Get Involved

We receive hundreds of submissions each year, and while we wish we could accept them all, we only have a limited number of open slots to fill. Here are some tips we recommend you follow to give your submission the best chance at getting accepted to the festival.

1. Put your best stuff first! We accept demo reels up to 20 minutes long, but if it takes more than a minute to get to the funny stuff, you may want to consider recutting your video. Along those lines, make sure your act is at the beginning of your reel. We don’t need to see you being introduced or brought up on stage; start with yourself.
2. Submit footage of a live performance. This means content filmed in front of a live audience—not a virtual show, or a self-taped performance from your bedroom. We want to see how you perform live in front of people. We don’t want to see a sizzle reel of out-of-context moments. If you are a sketch group, for example, submit full sketches, not just clips from them.
3. Make sure you can be seen and heard. If you’re too far away from the camera, or your reel has poor audio, it makes it that much harder to review your act. You don’t need to submit a professionally shot performance, but if we struggle to see or hear you, we’re thinking about that, and not about the content of your act.
4. Finish the submission process. It may seem like a no-brainer, but if you submit an application and don’t pay the submission fee, we can’t review your act. It’s a two-step process: Submit the form, then pay the fee. (You’ll be automatically redirected to checkout.)
5. Submit early! We get hundreds of applications every year, and over half of them arrive on the last possible day. By submitting early, you can save on the submission fee and help your reel stand out.

Questions? Email cfe@sfsketchfest.com.