Tally850 Short Film Competition – Registration

Tallahassee Filmmakers (TFM) and the Tallahassee Film Festival (TFF) are joining forces to bring you Tally850, a short film competition celebrating independent filmmaking in the 850.

Here's how it works: register your team to make a short film in 90 days, and your finished film could premiere on the big screen at the 850 Block; a dedicated short film showcase at this year's Tallahassee Film Festival.

All qualifying films will be scored by a panel of expert judges. The top 10 ranking films will be chosen as Official Selections at TFF and will continue on to compete for the awards and cash prizes.

Registration $35

Apr 25 - May 25 – Tally850 Registration Open

Jul 25 – Deadline to submit films

Aug 1 – Official Selections Announced

Sept 1 – Festival Packages Due

Oct 8 – Tallahassee Film Festival begins!

Oct 10 – Tally850 Premier

Oct 11 – Award Ceremony

Rules: 

• Keep it legal: all cast and crew must sign either a crew deal memo, or talent release form. Location and Artist release forms will also need to be signed.

• Length: max 9 minutes (including credits), 

• Rating: PG13 rating (no nudity, and minimal adult language)

• No use of AI

• Scripts don’t have to be new material, but footage needs to be new

• Films cannot be screened or publicly shown prior to the TFF premier

• No copyrighted material without proper licensing/usage agreements

• TFM Board Participation: Any board member of TFM, or Tally850 programming staff that are above the line or in a principal cast role on any of these films will be ineligible for awards. (Above the line: Directors (including casting, co-directors, director of photography), Producers (all forms), Screenwriter)

Optional at registration:

• Compete for Best use of Theme: 2026 theme is “Challenger” (participants will decide for themselves if they want to include the theme in their film for a chance to win the custom ‘best use of theme’ award).

• Compete for Best Screenplay: for a chance to win Best Screenplay, the screenwriters must consent to share a PDF copy of the shooting script, and scripts must be turned in alongside the final media file on Jul 25.

Inclusions:

• All teams will receive two (2) complimentary tickets to the Tally850 premier on Saturday, October 10th

• Official selections will also receive two (2) complimentary passes to the TFF Filmmaker Brunch and Award Ceremony on Sunday, October 11th

Whether you've been making films for years or this is your first time going into production, Tally850 is your invitation to show up, make something, and share it with your community.

Stay tuned for more details, including info about our optional workshops, Script to Screen and STORY, designed to help filmmakers get production-ready before the competition window opens.

90 days. One short film. Let’s see what you got! 🎥