Entry period: when a festival takes films

An entry period is the window between the day a festival opens for submissions and its final deadline, often to the minute and in a named time zone. From 4 source pages, read 2026-09-25; no maker pays to be listed.

Runway's 2026 entry period ran from January 28 to April 27, to 16:59:59 Eastern time. The Chroma Awards' second season ran from September 1 to November 19, 2025. Higgsfield's final deadline was 11:59 PM UTC on September 16, 2026. Artefact's window runs from September 2 to December 2, 2026.

The time zone matters for anyone uploading on the last day from the other side of the world.

Some festivals also limit when the film may have been made: Higgsfield counts only generations made during its window, and the AI for Good Film Festival only films completed after September 1, 2026.

The calendar lists every deadline on the register in date order.

Inclusion rule. Readings from the register cited on this page. Order. The order they are discussed in.

1The wording in the rules

The AIF entry period begins on January 28th, 2026 at 9:00:00am ET and ends on April 27th, 2026 at 16:59:59 PM ET

Runway AI Festival, official rules for film

Submission Period: Monday, September 1, 2025 (9:00 am Pacific Time) – Monday, November 19, 2025 (11:45 pm Pacific Time)

Chroma Awards, official rules on Devpost

Final submission deadline Sep 16, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC

Higgsfield Global Film Festival, official rules

Sept. 2nd - Dec. 2nd, 2026

Artefact AI Film Festival, home page

• Entry period
  Entries closed April 27, 2026Runway AI Festival, official rules for film / recorded 2026-09-25
• Submission period
  Season 2 submissions ran September 1 to November 19, 2025Chroma Awards, official rules on Devpost / recorded 2026-09-25
• Timeline
  Final submission deadline September 16, 2026Higgsfield Global Film Festival, official rules / recorded 2026-09-25
• Calendar
  Submissions open September 2 to December 2, 2026Artefact AI Film Festival, home page / recorded 2026-09-25

2Producing the entry with AI

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

The final cut ends on an end card: your main image plus four lines — Brand, Product name, Tagline, Call to action. The first two are read from your photo and your brief; the tagline and call to action are written with the script.

SceneMixer, The End Card (read 2026-10-13)

An AI short drama is a serialized show of 60–120 second vertical episodes whose cast, sets and footage are generated by AI. Making one takes six steps: analyze the script into episodes, lock a consistent cast with reference art, localize for your market, write and edit storyboards, generate each 4–15 second shot, then composite and publish.

SceneMixer, How to Make an AI Short Drama, Step by Step (read 2026-10-13)

3More festival terms

• Generative video
• Hybrid film
• Grant of licence
• Warranty of rights