FREAK SHOW

The FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival, now in it’s 9th year, has grown from a small side attraction at Spooky Empire to one of the Top Horror Genre Film Festivals in the country. The Festival has premiered some of the top independent horror films in the world including "The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond", "Alien Raiders", "Bane", "Nightmare Man", and many others.

The Coveted "FREAKY Award", designed by SFX Make Up Artist Barry Anderson ( Dawn of the Dead, Jeepers Creepers), is given to filmmakers for outstanding achievement in following categories:
Best Feature, Best Florida Feature, Best Short, Best Florida Short, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best SFX Makeup.

Our festival judges and award committee members are fair, impartial, and thorough. As working professionals in the industry, they understand exactly how hard it is to make a film. They want to showcase the very best that the independent horror film community has to offer - and help them to garner the recognition they deserve.

We invite all independent horror filmmakers to submit their work to the festival. The FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival runs at the same time and location as Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend, so the opportunity for your film to be seen by many of the attendees during the weekend is greatly increased with over 10,000 horror fans attending one of the largest horror conventions in the U.S.!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival director, Robert J. Massetti. You can email him at contact@freakshowfilmfest.com.

Rules for the FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival:

• All film entries must be submitted on DVD or DVD-R. All entries must be NTSC format. Only ONE (1) film per DVD or DVD-R. If submitting multiple films, each film must be sent with proper payment.
• No entry will be returned without a SASE or other pre-paid packaging.
• Short films are considered to be no longer than 45 minutes including credits.
• Feature films are considered to be 45 minutes or longer.
• The FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival will not be responsible for loss, damage or theft of film entries during the shipping, handling or screening process.
• All film submissions must be in the genre or "spirit" of horror, or at a minimum, include horror, suspense or similar plot elements. Science-Fiction, Action, Comedies, Romance, Documentaries, Paranormal, Animation and other works that are somewhat related to the genre of horror are acceptable as submissions. Films depicting actual (or real) violent acts against people or animals are NOT acceptable, and will be disqualified.
• Any film entry submitted in a language other than English must be either dubbed or subtitled in English. FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival welcomes both domestic and international film entries.
• The decisions made by the selection and award committee are final.
• All releases and verification of ownership of rights must be acknowledged on the submission form.
• Films with distribution are welcome for consideration.
• Entry fees may be paid through Paypal, Check or Money Order.
• Checks and Money Orders should be made payable to "Spooky Empire Inc."
• All film submissions should be mailed to:
  FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival
  8533 Fantasia Park Way, Riverview, FL 33578
• Payment and Deadlines for Entries: (All entry fees must be paid in U.S.Currency)
  $30.00 for Shorts if postmarked on or before May 13, 2011.
  $50.00 for Features if postmarked on or before May 13, 2011.
• Late Deadline for Entries is as follows:
  $40.00 for Shorts if postmarked on or before August 12, 2011
  $60.00 for Features if postmarked on or before August 12, 2011
• To ensure all film submissions are fairly reviewed by our selection committee, no entries will be accepted with a postmark after August 12th, 2011.
• In any circumstance, no refunds will be given.