# Connecting FilmFreeway

> From FilmScorecard Help: https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/connecting-filmfreeway

Connect your festival's FilmFreeway account once, and its submissions come
into FilmScorecard by themselves: every six hours, and whenever you press
**Sync now**. There is no export to download and no CSV to import.

**FilmScorecard only reads from FilmFreeway.** It never changes anything
there. And it takes almost nothing away here: a sync brings films in and keeps
them up to date, but it never removes a category or a film, and the one status
it changes is a withdrawal — a film **its filmmaker withdrew on FilmFreeway**,
which no judge has started scoring and nobody has unlocked, is withdrawn here
too (see [Films withdrawn on FilmFreeway](#films-withdrawn-on-filmfreeway)).
Anything else FilmFreeway's changes call for is listed under **Needs
attention**, and the decision is left to you.

Everything happens on one tab of Settings, **FilmFreeway**, right after
**Categories**. Its sentence: "Bring this festival's FilmFreeway submissions in
automatically, instead of importing them yourself. Optional." Importing a CSV
still works exactly as before, connected or not — see
[Importing submissions](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/importing-submissions.md).

## Before you start

- **FilmFreeway sync is on for every organization** unless FilmScorecard has
  turned it off for yours. While it is off, nothing connects or syncs — see
  [When FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization](#when-filmfreeway-sync-is-turned-off-for-your-organization).
  If you cannot see the tab, write to us — see
  [Contacting us](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/contacting-us.md).
- **You need to be an admin of the festival on FilmFreeway**, because the key
  is made from FilmFreeway's own festival dashboard.
- **You need to be able to open Settings** — an organization owner, org admin
  or festival admin. See [Who can use it](#who-can-use-it).
- **The season the films go into must not be completed or archived.** Any
  other season of the festival can take them.

## Finding the tab

1. Open **Settings** in the season block of the left navigation.
2. Choose the **FilmFreeway** tab, after **Categories** — or go straight to
   `…/settings?tab=filmfreeway`.

**It used to be a card on the Festival tab.** It has moved to a tab of its
own. The Festival tab's **FilmFreeway submission link** row has not moved: it
is a different thing — the link your public page sends filmmakers to — and it
still saves with the Festival tab. See
[Festival settings](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/festival-settings.md#festival).

**The tab label carries an amber count when something needs a person**: one
for each category waiting to be matched, one for each open Needs attention
item on a film, and one more while syncing is paused. With nothing waiting
there is no count. You can see it from whichever tab is open. **The Settings
row in the left navigation carries the same amber number**, so it shows on
every season screen of the festival — and while it does, that row opens
Settings straight onto this tab.

**The tab belongs to the festival, not to one season.** Every season's
Settings shows the same tab, and one festival has one FilmFreeway
connection. The films go into **one season at a time**, which you choose when
you set it up.

**The tab has no save bar.** Each of its buttons, and each category choice,
does its job the moment you make it; the **Save changes** bar never appears
here, and **Discard** on another tab never undoes anything on it.

**Times on the tab are in your own time zone** — the one your computer is
set to — not the season's, which is what the rest of Settings uses.

## Who can use it

**Organization owners, org admins and festival admins** — anybody who can open
Settings, which takes **Edit festival settings and team** on the season. Every
one of them can connect, sync, match categories, deal with a pause, replace
the key, remove it and undo the sync. Nobody else sees the tab, because nobody
else sees Settings.

Coordinators and other staff still meet what the sync does: its films on
Submissions, the **Changed on FilmFreeway** filter there, the notices on a
film's own panel and the email — see [Needs attention](#needs-attention).

**In a support session**, FilmScorecard's support team can **Remove key** and
**Undo sync**, and both are recorded in the session's log like any other
change. **Connect FilmFreeway** and **Replace key** are greyed, with "Not
available in a support session." beside them: a festival's key is never
handed over by anyone but the festival. See
Support sessions.

## Connecting, step by step

**Connect FilmFreeway** is on the tab while nothing is connected, beside
"Connect with an API key" and its sentence: "You make the key in FilmFreeway
and paste it here. It takes a few minutes, and you need to be an admin of the
festival on FilmFreeway." Under it: "FilmScorecard only reads from FilmFreeway.
It never changes anything there."

**The season's setup steps offer it too.** On a new season's dashboard, and on
Welcome, the step for bringing submissions in offers **Connect FilmFreeway**
beside **Import CSV**; it opens this tab with the dialog already on Step 1.
See [Finishing setup](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/finishing-setup.md).

Either way, it opens a dialog, **Connect FilmFreeway**, in three steps. The
line under the title says which one you are on — "Step 1 of 3" — and a bar of
three segments fills as you go.

**Nothing is saved until the last button, Start syncing.** Connect checks the
key and shows what FilmFreeway sends; closing the dialog at any step — Cancel,
the ×, Escape — leaves no key, no connection and no sync behind.

### Step 1, make a key in FilmFreeway

"Keep this window open. Do these steps in FilmFreeway, then come back."

1. Open your **Dashboard** in FilmFreeway and, on your festival, choose
   **Manage**.
2. In the menu on the left, choose **API Keys**.
3. Add this note so you know what the key is for, then choose **Create API
   Key**. The note — `FilmScorecard` — is in a box under the step, with
   **Copy** beside it.
4. Copy the key straight away. FilmFreeway shows it only once. If you miss it,
   delete it and make another.
5. **Don't skip this:** Click the key in the list to open it, tick **PII** and
   press **Save Scopes**. PII is what brings in your filmmakers' contact
   details. This step is the one in an amber box.
6. Come back here, choose **I've copied my key** and paste it.

