September 18-27, 2026
Footcandle Film Festival

The Footcandle FilmLAB

Weekend Filmmaking Competition | Public Screening of Films & Cash Prize to Winner

The Film Lab is an event designed to challenge creative individuals to collaborate in competitive teams while racing against the clock to produce a one-of-a-kind short film.

Over a 60-hour period your filmmaking team will write, shoot, and edit a short film based on the genre you draw at the Friday night FilmLAB kickoff event. By Monday morning, 8am, your team's finished film is turned in to be judged and then screened in front of an audience later that week at the Footcandle Film Festival's FilmLAB Premiere event!

Recruit your own filmmaking team for the weekend! There's no limit to the size of your team, and it can consist of friends, colleagues, family members, or fellow students.

Register Your Team

FilmLAB Timeline

  • Friday, September 18th – 7pm

    FilmLAB KICKOFF @ SALT Block, Kaiser Community Room; at least one member of your team must be in attendance!

  • Monday, September 21st – 8am

    FilmLAB entries due (submitted online)

  • Thursday, September 24th – 7pm

    All FilmLAB entries screened at the FilmLAB Premiere event @ Hickory Community Theatre, Downtown Hickory; followed by drinks with fellow filmmakers

  • Sunday, September 27th – 7pm

    FilmLAB winner announced at the Footcandle Film Festival AWARDS CEREMONY @ Hickory Community Theatre

FilmLAB Rules & Guidelines

  • The FilmLAB entry fee is $30 per team ($20 per team if half or more of the team is made up of current high school or college students).
  • All teams are responsible for providing their own filmmaking equipment. Any type of gear is allowed, and we even wholeheartedly support and encourage the use of mobile cameraphones if desired.
  • No prior work (scripting, effects, etc.) should be used in the entries. All content for the film should be generated during the FilmLAB timeline.
  • However, filmmaking teams may scout and secure filming locations prior to the FilmLAB weekend.
  • A representative from all filmmaking teams must be present at the FilmLAB kickoff event on Friday night at 7:00pm. Note: your entire team does not need to be in attendance at this kickoff.
  • During the FilmLAB kickoff event, all filmmaking teams will draw a random genre that their film must adhere to, receive a single prop that must be incorporated into their film, and receive a single line of dialog that must be included in their film.
  • Entries must run a minimum of five minutes (excluding credits) and a maximum of ten minutes (with credits, twelve minutes).
  • All films are to be uploaded to a designated Dropbox folder by 8am on Monday. Teams need to ensure they calculate time into their production process to account for this.
  • FilmLAB entries must not further hate speech or portray any negative, hurtful stereotypes.
  • Closing credits of the film should include the Footcandle Film Festival FilmLAB Logo (provided to all teams).
  • The winning FilmLAB entry will be determined by an average of audience scores during the premiere screening and scores determined by a panel of judges. The weighted averages are: judges average score = 60%, audience average score = 40%.