Submitting Chorts – 2026/27

Check out the best Chorts from the 2024/25 “Chortlist” to get an idea, and read about the 2024/25 competition winners here.

Chorts! are also the gateway to our Comedy Cohort – an opportunity to develop your character alongside the best entries from this year with our team and partners, and join our Comedy Crowd Top Talent group receiving exclusive opportunities. By ticking the box and submitting a Chort, you agree to the Chorts 2026/27 terms.

Full details of the submission guidelines are included in the aptly named “submission guidelines” section below.

Team Comedy Crowd and a committee of comedy creators will select a shortlist (aka a “Chortlist”) of entries.

The Chortlist will then be reviewed by our exciting industry judging panel who will help select the overall winners.

Our industry judging panel will be revealed throughout November and December. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to hear updates first.

• A maximum of 2 minutes long
• First published in 2025 or later (or not published publicly yet)
• Submitted via a YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok or Instagram Reel video link (not private or password protected)
• Work as a stand alone sketch or short, able to grab the audience in the first 3 seconds and be engaging throughout (not a long build up followed by a single punch line at the end)
• Original and stand out from the crowd (specifically from the Comedy Crowd in this case)
• Not previously commissioned or optioned by a 3rd party and not tied up in a deal elsewhere while we’re judging (see “Judging Period” in the Terms).
  
  We recommend keeping in mind the type of topics that can be relatable to a specific audience using social platforms. Think nostalgia, famous faces, cultural icons and relatable topics that people enjoy talking about e.g. family, work, love and friendships, politics, health, sport, environment.

This year we have introduced special categories for topics we are particularly keen to see:

• Home Truths (family life)
• Wild World (environment and our interaction with the planet)
• Mind & Body (health and wellbeing)
• Throwback (nostalgic culture and retro)

If your Chort doesn’t fit one of these categories DON’T PANIC! (What better way to stop someone panicking than writing in all caps). There is also an “Open Season” category where anything goes.

We strongly recommend focussing on the character or characters in your Chort video. The best Chorts have introduced new comedy characters that you can immediately imagine being part of a funny world.

Can I use AI tools in my Chort?

Chorts is about human comedy. It’s about your writing, your characters, your performances, your chaos. You. That’s what we’re judging. You can use AI tools to help with things like effects, captions or sound, but no AI versions of real people’s faces or voices please. If AI played a real part in your Chort, tell us on the form (see the examples under “What to submit” above). The small print is in “Use of AI” in the Terms.

Can I submit a Chort that has been commissioned or optioned by a 3rd party?

You must own the full intellectual property in your Chort. The character and concept should not have been commissioned or have any rights optioned by a third party, and you can’t grant any such rights until the Chortlist is announced (or longer if you’re Chortlisted – see “Judging Period” and “First negotiation” in the Terms).

Remember that by taking part in Chorts 2026/27 and submitting your entry, you grant us an in-perpetuity, world-wide, royalty free, non-exclusive licence to promote, publish, sample, and sub-licence the work. This allows us to promote Chorts and help share your comedy in a way that reaches an audience of engaged fans.

Chorts Terms

Here is the short version (but make sure to read the long version)
– Your Chort, characters and ideas stay yours.
– We can share and promote your Chort (always credited to you).
– While we’re judging, please don’t sign your character away elsewhere (you can still post and perform it).
– If you’re Chortlisted, we get up to 60 days to talk to you first about developing it.
– The Comedy Cohort is optional. If you join, we’ll agree the details with you in writing.

Acceptance. These Terms, together with the submission guidelines and FAQs above (which form part of these Terms), apply to Chorts 2026/27, run by Grassroutes Entertainment Ltd (company number 11320480, with registered address at International House, Mosley Street, Manchester, England, M2 3HZ) trading as The Comedy Crowd (“Comedy Crowd”, “we”, “us”). By ticking the box on the submission form and submitting a Chort, you agree to these Terms.

Team entries. The person submitting a Chort confirms that they are authorised to enter it and to agree to these Terms on behalf of every member of the creative team.

Judging Period. Being Chortlisted can open doors! A place in the Comedy Cohort, introductions to our partners and a much stronger hand in any conversation about your character. To keep those doors open, we ask you to hold on to your character and concept while we judge, rather than tying them up in a deal elsewhere. From the date you submit your Chort until the date we announce the Chortlist, or 31 January 2027 if earlier (the “Judging Period”), you agree not to offer, licence, option or assign any rights in the character(s) or concept in your Chort to anyone else. This doesn’t stop you posting, performing or sharing your Chort or character yourself, including on social media. If your Chort is not Chortlisted, this restriction ends when the Chortlist is announced.

First negotiation. Where your Chort is Chortlisted, we want to put our team and partners behind it, and a short exclusive window means you get our full attention while we work out how best to do that. So, for no more than 60 days after the Chortlist is announced (the “First Negotiation Period”) you agree to negotiate exclusively with Comedy Crowd about developing the character(s) and concept in your Chort, and not to negotiate with anyone else about them or offer, licence, option or assign any rights in them to anyone else. The First Negotiation Period ends early if we tell you that we do not wish to take things further. This applies whether or not you join the Comedy Cohort. If you accept a place in the Cohort, the Development Period under “Comedy Cohort” replaces the First Negotiation Period. Otherwise, if we have not signed an agreement with you by the end of the First Negotiation Period, you are free to deal with your character(s) and concept as you wish.

Approaches. If anyone approaches you about your Chort or the character(s) or concept in it during the Judging Period, the First Negotiation Period or the Development Period, you agree to tell us promptly and to refer them to us so we can explore development options together.

Personal data. Our privacy policy explains how we use the personal data you provide, including sharing it with our judges and Comedy Cohort partners.

Use of AI. You may use artificial intelligence tools in making your Chort, but the script, characters and performances must be created by members of your creative team and not generated by AI. Your Chort must not include any AI-generated or AI-altered likeness or voice of a real person. You must describe any material use of AI in your Chort on the submission form. We may disqualify an entry, or treat it as ineligible for the Comedy Cohort, if we reasonably consider that its use of AI goes beyond what these Terms allow or has not been properly disclosed.

Disqualification. We may disqualify any entry that we reasonably believe breaches these Terms, is offensive, defamatory or unlawful, or (for the engagement prize) has had its views, likes or engagement artificially increased, including through paid or automated activity.

Comedy Cohort

1. We may invite the creators of selected Chortlist entries to join the 2027 Comedy Cohort, an eight-week development programme. Joining the Cohort is optional, and you may decline an invitation.

2. By submitting your Chort, you agree that if you accept a place in the Cohort, Comedy Crowd will have the exclusive right, from the date you accept until three months after the end of the Cohort (the “Development Period”), to develop the character(s) and concept in your Chort with you and to present them to broadcasters, platforms, brands, producers and other partners. During the Development Period you agree not to offer, licence, option or assign any rights in the character(s) or concept in your Chort to anyone else.

3. Your participation in the Cohort, and any project arising from it, will be subject to a separate written agreement. If no such agreement is signed by the end of the Development Period, Comedy Crowd’s exclusive rights under this section end.

4. You will continue to own the intellectual property in your Chort and in the character(s) and concept you created.