Steps 1, 2 and 5 each carry a picture of the FilmFreeway screen you are
looking for.

PII is the submitters' contact details: their email address, name, phone and
the rest. **A key without it is refused**, so do not skip step 5.

**API documentation ↗** and **API Terms of Service ↗**, under the steps, open
FilmFreeway's own pages in a new tab. Choose **I've copied my key**, under
step 6, to go on, or **Cancel**, at the foot of the dialog, to close it with
nothing saved.

### Step 2, paste your key

"Paste your key" — "The key FilmFreeway showed you after you chose Create API
Key." Paste it into the field; what you paste is hidden as you would expect of
a password.

Under the field:

- "FilmScorecard stores the key securely and only uses it to read this
  festival's submissions. After you connect, it shows only the last 4
  characters."
- "If a key is ever lost or exposed, delete it in FilmFreeway straight away and
  contact FilmFreeway Support."

Choose **Connect**. It reads **Checking key…** while FilmScorecard asks
FilmFreeway whether the key works. **Connect only checks the key — it saves
nothing.** If the key is refused, the reason appears in amber under the field:

| Message | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| That looks too short to be a FilmFreeway key. Copy the whole key and paste it again. | Fewer than 24 characters — usually half a key. Checked as you press Connect, and again on the server. |
| FilmFreeway didn't accept this key. Check you copied all of it, or make a new one. | FilmFreeway does not know this key. It may have been deleted, or a character was lost on the way. |
| Turn on PII for this key in FilmFreeway, then try again. | The key works, but PII is off. Turn it on for the key in FilmFreeway's API Keys and press **Connect** again — the same key will do. |
| This key is for a different FilmFreeway festival than the one connected here. To switch festivals, undo the sync first. | The key was removed from this festival while films it brought in are still here, and this key belongs to another FilmFreeway festival. Undo the sync to free the festival for another key — see [Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync). |
| This key is for a different FilmFreeway festival than the one connected here. | The same, when undoing the sync cannot free the festival — 30 days have passed, a judge has started scoring, a filmmaker has unlocked a scorecard, or there is nothing here left to undo. Switching FilmFreeway festivals is then for us to do: write to us. |
| FilmFreeway is already connected for this festival. | A colleague connected it while your dialog was open. Close it and reload. |
| FilmScorecard couldn't reach FilmFreeway. Try again in a minute. | FilmFreeway did not answer. Nothing was saved. |
| FilmFreeway connections aren't available here. | FilmScorecard cannot store a key at the moment. Write to us. |

**Back** returns to Step 1. Once you start syncing, the key you pasted is
never shown again — not on the tab, not in the dialog, not to anyone; the
tab shows only its last four characters.

### Step 3, start syncing

Once the key is accepted, the dialog moves on by itself to **Start syncing**,
built from that one check — there is no wait while FilmScorecard reads your
festival:

- **Key works.**, in green.
- **FilmFreeway's name for its current season** — "FilmFreeway season: Spring
  2026" — and how many submissions it holds: "312 submissions". With none yet,
  "FilmFreeway has no submissions in *its season* yet." You can still start;
  films come in as they arrive.
- **Bring them into** and a season picker — the festival's seasons that are
  neither completed nor archived. It starts on the season whose Settings you
  are in, when that one can take films; otherwise on the newest that can. A
  festival with no season that can take films reads "Choose a season of this
  festival that is not completed or archived." in amber where the picker would
  be, and **Start syncing** stays greyed.
- "FilmFreeway data is handled under the FilmFreeway section of our Terms." —
  the **Terms** link opens in a new tab, so your pasted key stays where it is.
  Starting to sync agrees to that section on the festival's behalf, and
  records who did and when. See
  [The Terms and the Privacy Policy](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/terms-and-privacy.md).

**The categories are not on this step.** They are matched on the tab once
films start arriving — see [Categories](#categories).

Choose **Start syncing**. **This is the moment the key is saved**: FilmScorecard
sends the key again, checks it again, and only then stores it, links the season
you chose and starts the first sync. The dialog closes and the tab turns to
**Syncing**, with the sync's progress under the festival's name — see
[The progress line](#the-progress-line). It takes a few minutes for a big
festival, and you can leave the page while it runs.

**If the second check fails** — the key was deleted in FilmFreeway between the
two steps, say — its sentence appears in amber at the top of Step 3 and
nothing is saved. **Back** returns to Step 2 with the key still in the field;
changing it means pressing **Connect** again.

**If a colleague started first**, your **Start syncing** is refused with
"FilmFreeway is already connected for this festival." and nothing of yours is
saved.

### Closing the dialog leaves nothing behind

**Cancel, the × or Escape, at any step, saves nothing**: no key, no
connection, no sync. The tab stays on **Not connected** and the next
**Connect FilmFreeway** starts again from Step 1 with an empty field.

