ZEPSTONE FESTIVAL
MOVIES, ART, MUSIC
SUPPORTING THE ARTS WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS
Welcome to the Zepstone Festival! We are excited to celebrate all kinds of artists in Utah and beyond. This fest is the first of its kind, right in the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Our goal is to connect artists with the community and each other. For example, filmmakers need access to great music scores and production art, and musicians need access to great filmmakers for their music videos. Let's bridge that gap!
Whether you are a visual artist, filmmaker, or musician, this is the kind of fest where you can network with artists from different fields and plan future collabs.
Big news! Zepstone Festival is now a part of the Zepstone Arts Foundation, a 501c3 organization. In addition to showcasing the arts, we have some big things coming in 2024, including an arts scholarship award. Stay tuned for details!
ABOUT
LOVING THE ARTS WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS
Zepstone International Film Awards/Zepstone Festival is an IMDb qualifying seasonal festival and competition. Our goal is to showcase independent filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists in Utah and around the world.
NEWS! Zepstone Festival is now a part of the Zepstone Arts Foundation, a 501c3 organization. In addition to supporting and showcasing the local arts (film, music visual), an arts scholarship award is coming! Stay tuned.
HOW DOES OUR FESTIVAL WORK?
Our festival is broken up into 4 seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each season, we announce Official Selections and Winners for each season. From those best-of-the-best winners, they will go on to compete for annual awards, such as Best Short Film of the Year, Best Music Score of the Year, Best Music Video of the Year, etc.
Every June, we host the Zepstone Festival, which showcases filmmakers, musicians, and the arts. The Zepstone Festival culminates with the prestigious Red Carpet Awards Show, where annual winners of the competition will be announced.
Additionally, we host bi-annual live events to showcase the arts, films, movies, and music videos while serving local communities.
SEASONAL AND ANNUAL Categories:
SEASONAL FILM AND SCREENPLAY COMPETITION CATEGORIES:
*Best Narrative Film
*Best Short Film
*Best Ensemble Cast
*Best Cinematography
*Best Assistant Camera
*Best Editing
*Best Director
*Best First-Time Director
*Best Music Score
*Best Sound Design
*Best Original Screenplay - Feature
*Best Original Screenplay - Short
*Best Makeup/ FX Makeup
*Best VFX/ CGI
*Best Wardrobe Design
*Best Production Design
*Best Lighting
*Best Assistant Director
*Best Grip
*Best Story
*Best Web/TV Series Episode
*Best International Film - Feature
*Best International Film - Short
*Best Documentary
*Best Horror Film
*Best Comedy Film
*Best Drama Film
*Best Family Film
*Best Fan Film
*Best Action/Adventure Film
*Best Fantasy Film
*Best Experimental Film
*Best LGBTQ+ Film
*Best Animated Film
*Best Science Fiction/AI Film
*Best Actor
*Best Supporting Actor
*Best Actress
*Best Supporting Actress
*Best Stunt Work
*Best Music Video
*Best Producer
*Best Proof of Concept
*Best Drone Cinematography
*Best Actor Under 18
*Best Actress Under 18
*Best Western Film
*Best Dystopian / Apocalyptic Film
* Best Micro-Short (Under 3 Minutes-Long)
*Best Student Film
*Best Thriller Film
*Best Period Piece
*Best Fictional Podcast Recording
*Best Fictional Podcast Script
MUSIC VIDEO SONG COMPETITION CATEGORIES:
*Best Acoustic Song
*Best Bluegrass Song
*Best Blues Song
*Best Country Song
*Best EDM/Techno Song
*Best Folk Song
*Best Funk Song
*Best Jazz Song
*Best Metal/Progressive Song
*Best Pop Song
*Best Psychedelic Song
*Best Punk Song
*Best Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B Song
*Best Reggae/Ska Song
*Best Rock Song
*Best World Song
*Best Alternative/Indie Song
*Best Contemporary Song
*Best Music Video Producer
*Best Music Video Sound Engineer
*Best Animated Music Video
ANNUAL AWARDS COMPETITION - WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT THE ZEPSTONE FESTIVAL RED CARPET AWARDS SHOW
*Short Film of the Year
*Micro Short of the Year
*Feature Film of the Year
*Music Video of the Year
*Web Series or Web Episode of the Year
*International Film of the Year
*Screenplay of the Year - Feature
*Screenplay of the Year - Short
* Director of the Year
*Actress of the Year
*Actor of the Year
*Supporting Actor of the Year
*Supporting Actress of the Year
*Music Score of the Year
*Cinematographer of the Year
*Editor of the Year
*Documentary of the Year - Feature
*Documentary of the Year - Short
*Animated Film of the Year
*Costume Design of the Year
*Production Design of the Year
*VFX/Animation of the Year
*Makeup of the Year
*Inspirational Film of the Year
*Social Impact Award
*The Willowstone Award
*The Grimstone Award
WILDCARDS: At the jury discretion, annual nominees for highly scored categories may be included as nominees in the annual events, even if they were not formally winners of a season. Many factors go into inclusion for wild card nominees. These nominees may have proven to have achieved high scores by the jury, but perhaps they didn’t formally win during a season because of volume, or perhaps these particular filmmakers have achieved more than one accomplishment during a festival year, etc. Love surprises? So do we!
RULES AND TERMS
Short and feature films, in the form of narrative (fiction), documentary (non fiction), experimental or animated film.
Music Videos
Web/TV Series (also pilot)
Feature Scripts, Short Scripts
By submitting your film, take note that:
You agree to use parts of your film (including trailer/teaser/film poster/stills) for promotional purpose.
Entry fees are non-refundable.
Multiple entries are allowed for each filmmaker and each entry may be entered in multiple categories.
You agree to receive promotional email from us and our festival partners
You can submit again your work for the following months.
The films must include English subtitles (unless the spoken language is English)
The scripts must be in English.
We do not accept:
Amateur videos
Extremist or propaganda content from religious or political organizations
Films involving politics / films promoting political agenda
Films with a poor production standard (bad sound, lack of subtitles/captions for non-English films, video resolution less than 720p HD.
Winner announcements: All seasonal winners will be announced on our website and social media pages. Winners will also receive certificates. Official Selection status means that you are being considered for a seasonal award. The Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, and Best Music Video seasonal categories will be eligible for live screening at the annual live event.
Best of the Fest - Annual winner announcements and trophies: Will take place at the live annual screening and awards event.