Why Submit?
The Walla Walla Movie Crush showcases America's most intoxicating blend of short cinema, from vintage filmmakers to fresh upstarts. We promise a flight for every fancy. So send us your shorts — well, your short films. (We’re all set on knee-length trousers, thank you.) They can be narratives, documentaries, music videos, web series, videopoems, dance videos, commercials, PSAs... Really, almost anything.
The deadline for 2026 submissions is May 15th.
Rules and Terms
Submissions may be no longer than thirty minutes.
Submissions must have been shot in the United States or created by a citizen of the United States or by a student attending a school in the United States.
Submissions must have been completed after January 1, 2025.
Please note: we define "Youth" as someone who has yet to graduate from high school or completed their short before graduating high school.
Questions? Please contact our Artistic Director, Warren Etheredge.
10 Reasons to Submit to the CrushEvery submission is personally reviewed by our Artistic Director, Warren Etheredge, who has twenty years of experience on the festival circuit, the founder or co-founder of three, and programmer for many others. Warren watches over 2,500 shorts every year. Your work will be judged by the individual making the final decisions.
Selected shorts represent the very best of current American movie-making. If your work is programmed, you know it is amongst the best of the best.
Your selected short will be thematically programmed, packaged with other fantastic movies exploring similar content/themes. Any hour-long grouping will likely include short narratives, docs, animation, music videos, etc. In total, these curated collections prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its shorts.
Selected finalists for top prizes — Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short, and Best Performance — will be determined by all-star juries of Oscar-winners, nominees, and revered moviemakers. This year’s jurors are responsible for such movies and television series as CAPTAIN MARVEL, WINTER’S BONE, OCEAN’S 11, ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT, BRING IT ON, GLOW, PARKS & RECREATION, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, EDITH+EDDIE, LEAVE NO TRACE, and many more.
Selected shorts are screened at the historic, 300-seat Gesa Power House Theatre, a handsomely appointed venue with top-notch projection and sound systems.
Should you attend, the Crush staff will treat you like royalty and family. Our goal is to celebrate every moviemaker’s talents and welcome them into the fold.
Attending moviemakers are treated to daily Happy Hours, nightly parties, and an invite-only Sunday brunch. The Electric Lounge (aka The Crush Green Room) is open all day for you to eat, drink, and be cozy. These events and this pace also provide ‘round-the-clock opportunities to network with fellow artists and industry guests.
The Crush audience is committed, passionate, and vocal. They will sit rapt with attention and express their affection for your work.
A committed group of attendees, whom we call “The Iron Ass Jury,” selects an annual Audience Award winner - the only one determined by a jury of viewers who have sat through Every. Single. Screening. This is more than a popularity contest; it’s absolute meritocracy.
Walla Walla is “the Napa Valley of Washington State” and a vibrant cultural destination, as well as a lush and lovely wine region, noted for its beauty and bounty of dining and drinking options. Downtown Walla Walla is abuzz with activity, and the scenic surroundings provide countless options for exploration and adventure.
For more information, please subscribe to *Crushworthy*, the official Substack of the Walla Walla Movie Crush.
Walla Walla Movie Crush proudly accepts entries on FilmFreeway, the world's #1 way to enter film festivals and creative contests.