**The tab reads Not finished after an Undo.** Undoing the sync while the
key is still saved leaves the key in place and unlinks the season — see
[Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync). The pill then reads **Not finished**,
and the tab offers **Finish setting up** beside **Manage ▾**. It opens the
dialog straight on Step 3, reading "Checking key…" while FilmScorecard checks
the **saved** key with FilmFreeway — you do not paste it again — then shows the
same Step 3 with **Cancel** and **Start syncing**. **Nothing syncs until you
press Start syncing**; **Cancel** leaves it Not finished.

## The tab, state by state

The tab's panel always has the same title, **FilmFreeway**, with a pill beside
it:

| Pill | What it means | What the tab offers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Not connected** | No key is saved — never connected, or the key was [removed](#removing-the-key). | **Connect FilmFreeway** — and **Undo sync**, while films brought in before the key was removed are still here |
| **Not finished** | The key is saved and no season is linked — after an [Undo](#undoing-the-sync). | **Finish setting up**, **Manage ▾** |
| **Syncing** (indigo) | A sync is waiting to start or running. | The progress line and the figures, with **Syncing now** first |
| **Connected** (green) | Everything is running. This is where it should stay. | **Sync now**, **Manage ▾** |
| **Sync paused** (amber) | Something needs you before any sync writes anything. | An amber notice with the way out — see [When syncing pauses](#when-syncing-pauses) |

A tab with **no pill** at all is a stopped one: FilmFreeway sync is turned off
for your organization — see
[When FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization](#when-filmfreeway-sync-is-turned-off-for-your-organization).

**Once connected, the tab reads top to bottom**: the amber pause notice, when
syncing is paused; the [result line](#the-result-line); the identity row; the
[progress line](#the-progress-line), while a sync runs; the
[three figures](#the-three-figures); [Categories](#categories);
[Needs attention](#needs-attention); and
[Shared by FilmFreeway](#shared-by-filmfreeway).

**The identity row** shows the FF tile, your festival's own name, and a line
such as "FilmFreeway season: Spring 2026. Connected Oct 9, 2026 by Nadia
Brandt." — FilmFreeway's name for its current season, and who started syncing
and when — with **Sync now** and **Manage ▾** at its end.

**The tab keeps itself up to date while a sync runs.** Every 5 seconds, while
a sync is waiting or running and the FilmFreeway tab is the one open in a
window you can see, it re-reads itself — so the progress, the figures and the
categories move without a reload — and it reads once more when the sync
finishes, then stops. On another tab of Settings, or in a browser tab in the
background, it waits; coming back to it while a sync is still running reads at
once.

### The progress line

While a sync runs, a line with a spinner under the identity row says how far
it has got:

| It reads | When |
| --- | --- |
| "Bringing in 212 of 500" | The first sync after **Start syncing**, writing films. |
| "Checking for changes: 212 of 500" | Any later sync, writing films. |
| "Fetching posters and scripts: 3 of 12" | After the films, while posters and screenplay PDFs download — see [Posters and screenplays](#posters-and-screenplays). |

**The films come first, all of them, before any poster or script is
fetched**, so every film's record is on Submissions well before the sync
finishes. The numbers count FilmFreeway's submissions — "500" is how many
FilmFreeway holds, and each one counts as handled whether it was written,
updated, unchanged, left waiting for a category or not brought in. There is no
line while a sync is still waiting to start, and none for posters and scripts
when there is nothing to fetch.

### The three figures

| Figure | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Last synced** | The date and time of the last sync that succeeded — "Oct 9, 2026, 9:04 AM". "Not yet" before the first. What it did is on the [result line](#the-result-line). |
| **From FilmFreeway** | How many films the connection has brought into the season, or found there already: "148", "submissions in Spring 2026". "Counting" while the first sync is still writing films. |
| **Next sync** | The time FilmScorecard expects to check next, with "FilmScorecard checks every 6 hours." |

**While a sync runs** the first figure is **Syncing now**, with the time it
started — or "Starting" before it has. **While syncing is paused**, **Next
sync** reads **Paused**, with "Until the key is replaced", "Until PII is turned
back on" or "Until a season is chosen".

### The result line

**At the top of the tab, one line says what the last finished sync did** —
scheduled or **Sync now** alike. It stays until the next sync finishes; there
is no pop-up.

| It reads | Because |
| --- | --- |
| "Synced at 9:04 AM: 3 new, 5 updated, 4 waiting for a category, 2 need attention." | The sync finished. Only the counts that are not zero are listed. |
| "Synced at 9:04 AM: No changes." | It finished, and every count was zero. |
| "The 9:00 AM sync couldn't reach FilmFreeway. It will try again at 3:00 PM.", in amber | FilmFreeway did not answer. That is not a pause: nothing needs doing, and the next scheduled sync tries again. |
| "The 9:00 AM sync waited for an import to finish." | A CSV import was waiting or running in the same season when the sync came round. The sync changed nothing and leaves the work to the next one. See [Imports](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/imports.md#one-import-at-a-time). |

- **"4 waiting for a category"** counts FilmFreeway submissions left out
  because none of their categories has been matched yet. It is a link: it
  scrolls down to [Categories](#categories).
- **"2 need attention"** counts the [Needs attention](#needs-attention) items
  that sync raised. It opens Submissions filtered to FilmFreeway's flagged
  films.

**There is no result line** before the first sync finishes, while the tab is
Not finished, or after a sync that paused — the amber pause notice says what
happened instead.

