Academy Awards: deadlines

On the latest deadline, the rules of the Academy Awards say this: first submission deadline for the short film categories August 13, 2026. From 1 source page, read 2026-09-25; no maker pays to be listed.

Thursday, August 13, 2026: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Academy Press Office, 99th Oscars rules release

• Key dates
  First submission deadline for the short film categories August 13, 2026Academy Press Office, 99th Oscars rules release / recorded 2026-09-25

1Festivals with the same reading

1 Billion AI Film Award, AI Shortest Film Competition, Astana AI Film Festival, Bochnia International AI Film Festival, Chroma Awards, Higgsfield Global Film Festival, Human vs. AI Film Festival, LifeArt AI Film Festival, Project Odyssey, Reply AI Film Festival, Runway AI Festival, Runway Gen:48, Sundance Film Festival and World AI Film Festival have this reading, “closed on the reading day”: 15 festivals in all.

The reading paraphrases the rules; the quote above is the organiser's own wording.

2What the rule means for an entrant

A closed deadline is still useful: annual festivals tend to repeat their timetable, and last year's dates are a fair first guess for the next edition. The calendar lists every date in order.

Inclusion rule. Every festival on the register, with or without a detailed page on this rule. Order. Alphabetical by festival name.

3The making side of an entry

For an entrant reading “Academy Awards”, this is what SceneMixer publishes about the film its pipeline hands over:

Every character, scene and prop card can carry a short list of the other names your script uses for the same thing.

SceneMixer, Also Called: Nicknames, Old Names, and How the Storyboard Knows Who Is Who (read 2026-10-13)

16:9 landscape (SceneMixer's default) and 9:16 vertical (the usual short-drama frame), chosen per project.

SceneMixer, Seedance 2.0 in a Real Short-Drama Pipeline — “Which aspect ratios does the pipeline generate?” (read 2026-10-13)

4More on this rule

• Academy Awards, all eight rules
• Latest deadline at every festival
• Turkey International AI Film Festival on deadlines
• African AI Film Festival on deadlines