The International Film Music Critics Association is pleased to announce the creation of a new competitive category for the IFMCA Awards: Best Original Score for a Short Film.
Historically, scores for short films have only been eligible to receive a Special Award, and only if the IFMCA deemed a score for a short film to be of especially noteworthy quality. However, in recent years, the IFMCA has increasingly felt that scores for short films have been under-served by the current awards structure, and did not adequately acknowledge all the excellent music being written for that medium, which is often written by up-and-coming composers from outside what is usually perceived as the ‘Hollywood mainstream’.
As such, beginning with the next awards in February 2025, all scores for short films – live action, animated, and documentary – will compete in the new Best Original Score for a Short Film category.
In order to be eligible, the score must be for a short film of no longer than 50 minutes. Scores for films become eligible when the project for which it was written plays in a cinema, streams on a recognized online global streaming platform (such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, etc.), is released straight-to-DVD/Blu-Ray, or is released straight-to-VOD, in one of the IFMCA’s recognized media markets.
However, unlike scores for feature films, scores for short films which have only been shown at film festivals, and have not yet received any wider distribution in public cinemas, ARE eligible for consideration, provided the short film’s first ever festival screening occurs between January 1 and December 31 of the qualifying year.
For additional eligibility guidelines and details of how to enter a score for consideration, please visit https://filmmusiccritics.org/submit-your-music/