit, and the filmmaker’s FilmFreeway status.
“For example, the standard fee for a feature film submitted on or before Jan. 21 is $60, and the standard fee for a short screenplay submitted on or before Jan. 26 is $10,” Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock also said the film festival is promoting Olympic College in Bremerton’s free two-day workshops for production assistants.
Entry-level film production roles are “essential for most every production crew,” Hitchcock said, and Jefferson County residents are welcome.
Registration is required for the courses, which will be held Saturdays and Sundays on Jan. 25-26, March 1-2 and April 26-27.
More information is available online.