2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards announces open call for submissions

Film Independent announced that it is accepting film and television submissions for the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, taking place Sunday, February 25.

The organisation also announced the addition of Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series in the television acting categories, as well as the addition of Hot Docs Film Festival to the list of festivals through which feature films can qualify for Spirit Awards consideration. The Spirit Awards is the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs that cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote inclusion in the industry.

“We could not be more excited to welcome Hot Docs as a qualifying festival for the Spirit Awards and to expand our recognition of actors with the category of Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series,” said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent. “We’re thrilled to open submissions for the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards and to celebrate the very best film and television that came out in this most turbulent year.”

Following last year’s highly embraced introduction of non-gendered Film and Television award categories, the addition of an exciting new category, Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series, will round out the Television categories. The list of Spirit Awards performance categories, all of which are gender neutral, includes:

Film:
Best Lead Performance (10 nominees)
Best Supporting Performance (10 nominees)
Best Breakthrough Performance (5 nominees)

Television:
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series (10 nominees)
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series (10 nominees)
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series (5 nominees) *new award

Spirit Awards Submissions Deadlines:
Early Deadline: September 5, 2023
Regular Deadline: September 19, 2023
Final Deadline: October 3, 2023
Extended Deadline for Arts Circle and Filmmaker Pro Members: October 6, 2023

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America and takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1993 by the Documentary Organization of Canada (formerly the Canadian Independent Film Caucus), a national association of independent documentary filmmakers, Hot Docs became a separately incorporated organization in 1996, with a mandate to showcase and support the work of Canadian and international documentary filmmakers and to promote excellence in documentary production.