### Sync now

**Sync now** starts a sync straight away rather than waiting for the next
scheduled one. It is unavailable — greyed out — in three cases:

- **while a sync is waiting or running**, when it reads **Syncing**;
- **for 10 minutes after a sync finishes**, with "Sync now available at 9:20
  AM" under the figures. A tab left open that presses it anyway gets the same
  sentence, and nothing is queued;
- **while syncing is paused.**

**Scheduled syncs come round every six hours** whatever you press. Sync now is
for when you want what is on FilmFreeway at this moment — after a deadline, say.
Matching a category starts a sync of its own without the 10-minute wait — see
[Categories](#categories).

### Shared by FilmFreeway

The last row lists what the key lets FilmScorecard read, as pills:
**Submission details**, **Submitter contact details (PII)**, and **Judging
data** if the key has it. Beside them, either "Change these on the key in
FilmFreeway." or, when Judging data is on, "From Judging data, FilmScorecard
uses only whether a film was accepted." — see [New films](#new-films).

### Manage

**Manage ▾** is on the identity row whenever a key is saved — Not finished,
Connected, Syncing and Sync paused alike. It opens a small menu headed
**FilmFreeway API key**, with the key's last four characters — "Ending a41f" —
and three choices:

- **Replace key** — see [Replacing the key](#replacing-the-key). In a support
  session it is greyed, with "Not available in a support session." under it.
- **Remove key**, in amber — "Stops syncing. Submissions already here stay."
  See [Removing the key](#removing-the-key).
- **Undo sync**, under a divider — see [Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync).
  When Undo is not possible it is greyed, and the line under it says why:
  "Available when this sync finishes.", "Undo was available until Oct 9,
  2026.", "A judge has scored 3 of these submissions.", "A filmmaker has
  unlocked the scorecard for 2 of these submissions." or "Nothing to undo."

## What a sync does

Every sync reads every submission in FilmFreeway's current season, then:

1. brings new films into the season;
2. updates films already here from what changed on FilmFreeway;
3. withdraws films their filmmakers withdrew on FilmFreeway, when nobody has
   started scoring them or unlocked them;
4. lists under **Needs attention** what it will not decide for you;
5. once every film is written, downloads posters and screenplay PDFs into
   empty slots;
6. emails your team once, if it found anything new to look at — or, on the
   first sync, to say what it brought in.

### New films

**A new film is written exactly as a FilmFreeway CSV export would write it**,
with the same fields — the submitter's details, the work, its credits,
technical specs, background and the entry's own record, the staff-only fields
included. See
[What a FilmFreeway export brings in](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/importing-submissions.md#what-a-filmfreeway-export-brings-in).
A few details:

- **The submitter's email** is the one on the FilmFreeway project, or the one
  on the submission when the project has none.
- **The screener link** is the film's own link on FilmFreeway. A film uploaded
  to FilmFreeway itself has no link of its own, so it gets its FilmFreeway
  page — `https://filmfreeway.com/submissions/…` — and only judges you have
  given FilmFreeway access are offered it. See
  [FilmFreeway access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/judges.md#filmfreeway-access).
- **The submission date** is the day it was submitted on FilmFreeway, in the
  season's time zone.
- **New films arrive Ready for judging.** There is no On hold choice, as there
  is in a CSV import's confirm dialog — hold them afterwards on Submissions if
  you need to. See
  [Holding a submission out of judging](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#holding-a-submission-out-of-judging).
- **The selection is set once, when the film arrives.** With **Judging data**
  on the key, a film FilmFreeway has marked selected or accepted arrives
  **Selected**, one marked not selected, rejected or declined arrives **Not
  Selected**, and anything else **In Consideration**. Without Judging data,
  every film arrives In Consideration. No later sync changes it.
- **Nothing else of FilmFreeway's judging is kept** — no ratings,
  recommendations, notes, flags or judges' names. Judging here starts fresh,
  blind, with your own judges.
- **A film with no title is skipped**, and a film that looks like a new version
  of one already here comes in as a separate film — both exactly as in a CSV
  import.
- **A film is never brought in twice.** One already in the season from a CSV
  import, under the same Submission ID, is matched and kept up to date from
  then on.

**A film comes in once one of its categories is matched** to one of the
season's categories — see [Categories](#categories). Its
other matched categories come with it; a category matched later is added on a
later sync. A film whose categories are all set to **Don't bring in** never
comes in.

### Films already here: the most recent change wins

**On every sync, each film the connection brought in is compared with
FilmFreeway, field by field**, and a field moves only when that is the most
recent change:

- **Changed on FilmFreeway, not here** — FilmFreeway's value is applied.
- **Changed here, not on FilmFreeway** — yours stays.
- **Changed on both sides** — whichever change is newer wins.
- **Blanked on FilmFreeway** — never applied. An empty field on FilmFreeway
  never wipes a filled one here.

"Changed here" means changed by your team, or by the filmmaker on their own
submission page.

The fields it compares are the ones a new film is written with, plus the
screener link and the running time. **Four things never change after a film
arrives:**

- **the submitter's email, once the filmmaker has saved the submission to their
  own FilmScorecard account** — see
  [Saving a submission to your account](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/saving-a-submission-to-your-account.md).
  Until then it follows FilmFreeway like any other field;
- **the selection** — In Consideration, Selected or Not Selected;
- **the screener password** — FilmFreeway does not share one, so the sync never
  sets or clears it;
- **the poster and the screenplay PDF**, once filled.

