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About Us

Screamfest for Filmmakers and Horror Fans

Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running horror film festival in the United States. Paranormal Activity was discovered and premiered at the festival in 2007. Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the "Sundance of Horror".

The 2022 Festival will be held at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on the 3rd floor of the Hollywood & Highland Center in eclectic Hollywood, California.

Screamfest, America’s largest and longest running horror film festival premieres and showcases new work from American and international independent horror filmmakers. Many of the filmmakers have garnered distribution and representation as a result of the festival. Screamfest launches careers.

Film entries are accepted in the categories of Best Feature, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Special Effects and Musical Score. In addition, there are special categories for Best Animation, Best Short, Best Documentary and Best Student Film.

Screamfest was formed in August 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry. We are very proud that the majority of the films showcased now have distribution.

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Opening Night Carpet

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Testimonial

Screamfest

Trusted By Filmmakers & Horror Fans Around The World

Thanks to placing in Screamfest, I was put into contact with the amazing producers at Dark Sky Films who optioned my creature feature. – 2020 semi-finalist

Tyler Jones Screenwriter

Screamfest was one of the most exciting experiences of our life. Seeing our films screened at Chinese Theatre was really a dream come true. Plus, it gave us the opportunity to meet great filmmakers and producers. Thank you again Screamfest! You're the best T3

Alessandro Antonaci Filmmaker

It was amazing to be able to attend an actual film festival in 2020 and see our film up on the big screen! Rachel and the team did a fantastic job of making this happen and utilizing the Drive-in format to allow filmmakers and film fans to have some sort of live event during the pandemic. Can't wait to create more films to submit and look forward to catching more great films to watch in 2021!

Justin Hyne Filmmaker

Screamfest is one of my favorite festivals to be in! The festival itself is a lot of fun with loads of quality content and great events. I have had two films in competition with them so far and I couldn’t have been happier. The folks in charge of Screamfest (Rachel and Karen) are great to work with. They are professional, communicative and really love horror. I will continue to submit my films and cross my fingers that I get in as Screamfest really is in the top of its class!

Meredith Red Filmmaker

Great Festival! Went out of their way to make it happen despite all the limitations with Covid. Great experience, organization and display of films. Highly recommend!

Scott O'Hara Filmmaker

This was an all-timer festival experience for me. Karen and Rachel are tremendously kind, and helpful people, and they really take care of their filmmakers. They're fabulous communicators, and love the genre so much it shows in everything they do. The screenings were top notch, and the theater was packed. The social events were well-run, and you couldn't pick a better venue to screen your film. I loved my time out in LA with Screamfest and will definitely be submitting future films here to capture this magic one more time.

Scott Vasey Filmmaker

Thanks for selecting and awarding our short film "The Light" as Best Short Film! It was an honor to be part of Screamfest 2021. :)

Marta Salvador Tato Filmmaker

Brilliant festival - excellent communication and a brilliantly organized event. Our film THE OTHER ONE won their Best Student Film award which we couldn't be happier with!

Rebekah Louisa Smith Filmmaker

As an alumni of this festival, I recommend it for all filmmakers that have a thrilling film!

Michael Kehoe Filmmaker

Expertly run like a well oiled machine by two incredible women and a vast team of terrific film festival workers and staff. You will feel like a celebrity with the parties and red carpet opportunities and you will be treated like the serious filmmaker you are with the many opportunities to network, thoughtful Q and A discussions about your film and lots of publicity for you and your film. It is the best film festival I've ever been in. Thank you Screamfest for having Misophonia as part of your schedule this year. You're simply the best!

Julianna Robinson Filmmaker

Thank you SCREAMFEST, what an amazing honor this was, to finally have one of our films go through. The TCL Chinese Theater holds so much history, and thanks to your festival we are a part of that too. Thank you for all you do, even during a pandemic, to ensure this festival is always awesome. From the live events, screenings, and special guests, we would die to do this all over again!! Awesome GRRR & THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Dave Reda Filmmaker

Absolutely delightful!!!!! My partner and I were over the moon after attending Screamfest. Hell of a festival!

