Film

FLIFF41 Early Bird Hits Oct 1: Feature & Doc Owner Map for February’s Fort Lauderdale Fest

<h2>Why October 1 is the owner move not a calendar footnote</h2><p>If you have a feature, a documentary, a Broward-shot picture, or a brand that wants a seat at South Florida’s longest-running international film festival, <strong>

By Brian D'Antoni 9 min read
FLIFF41 Early Bird Hits Oct 1: Feature & Doc Owner Map for February’s Fort Lauderdale Fest

<h2>Why October 1 is the owner move not a calendar footnote</h2><p>If you have a feature, a documentary, a Broward-shot picture, or a brand that wants a seat at South Florida’s longest-running international film festival, <strong>Thursday, October 1, 2026</strong> is the fee rung that matters. The live <a href="https://fliff.org/festivals/">FLIFF festivals page</a> and the live <a href="https://filmfreeway.com/FortLauderdaleInternationalFilmFestival">FilmFreeway Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival listing</a> both put <strong>Early Bird Deadline on October 1, 2026</strong>, with the 41st edition of FLIFF running <strong>February 19–27, 2027</strong>.</p><p>This is a different job from FLIFFShorts. Shorts programmers and Savor Cinema’s November weekend are covered in the Gazette twin <a href="https://www.sundazegazette.com/fliffshorts-sept-2026-deadline-made-in-broward-savor-cinema/">FLIFFShorts Sept 2026 deadline / Made in Broward / Savor Cinema</a>. FLIFF41 is the feature-and-doc season: nine days in February, professional competition lanes, collegiate and high-school tracks, and a Filmed In Broward feature category for work shot or posted in the county. From today (Tuesday, September 15, 2026), Early Bird is about <strong>sixteen days</strong> out — enough runway to finish a screener, confirm premiere status, and pay the lower published fee before Regular and Late climb.</p>

Opportunity-first framing for owners: Early Bird is not charity. It is the cheapest published Standard fee on the professional feature and documentary ladders, and it is the moment Broward post houses, producers, and sponsors should put one shared calendar card on October 1 — FLIFF41 Early Bird if the cut is ready, plus adjacency to Shorts notifications and other Broward film timing that already lands the same week.

The deadline ladder (live FilmFreeway + fliff.org)

Primary sources agree on the submission ladder. FilmFreeway’s Dates & Deadlines panel (pulled live for this package) marks Earlybird Deadline as current and lists:

| Milestone | Date | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Opening Date | April 19, 2026 | FilmFreeway |
| Earlybird Deadline | October 1, 2026 | FilmFreeway; fliff.org/festivals |
| Regular Deadline | November 1, 2026 | Same |
| Late Deadline | December 1, 2026 | Same |
| Notification | January 16, 2027 (FilmFreeway) / January 17, 2027 (fliff.org festivals page) | Confirm at checkout / with FLIFF |
| Festival dates | February 19–27, 2027 | Same |

Submit only through the official listing: https://filmfreeway.com/FortLauderdaleInternationalFilmFestival. Re-check fees and category labels at checkout — FilmFreeway is where the charge lands.

Which category fits your cut (operator checklist)

FilmFreeway’s live Categories & Fees panel for FLIFF41 lists nine submission lanes. Match the cut to the lane before you pay:

Full Length Feature, Professional Competition — FilmFreeway description: feature-length films that have not played in South Florida.
Documentary Feature, Professional Competition — professional documentaries that have not played in South Florida.
VR/AR, Professional Competition — professional VR or AR films that have not played in Florida.
Filmed In Broward - Feature — film must have been shot or posted in Broward County (owner-aligned local lane).
Long Narrative, International Collegiate Competition — short films 20 minutes and over made by college or university students from any country; student status, school name, and school contact required with the FilmFreeway submission.
Documentary, International Collegiate Competition — documentary made by university or college students from any country; same student documentation.
Animation, International Collegiate Competition — animation by university or college students from any country; same student documentation.
VR/AR, International Collegiate Competition — collegiate VR/AR with the same student documentation pattern.
International High School Competition — film or video made by high school students from any country.

Operator rule: do not force a Broward-shot feature into Professional Feature if Filmed In Broward is the accurate claim — and do not claim Filmed In Broward without shot-or-posted-in-county proof you can defend. Collegiate and high-school lanes are documentation-heavy; FilmFreeway Rules & Terms require student status, school, city, and school contact on the submission.

LIVE-verified fees (FilmFreeway — lock only what the page shows)

Fees below were scraped from the live FilmFreeway category expanders for this package. Standard is the public price; Student and Gold Members discounts appear on the same panels where listed. Gold can be upgraded at checkout per FilmFreeway’s on-page note.