**Every change a sync makes is on the film's Audit tab**, with **FilmFreeway**
as who made it and the old value beside the new one — so a value of yours that
FilmFreeway's newer change replaced can be typed back by hand. See
[The Audit tab](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-audit-tab).

### Films withdrawn on FilmFreeway

**On FilmFreeway only the filmmaker can withdraw a submission, so a sync
withdraws that film here too** — the same change **Withdraw** makes on
Submissions — when all of this is true:

- the film is still in your submissions here, not already withdrawn or
  disqualified;
- **no judge has started a creative scorecard on it**;
- **nobody has unlocked its scorecard**.

A film that arrives already withdrawn on FilmFreeway comes in, and is withdrawn
on the same sync. **Its Audit tab names FilmFreeway**: "FilmFreeway withdrew
the submission", with the time — see
[The Audit tab](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-audit-tab). What withdrawing
does to a submission is in
[Withdrawing a submission](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#withdrawing-a-submission).

**A film a judge has started scoring, or whose scorecard has been unlocked,
is not withdrawn.** It stays in judging, and the sync raises
"Withdrawn on FilmFreeway" under [Needs attention](#needs-attention) for you
to decide, as before.

**The sync withdraws a film once, and never again.** Like any withdrawal, it
cannot be reversed on your screens.

**Disqualified on FilmFreeway changes nothing here.** Disqualifying is the
festival's own act on FilmFreeway, so it stays a Needs attention item. **Not
Selected** on FilmFreeway changes nothing either — the selection is set once,
when a film arrives (see [New films](#new-films)).

### Posters and screenplays

A sync downloads two things from FilmFreeway, and only into an empty slot. It
does so **after every film has been written**, a few films at a time — the
"Fetching posters and scripts" part of the [progress line](#the-progress-line):

- **The poster**, when the film has none here — PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 10 MB.
- **The screenplay PDF**, for a screenplay whose latest version has no PDF
  here, and whose link is empty or any link on `filmfreeway.com` — up to
  25 MB. It becomes the PDF judges open. **A link your team or the filmmaker
  set to any other site is never touched**, so that screenplay is never
  fetched from FilmFreeway.

A poster or PDF you have put on the film yourself is never replaced. One too
large, that is not a real PDF or image, or that fails to download, is tried
again on later syncs — three tries in all — and then left alone. Stills and
trailer stills are not downloaded.

### What a sync never does

- **It never changes a film's status, except to withdraw** a film its
  filmmaker withdrew, under the rules in
  [Films withdrawn on FilmFreeway](#films-withdrawn-on-filmfreeway). A film
  disqualified on FilmFreeway, or withdrawn there after a judge started
  scoring it or its scorecard was unlocked, stays in judging here until you
  withdraw it.
- **It never removes a category.** A film moved out of a category on
  FilmFreeway stays in it here until you edit its categories.
- **It never removes a film.** A film that disappears from FilmFreeway stays.
- **It never writes anything to FilmFreeway.**
- **It never emails a filmmaker itself.** Synced films are ordinary films
  afterwards: the season's own emails to submitters — the link to their
  submission page, scorecard releases — treat them exactly as they treat
  imported ones. So on a season set to
  [email each filmmaker as their film arrives](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/season-overview.md#how-filmmakers-hear-from-you),
  each film a sync brings in is sent that link within minutes of the sync
  writing it. An Undo afterwards cannot take the email back; the link in it
  stops working.

Each of the first three is listed under **Needs attention** instead.

## Categories

**Each FilmFreeway category is matched to one of this season's categories, or
set to Don't bring in.** The match is remembered — for that season — so it is
asked once, and a category FilmFreeway later renames is not asked again.

**A FilmFreeway category whose name is the same as one of the season's matches
itself**, ignoring capitals and extra spaces. Unlike a CSV import,
punctuation counts: "Short Film" and "Short-Film" are different names here.

Anything else waits for you, **and its films wait with it**. You do not match
anything before you start: the first sync brings in what matches by name, and
the rest waits in the **Categories** block on the tab.

### The Categories block

Under the figures, **Categories** lists every FilmFreeway category the sync
has seen for the season the films go into, each with FilmFreeway's name for it
and how many FilmFreeway submissions it holds.

- **Waiting categories come first, and are always open**: the name, the count,
  **Needs matching** in amber, and a picker reading **Choose a category**.
- **Matched and skipped categories sit behind All categories (12)** — the
  number counts every category in the block. Open it to see each one's
  current choice in its own picker, and change it there.

**Each choice saves on its own, the moment you make it.** There is no Save
button. A row you answer from the waiting list stays where it is for the rest
of your visit, so you can read what it says next. Then:

- **With no sync running, a sync starts at once** — without Sync now's
  10-minute wait — and the category's films come in on it. While syncing is
  paused the choice is saved, and used once syncing carries on.
- **With a sync already running**, the row reads "Saved. Its films come in
  when this sync finishes." The next sync starts by itself the moment the
  running one finishes.

A refused choice goes back to what it was, with the reason in amber under the
row — see [Messages](#messages).

