Since Nouns Fest announced its $1 million grant fund for animated shorts in mid-January, more than 200 animators and creators from around the globe have submitted ideas for consideration in the sub-three-minute runtime “Short Shorts” category. Those selected to create “Short Shorts” will receive $7,500 to bring their concepts to life.
While this initial round of submissions for funding closes February 29, creators have an extra shot at the pot: On March 1, Nouns Fest will open submissions for a second round of funding, offering grants of $20,000 each to fund “Tall Shorts” — films with a three-minute running time.
Ideas for shorts can be submitted at nounsfest.tv/apply; the “Tall Shorts” round of funding will be open through March 30.
“The creativity, imagination and wit on display in the initial submissions has been tremendous,” says Chris Waters, a co-founder of Nouns Fest, which is billed as the world’s largest single source of funding for independent animated shorts. “It’s going to be incredibly exciting to see the ideas generated by our first-ever call for ideas for longer shorts, which approach the running time of traditional animated shorts, offering a world of possibility,” Waters adds.
Ideas submitted for Nouns Fest must incorporate one or more of the “Nouns,” digital art characters created by Nouns.
Upon announcing the accepted submissions in April, Nouns Fest will transfer funds to participants, who can begin production immediately. Final submissions — along with three new animated shorts from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, which helped conceive the idea of Nouns Fest — will be screened at a special Nouns Fest event to be held later in 2024. Details of that event will be announced this spring.
Meet the Nouns at nouns.wtf.
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