Professional competition

| Category | Earlybird Std / Student / Gold | Regular Std / Student / Gold | Late Std / Student / Gold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Full Length Feature, Professional | $40 / $30 / $30 | $45 / $35 / $35 | $50 / $45 / $45 |
| Documentary Feature, Professional | $40 / $30 / $30 | $45 / $35 / $35 | $50 / $40 / $40 |

Filmed In Broward

| Category | Earlybird Std / Student / Gold | Regular Std / Student / Gold | Late Std / Student / Gold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Filmed In Broward - Feature | $20 / $20 / $15 | $30 / $30 / $25 | $40 / $40 / $36 |

Collegiate & high school

| Category | Earlybird Std / Student / Gold | Regular Std / Student / Gold | Late Std / Student / Gold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Long Narrative, International Collegiate | $25 / $25 / $22.50 | $30 / $30 / $27 | $35 / $35 / $31.50 |
| Documentary, International Collegiate | $25 / $25 / $22.50 | $30 / $30 / $27 | $35 / $35 / $31.50 |
| Animation, International Collegiate | $25 / $25 / $22.50 | $30 / $30 / $27 | $35 / $35 / $31.50 |
| VR/AR, International Collegiate | $20 / $20 / $18 | $25 / $25 / $22.50 | $30 / $30 / $27 |
| International High School | $15 / — / $10 | $20 / — / $15 | $25 / — / $20 |

Owner math on the professional feature and doc lanes: Early Bird Standard $40 versus Late Standard $50 is a $10 climb for waiting — small relative to a festival campaign, large relative to a post house invoice you would rather spend on color or sound. Filmed In Broward Early Bird Standard $20 is the lowest published feature-lane Standard fee on the live listing for county-aligned work.

Florida premiere status — read before you click Submit

FilmFreeway Rules & Terms for this listing state, in plain language: Films must be Florida Premieres, unless they are Florida-produced films, then they only have to be South Florida Premieres. Category blurbs reinforce the geography: Professional Feature and Documentary Feature are described as work that has not played in South Florida; Professional VR/AR as work that has not played in Florida.

Operator checklist before payment:

  1. List every prior Florida and South Florida public screening (festivals, theatrical, ticketed specials).
  2. If the film is not Florida-produced, confirm you still hold a Florida premiere.
  3. If the film is Florida-produced, confirm you still hold at least a South Florida premiere (Miami-Dade / Broward / Palm Beach prior play can kill eligibility).
  4. Do not invent a workaround in the synopsis field — Rules also say incorrect, erroneous, or false information can disqualify the entry with no fee refund.

Once submitted, the Rules state a film cannot be withdrawn from consideration; if selected into the Official Program, it cannot be withdrawn by the filmmaker. Entries are not returned. Online FilmFreeway screeners are the path.

Press kit timing — prep now, ship when asked

FilmFreeway Rules & Terms: FLIFF does not require a press kit with your preview. If selected, FLIFF requests materials described under the category checklist. The Rules also note that FilmFreeway submission authorizes FLIFF to show clips on television for marketing and/or news programs, and that filmmakers who receive early acceptance in professional categories are pointed to a press-materials receipt date in the Rules text — treat that line as a Rules reminder to have assets ready, and confirm the live due date with FLIFF when you get an acceptance email (info@fliff.com, and include FilmFreeway number, competition, category, and title).

Owner prep before October 1 (whether or not you are selected yet):

  • Locked screener URL and password hygiene
  • One-sheet synopsis and runtime
  • Key art / stills at festival-ready resolution
  • Director and producer bios
  • Trailer cut you are willing to see on TV news wraps
  • Credits list that matches what plays on screen

Do not wait until January notifications to start the kit. October Early Bird submitters who are building February travel and sponsor decks need the same assets either way.

Early Bird vs Regular vs Late — when to pay

Pay Early Bird (by Oct 1) if the cut is locked, premiere status is clean, and you want the published Standard floor ($40 feature/doc Pro; $20 Filmed In Broward; $25 collegiate narrative/doc/animation; $15 high school). FilmFreeway marks Earlybird as the current deadline row as of this package pull.

Hold for Regular (by Nov 1) only if a picture lock, legal clear, or premiere-status fix is genuinely unfinished — you are buying time at a higher Standard fee ($45 feature/doc Pro; $30 Filmed In Broward).

Late (by Dec 1) is the last published submission rung before programmers move toward January notifications. Standard Late is $50 for Professional Feature and Documentary Feature. Do not treat Late as a strategy; treat it as a last-chance fee.

FLIFF Rules: entries must be received, not postmarked, by the dates outlined to qualify for fees and/or acceptance. Midnight Eastern on FilmFreeway is not a leisurely upload window — budget for encode and payment latency on October 1.

Broward networking ladder: FLIFFShorts / Savor Cinema → FLIFF41 February

FLIFF’s year is a ladder, not a single weekend. The festivals page puts FLIFFShorts November 5–8, 2026 (Savor Cinema corridor) ahead of FLIFF41 February 19–27, 2027. Owners who already worked Shorts — or who will be in the room at 503 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale in November — should treat that weekend as rehearsal for February: meet programmers, sponsors, hospitality partners, and other Broward crews while the Early Bird clock is still open for features and docs.