### The picker

The picker is the one a CSV import uses on its category step — see
[Step 3](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/importing-submissions.md#step-3-match-the-files-categories-to-yours)
— with two differences: FilmScorecard's default list is not offered, and
skipping is worded **Don't bring in**. So the choices are:

1. **A category on this season** — the films join it.
2. **A category from your organization's library** — it is attached to this
   season, at its library judge pay, and the films join it.
3. **Create "*name*" as a new category** — under FilmFreeway's name for the
   category, or **under a name you type**: search for a name no category has —
   "Animated Shorts", say — and the choice reads **Create "Animated Shorts"
   as a new category**. It asks **Film** or **Screenplay**, then, on the next
   sync, creates it in your library and on this season, with your shared
   technical and press kit scorecards and **no creative scorecard** until you
   attach one; the films come in on that same sync. Create is not offered
   under a name a category in the list already has — choose that one.
4. **Don't bring in** — films only in this category never come in.

### Changing a match moves no film already here

**A new choice decides only where future films go.** Films the category has
already brought in keep the categories they came in with. A row whose category
has brought films says where they are — "14 films already here stay in
Documentary Short.", or "14 films already here keep their categories." when
they are spread across several — and **that line is a link**: it opens Submissions
filtered to exactly those films, with the chip **From FilmFreeway:
*category* (14)** on the toolbar, where **Edit categories** moves any of them
by hand. See
[Editing a submission's categories](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#editing-a-submissions-categories).

- **Matched to Don't bring in**: the films already here stay where they are;
  no new ones come in.
- **Don't bring in to a match**: that category's films come in on the sync the
  choice starts.

### A new season keeps your matches

**Matches carry over when the films start going into another season** — by
**Continue syncing** after a pause, or by **Start syncing** into a different
season after an Undo. Each FilmFreeway category's latest choice comes with it:

- a match to *Documentary Short* becomes a match to the new season's category
  of the same name, ignoring capitals and extra spaces;
- **Don't bring in** stays **Don't bring in**;
- with no category of that name on the new season, it waits for you there.

Matches are this festival's own: another festival of your organization never
inherits them.

## Needs attention

**When a sync finds something it will not decide for you, it says so — and
changes nothing.** An amber box headed **Needs attention** appears under
[Categories](#categories), one line per kind, with a count:

| Line | What happened on FilmFreeway | What it leaves for you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "2 films withdrawn on FilmFreeway" | The filmmaker withdrew the film there, and the sync did not withdraw it here, because a judge had started scoring it or its scorecard was unlocked. See [Films withdrawn on FilmFreeway](#films-withdrawn-on-filmfreeway). | Withdraw it here, or leave it. |
| "1 film disqualified on FilmFreeway" | The film was disqualified there. | Withdraw it here, or leave it. |
| "1 film moved out of a category on FilmFreeway" | A category FilmFreeway brought is no longer on the film there. | Take the category off here, or leave it. Categories your team added are never compared. |
| "1 film no longer on FilmFreeway" | A film the connection brought in is missing from FilmFreeway's list. | Nothing has changed here. |

**A category waiting to be matched is not listed here** — it waits in the
[Categories](#categories) block, and counts on the tab label.

**Every line opens Submissions**, on the season the films go into, filtered
to the films FilmFreeway has flagged. The same filter is a chip on the
Submissions toolbar — **Changed on FilmFreeway (3)** — shown while the season
has at least one flagged film. While it is on, an amber line under the toolbar
says these films changed on FilmFreeway after they were imported, and to open
each one and update it here if you need to; the notice then clears at the next
sync, or anyone who can open Settings can **Dismiss** it.
See [Searching and filtering](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#searching-and-filtering).

**On a flagged film's own panel**, each item is an amber notice at the top:

- "Withdrawn on FilmFreeway. It stays in judging here until you withdraw it." —
  only on a film the sync did not withdraw itself.
- "Disqualified on FilmFreeway. It stays in judging here until you withdraw
  it."
- "Moved out of *category* on FilmFreeway. It stays in that category here until
  you edit its categories."
- "No longer on FilmFreeway. Nothing has changed here."

The panel's usual buttons do the rest — see
[FilmFreeway notices](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#filmfreeway-notices),
[Withdrawing a submission](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#withdrawing-a-submission) and
[Editing a submission's categories](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#editing-a-submissions-categories).

**An item clears itself, at the next sync, once its cause has gone**: you
withdraw the film here, FilmFreeway reinstates it, you take the category off
here, FilmFreeway puts it back, or the film reappears on FilmFreeway.

**Dismiss**, on a film's notice, clears one item you have decided to leave as
it is. It is not raised again unless FilmFreeway changes that same thing again.
Dismiss is offered to the people who can open Settings; everyone else sees the
notice without it. While FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization,
Dismiss is refused with "FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your
organization."

**One more quiet line, never an item.** Beside a screener link that is not
FilmFreeway's own page and has no password, on a synced film, the panel says
"FilmFreeway doesn't share screener passwords. Add one if this link needs it."
It is never listed and never emailed.

### The email

**The first sync sends one email to say what it brought in** — the first sync
after **Start syncing**, including after an Undo. It goes as soon as every film
is written, without waiting for posters and scripts, when the sync brought in
at least one film or left a category waiting: "FilmFreeway's first sync for
*your festival and season*", with "FilmFreeway brought 148 submissions into
*your festival and season*.", "3 categories need matching." when any wait, any
Needs attention line it found, and **Open the FilmFreeway tab**. A first sync
that brought nothing and left nothing waiting sends nothing.

