PitchDox, the documentary film competition just for Hoosier filmmakers, invites you to submit your unfinished documentary short (at any stage, from concept to post-production) for a chance to win a financial award to support the production of your film.
The competition consists of three qualifying rounds:
Project Submissions,
Semi-Finalist with virtual voting, and
Finalist Pitches.
A committee will review all submissions and select a group of Semi-Finalists to participate in brief virtual interviews. Those Semi-Finalists will then be encouraged to solicit virtual votes, which can influence the committee’s decision as they narrow down five Finalists.
The project submission deadline is August 9th, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.
Be sure to thoroughly review the detailed submission instructions and expectations, accessible via PDF below. Important dates are highlighted in the PDF, so you may want to print or otherwise save it for convenient reference later.
NEW FOR THIS YEAR
1) Shorts only, please! Starting this year, PitchDox invites filmmakers to submit an application for their unfinished short films (40 minutes or less). Previously, we've allowed all lengths to apply, but this change will level the playing field and help ensure that the financial awards have a proportionally larger impact to every project. If you have more questions about this change, send us a message at pitchdox@watchhoodox.com.
2) Speaking of the financial awards, we have one other HUGE change for this year's PitchDox...
Thanks to a generous grant from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, we have increased the financial awards for PitchDox!
The Grand Prize winner will receive $15,000 (increased from $10,000)
The Audience Choice Award winner will receive $10,000 (increased from $2,500)
All other finalists will receive $5,000 each (increased from $500)
$15K
GRAND PRIZE AWARD
$10K
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
$5K
FINALIST AWARDS
PitchDox Project Submission Form