Anatasha Blakely Filmmaker

I had an amazing experience at Screamfest! Rachel is awesome, the venue is incredible and the exposure was everything I hoped for. If you have a horror film be sure to submit to Screamfest. You won't be disappointed!

Matthew McWilliams Filmmaker

Screamfest is everything you think it would be and more! Rachel and Karen made the process a blast from start to finish, and being part of such a prestigious festival was nothing short of mind-blowing.

Craig Low Filmmaker

Best horror film festival on the planet! They were extremely communicative through the entire process, hosted us in an awesome theater with top notch sound and video quality, gave us many options to make sure we were all comfortable, has a loyal fanbase of horror hounds who want to see something new, and now our film is on their YouTube channel. I wish I could've gone more days to see the other films, but I will be back in the future, and hopefully with another film of my own!

Dallas Harden Filmmaker

Screamfest is an absolute dream come true for horror fans and filmmakers alike! Rachel, Karen, and the whole team are knowledgeable, professional, and exceptional at what they do. This was my second time having the honor of playing at Screamfest, and I can't wait to submit again. An absolute delight from end to end. I highly recommend it to any horror filmmakers out there!

Sergio Guerra Filmmaker

I love this festival and if you have made a genre film, you absolutely must submit. Thank you to Rachel, Karen, and the rest of the team for another awesome festival experience!!

Matthew Higgins Filmmaker

Best festival I've worked with, both horror and non-genre. Rachel and Karen did a great job communicating on everything, and actually went out of their way to try to connect the filmmakers with each other. On top of all that I just love the fact that through them we were able to show our film at the Chinese Theatre!

Kraig Krueger Filmmaker

There's a reason Screamfest is considered one of, if not, the best horror festivals in the world. Rachel and her team are simply the best. everyone is friendly and accommodating. The venue is great. The movies are great. The swag is great. And the DJ at the awards party isn't too bad either.

Alex Montilla Filmmaker

This was easily the greatest accomplishment I’ve had of my indie filmmaking journey thus far. Making a film in 2020, I didn’t even know if theaters were going to be open. Not only was I able to premiere through SCREAMFEST, it took place at the iconic Chinese theater in Hollywood. This was a priceless experience I will always cherish. Thank you to everyone at SCREAMFEST for the honor.

Michael Yosef Filmmaker

Great festival! If your project is selected you really MUST attend! Karen & Rachel have a true love in organising Screamfest and they take great care of their guests and audience!

Laura Ugolini Filmmaker

ScreamFest was what I expected, and remembered film festivals to be. More then just a weekend, very professional, great people, good conversations, excellent films, swag, professional and well put together. I was so pleased with the experience, and this step in my career. Thankyou ScreamFest !!

Eric Castro Filmmaker

It was an honor to have my film be selected by Screamfest! As a filmmaker, I felt this festival always kept me and my films best interest in mind and was just as happy to screen my film as I was honored to be a part of this festival. The communication between us was amazing and they always kept an open line of dialogue even months after the festival premiered. They really took the steps to make us filmmakers feel special and created a safe easy space for networking and chatting. They are professional, kind, and foster a tight knit community. I will definitely be submitting my next film and all my future works here. Thank you Screamfest!

Travae Davis Filmmaker

Screamfest has been a big part of my filmmaking and film-going life since I moved to Los Angeles in 2005. I finally made a short that got accepted to the fest in 2010 and through it, met a manager and started on the path towards my first feature, which I completed in 2014. After years away, I finally got to go back in 2021 with another short and was thrilled to premiere at Screamfest. The lineups are always killer, the communication with filmmakers is great, and they continue to uncover yet to be seen horror gems. Wish I had something to submit every year!

Dan Riesser Filmmaker