**After that, a sync that finds anything new to look at sends one email**,
never one per film: "FilmFreeway needs your attention for *your festival and
season*", with each line it found, "Nothing has changed on these films here.",
and **Open the FilmFreeway tab**. A sync that
only brings in or updates films sends nothing. **No sync ever sends more than
one email.**

**A sync that pauses sends one too** — "FilmFreeway syncing has paused for
*your festival and season*" — once per pause, not again on every check while
it stays paused.

It goes to your organization's staff who can open the season, and each of them
can turn it off for themselves with **FilmFreeway needs attention** on the
Notifications tab of their account settings — see
[Notifications](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-account-settings.md#notifications). The email line by
line is in
[The FilmFreeway email](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/emails-your-festival-sends.md#the-filmfreeway-email).

## When syncing pauses

**A pause stops every sync from writing anything until somebody deals with
it.** It never removes the key, and nothing already here changes. The pill
reads **Sync paused**, and an amber notice at the top of the tab says why, with
the way out beside it:

| Why | The notice | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **The key stopped working** | "FilmFreeway stopped accepting the key at 9:00 AM, so syncing has paused. The key was probably deleted. Make a new one and replace it here." | Make a new key and choose **Replace key** in the notice. |
| **PII was turned off** | "The key no longer shares submitter contact details (PII), so syncing has paused. Turn PII back on for the key in FilmFreeway." | Turn PII back on for the key in FilmFreeway, then choose **Check again**. It is a sync, so it waits out the same 10 minutes as Sync now. |
| **FilmFreeway started a new season** | "FilmFreeway has moved to a new season, *its name*. Choose where its submissions go." | Choose a season, then **Continue syncing**. |
| **Most films stopped coming back** | "FilmFreeway stopped returning most of the submissions synced so far, which usually means it has started a new season. Choose where its submissions go." | Choose a season, then **Continue syncing**. |
| **The season here is closed** | "*Spring 2026* is closed, so syncing has paused. Choose where FilmFreeway's submissions go." | Choose a season, then **Continue syncing**. |

**The season pauses.** "Most films stopped coming back" means fewer than half of
the films the connection has brought in were on FilmFreeway's list — which is
what a new FilmFreeway season looks like when it keeps the old one's name. Its
picker starts on the season the films already go into, in case FilmFreeway has
simply reopened the same season; for the other two it starts on **Choose a
season**, and you must pick. "Closed" means completed or archived here.

**Continue syncing** sends FilmFreeway's films into the season you chose from
now on, clears the pause and starts a sync. Choosing a different season brings
your category matches with it, by name — see
[A new season keeps your matches](#a-new-season-keeps-your-matches).

**A moved deadline on FilmFreeway never pauses anything.**

## Undoing the sync

**Undo sync takes out every film FilmFreeway brought into the season, from
every sync at once**, and hands the connection back to the start. It is the way
to undo a sync into the wrong season, or to switch the festival to another
FilmFreeway festival.

**Where it is**: in the **Manage ▾** menu, under the divider. On a tab with no
key — after [Remove key](#removing-the-key), or while FilmFreeway sync is
[turned off](#when-filmfreeway-sync-is-turned-off-for-your-organization) — it
is a button of its own, amber, beside a line such as "148 submissions came in
from FilmFreeway before the key was removed." Each sync that brought new films
still has its **FilmFreeway sync** row on the season's [Imports](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/imports.md)
history, but no row there offers Undo — see
[FilmFreeway syncs are undone from Settings](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/imports.md#filmfreeway-syncs-are-undone-from-settings).

1. Choose **Manage ▾**, then **Undo sync**.
2. The dialog reads "Undo the FilmFreeway sync?" — "Remove the 148 submissions
   FilmFreeway brought into Spring 2026?" — and, when some of the films were
   already here from a CSV import, "The 12 that were already here from a CSV
   import stay, but stop syncing."
3. Choose **Undo sync**, in amber, or **Cancel**.

**It is checked before anything is removed, and refused whole** — nothing at
all is removed — in four cases. The greyed **Undo sync** says which, on the
line under it; should one arise while the dialog is open, the dialog says so
instead:

| It reads | Because |
| --- | --- |
| "Available when this sync finishes." | A sync is waiting or running. Undo is possible again once it finishes. |
| "Undo was available until Oct 9, 2026." | More than 30 days have passed since the first sync brought films into the season. |
| "A judge has scored 3 of these submissions." | A creative scorecard has been started on at least one of the films it would remove — from the moment a judge presses Start scoring, filed or not. |
| "A filmmaker has unlocked the scorecard for 2 of these submissions." | At least one of those films' scorecards has been unlocked. |

"Nothing to undo." means no film is linked to the connection any more.

**What it removes**: every film the season's FilmFreeway syncs brought in,
exactly as rolling back an import removes a batch's films — with their
technical and press kit scorecards, their category attachments, the posters
and screenplay PDFs the sync downloaded, and any category a sync created that
nothing else has come to use (your library keeps it). See
[What a rollback removes, exactly](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/imports.md#what-a-rollback-removes-exactly).

**What it keeps**:

- **Films that were already here from a CSV import when the sync found them**
  stay, and stop syncing. So do films the connection had linked in any other
  season.
- **The season's category matches**, for the next time you start syncing into
  it.

