Jack'd Launches Film Festival for Queer Creators
Queer dating app Jack’d is starting its own film festival. The inaugural Jack’d Film Festival was announced on 30 September as a showcase and competition for original films by queer creators, as reported by Variety.
The programme centres stories about queer people of colour. Both short films and full-length features are eligible for prizes. Together they will compete for a share of a $20,000 pool.
Two winners will receive $10,000 each. One prize is the grand jury award, decided by appointed judges. The other is the audience choice award, decided by viewers.
Five judges will decide the jury prize. Actor and advocate TS Madison, television personality Miss Lawrence, writer Bobby Ashley, writer and producer Mike Gauyo and actor Dyllón Burnside will serve on the panel, according to Variety. Their vote settles the grand jury award. The audience vote settles the rest.
Film-makers must submit online through jackd.com/filmfestival by 5 p.m. PT on 21 October. The festival is managed by Tyrus Townsend. The timetable is tight, with the viewing window opening less than two weeks after submissions close.
There is no hired cinema for this festival. Selected entries will appear only to users of the app from 2 November through 3 December. All festival films will be available for streaming from the app during that run.
Joining Jack’d and taking part in the festival is free. To watch the films and vote, members need to download and install the app. Members can then vote in-app for their favourite to help choose the Audience Choice Award winner.
Jack’d says it serves millions of users across more than 180 countries, with more than 15 million people in 2,000 cities, as reported by Variety. Its official website now includes a dedicated Film Festival section.
What makes this stand out is the venue. Most festivals book screening rooms for a weekend. This one runs for a full month inside a dating app that people already carry in their pockets.
For film-makers, this means a different route to viewers. The films will not play to one room on one night. They will play on phones to members who can watch at home and back the work they like best.