The Gazette twin on Shorts (FLIFFShorts Sept 2026 deadline map) is the shorts job. This package is the features/docs job. Use both without collapsing them: different FilmFreeway listings, different categories, different festival dates.

Box office / general information published across FLIFF pages: 503 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 · 954-525-FILM · info@fliff.org.

Sponsor tiers if you are pitching a brand (live fliff.org)

If you are an owner pitching a brand into FLIFF41 — or a brand pitching itself — the live Sponsor FLIFF page is the controlling public ladder for main-festival sponsorship. Contact published there: Lisa Grigorian at [lisa@fliff.org](mailto:lisa@fliff.org). The live Our Sponsors thank-you page also invites sponsor / donor / member interest via Hal at [Hal@FLIFF.com](mailto:Hal@FLIFF.com). Use the contact that matches your ask (main-festival sponsorship deck vs. general sponsor/donor/member), and confirm inventory for February 19–27.

Live published levels on fliff.org/sponsor (FLIFF notes it can customize a level or advertising plan):

Platinum Sponsor — $25,000
Catalog logo on the cover plus a full-page ad; logo on step & repeat, festival poster, print & digital ads, e-newsletter, screen, website (link & logo), and social posts; sponsor video to precede all films; 80 film ticket vouchers; 25 Opening and Closing Night tickets; 10 Oscar Party tickets; 10 Kentucky Derby tickets.

Gold Sponsor — $10,000
Catalog cover logo plus full-page ad; step & repeat, poster, print & digital, e-newsletter, website, social, movie-screen logo; 60 film ticket vouchers; 10 Opening and Closing Night tickets; 4 Oscar Party tickets; 4 Kentucky Derby Party tickets.

Silver Sponsor — $5,000
Catalog 1/2-page ad; step & repeat, poster, print & digital, e-newsletter, website, social; 40 film ticket vouchers; 4 Opening and Closing Night tickets; 2 Oscar Party tickets; 2 Kentucky Derby Party tickets.

Bronze Sponsor — $2,500
Catalog 1/4-page ad; step & repeat, festival poster, e-newsletter, website link & logo; 20 film ticket vouchers.

Movie Sponsor — $1,000
Catalog logo on the movie page; logo on FLIFF e-newsletter during the week of your film; website link & logo; 20 film ticket vouchers; logo on the movie screen prior to your film.

Owner pitch move: a $1,000 Movie Sponsor is the lowest published main-festival rung for attaching a logo to a specific screening week — useful for post houses, camera houses, law firms, restaurants, and civic partners who want February visibility without a five-figure Platinum. Email lisa@fliff.org with logo files, preferred tier, and whether you want a movie, bronze-plus, or customized plan. For Shorts-weekend sponsorship adjacency in November, use the Shorts Gazette twin and Hal’s Shorts lane rather than rewriting that ladder here.

Owner playbook for the next sixteen days

Feature / doc producers
Confirm Florida or South Florida premiere status against FilmFreeway Rules. Choose Professional Feature, Professional Documentary, or Filmed In Broward. Pay Early Bird Standard ($40 / $40 / $20) on FilmFreeway before October 1 closes. Save the confirmation email.

Broward-shot or Broward-posted features
Prefer Filmed In Broward - Feature when the shot-or-posted claim is true. Early Bird Standard $20 is the published floor. Keep location logs or post-house invoices ready if asked.

Student filmmakers (collegiate / high school)
Attach student status, school name/city, and school contact on the FilmFreeway form. Budget Early Bird Standard $25 (narrative/doc/animation collegiate), $20 (VR/AR collegiate), or $15 (high school).

Sponsors / brands
Email [lisa@fliff.org](mailto:lisa@fliff.org) for FLIFF41 main-festival tiers ($1,000–$25,000 published). Copy [Hal@FLIFF.com](mailto:Hal@FLIFF.com) when the ask is broader sponsor/donor/member support per the Our Sponsors page. Ask what inventory remains for February 19–27, 2027.

Hospitality / downtown Fort Lauderdale operators
Hold February 19–27 for festival-week covers near Savor Cinema and FLIFF’s published venues corridor. November 5–8 Shorts is the warm-up week; February is the nine-day feature/doc room.

Adjacent Broward / SoFlo film tools (light links only)

These are parallel owner tools — different programs, different rules — linked only where live:

None of those replace a FLIFF41 FilmFreeway submission.

Sources to keep open while you submit

October 1 is Early Bird. February 19–27 is the room. Owners who treat those as one continuous checklist — category, premiere, fee rung, press assets, sponsor email — get the opportunity. Owners who wait for Late pay more for the same FilmFreeway form.

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