Your Stage : When Surrealism Beats Craft: My ReelShort Vertical Contest Experience by Erik Diaz

I’m sharing my experience with the recent ReelShort contest because I’m genuinely trying to understand whether I’m missing something.

I entered the contest hoping to catch ReelShort’s attention and potentially pitch an original series. That’s why I submitted projects across different genres.

Although there was a public voting phase, the rules stated that the final decision would be made by a professional jury.

Some of you supported my entries here—thank you. For those who haven’t seen them:

https://tinyurl.com/16suspense

https://tinyurl.com/49beyondgenres

https://tinyurl.com/48beyondgenres

After reviewing the final results, I noticed that the top entry in the Suspense category violated two stated rules: it wasn’t vertical, and it wasn’t a complete work—it was a pilot episode.

Judge it yourself: https://tinyurl.com/1suspense

Meanwhile, my project Shadows of the Departed was rejected twice for being a pilot, forcing me to rewrite and change the ending just to be accepted.

While my entries placed 48 and 49 in Beyond Genres, I was surprised to see very amateur submissions ranking higher—such as the 16th-place entry, which consisted of a camera set against a computer monitor displaying a PowerPoint presentation as a background, with simple paper cut-out figures mounted on sticks moved in front of the lens. The result felt almost like a narrative device one would expect in a comedy script, where the protagonist puts in genuine effort only to be outperformed by something deliberately absurd.

See for yourself: https://tinyurl.com/16beyondgenres

More than a month after the winners were announced, the prize I was told I had won still hasn’t been paid, which only adds to my concerns. I also contacted ReelShort’s PR department and have not received a response so far.

I genuinely want feedback. If you think I’m wrong, tell me. Has anyone else had a similar experience?