**Afterwards**: every Needs attention item is cleared, every **FilmFreeway
sync** row on Imports reads **Rolled back**, and the connection forgets the
season and the FilmFreeway festival it was tied to. Then:

- **With the key still saved**, the pill reads **Not finished** and nothing
  syncs until you press **Finish setting up**, choose a season and press
  **Start syncing** — see
  [Closing the dialog leaves nothing behind](#closing-the-dialog-leaves-nothing-behind).
  That next sync counts as a first sync again: its progress reads "Bringing in",
  and it sends the first-sync email.
- **With the key already removed**, the tab reads **Not connected**, and a key
  for any FilmFreeway festival can be connected.

**To take one synced film out of judging without undoing the rest**, withdraw
it — see [Withdrawing a submission](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md#withdrawing-a-submission).

## Replacing the key

1. Make a new key in FilmFreeway, with PII on — the same steps as
   [Step 1](#step-1-make-a-key-in-filmfreeway).
2. Choose **Manage ▾**, then **Replace key** — or **Replace key** in the
   amber notice when the old key has stopped working.
3. The dialog, **Replace the FilmFreeway key**, has two steps: make a key, then
   paste it. Choose **Save new key**; it reads **Checking key…** while it
   checks.

The new key goes through the same checks as a first one, and **it must be for
the same FilmFreeway festival** — a key for another one is refused with "This
key is for a different FilmFreeway festival than the one connected here." Unlike
connecting, **Save new key saves the key as soon as it passes**: the dialog
closes, a pause for the key or for PII is cleared, and a sync starts. Delete
the old key in FilmFreeway if it still exists.

**Replace key is not available in a support session** — it is greyed, with
"Not available in a support session." under it.

## Removing the key

**Remove key** stops syncing and deletes the key from FilmScorecard. It used to
be called **Disconnect**.

1. Choose **Manage ▾**, then **Remove key**, in amber.
2. The dialog reads "Remove the FilmFreeway key?" — "FilmScorecard stops
   syncing with FilmFreeway. The 148 submissions already here stay. The key
   keeps working in FilmFreeway until you delete it there."
3. Choose **Remove key**, in amber, or **Cancel**.

**The key is deleted from FilmScorecard, and every sync stops** — one waiting
to start is cancelled, and one running stops where it is. The tab goes back
to **Not connected**.

**Everything already here stays**: every film, every category match, and every
Needs attention item. **Delete the key in FilmFreeway** as well, because
removing it here does not touch it there.

**While films the sync brought in are still here**, the Not connected panel
says so — "148 submissions came in from FilmFreeway before the key was
removed." — with **Undo sync** beside it, under the same rules as ever (see
[Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync)); a sync that was running when you
removed the key must stop first. And the festival stays tied to its FilmFreeway
festival:

- **Connecting again with a key for the same FilmFreeway festival** works like
  the first time. You start syncing into a season again, your category matches
  come back with it, and films already here are matched, not brought in twice.
- **A key for another FilmFreeway festival is refused** with "This key is for
  a different FilmFreeway festival than the one connected here. To switch
  festivals, undo the sync first." Once the sync can no longer be undone, the
  first sentence stands alone, and switching is for us to do — write to us.

**With no film linked any more**, the festival is free: a key for any
FilmFreeway festival can be connected.

**Remove key works in a support session**, and while FilmFreeway sync is
turned off for your organization.

## When FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization

**FilmFreeway sync is on for every organization unless FilmScorecard turns it
off.** While it is off, nothing syncs and nothing connects: no scheduled sync
runs, a sync already waiting or running stops without reading FilmFreeway, and
Connect, Replace key, Sync now, Check again, Continue syncing, category choices
and **Dismiss** are all refused with "FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your
organization."

**What the tab shows depends on what is left to clean up:**

- **A saved key, or films the sync brought in** — the tab stays, with no pill
  and no amber count, and reads "FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your
  organization." Under it, only **Remove key** — while a key is saved — and
  **Undo sync** — while films are linked; greyed, with its reason under it,
  when Undo is refused. See [Removing the key](#removing-the-key) and
  [Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync).
- **Nothing at all** — there is no FilmFreeway tab, and its address opens the
  Festival tab instead. Once the last key is removed and nothing is left to
  undo, the tab goes the same way.

**Nothing is lost**: the connection, its matches, its films and its Needs
attention items are all kept, and when it is turned back on, syncing carries on
where it stopped.

## If the tab disappears while you are on it

**The FilmFreeway tab never reloads the page**: after each button, and every 5
seconds while a sync runs, it re-reads only itself. When that read finds there
is no longer a tab for you — you were signed out, or the last key was removed
and nothing is left to undo while FilmFreeway sync is off — the tab goes from
the row and Settings shows the Festival tab. A read that simply fails changes
nothing on screen; the tab tries again a few seconds later.

## Messages

Every sentence the tab and its dialogs can answer with, beyond the key checks
in [Step 2](#step-2-paste-your-key) and Undo's refusals in
[Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync). Each appears in amber at the top of the
tab's panel, under the category row you changed, or inside the dialog you were
using.

| Message | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Sync now available at 9:20 AM | **Sync now** or **Check again** was pressed within 10 minutes of the last sync finishing. |
| A sync is already running. | Somebody else started one. Wait for it. |
| FilmFreeway syncing is not running for this festival. | Sync now was pressed on a connection that is paused, Not finished or has no key — usually a tab left open. Reload. |
| FilmFreeway syncing is not paused. | **Continue syncing** was pressed after a colleague had already dealt with the pause. Reload. |
| FilmFreeway setup is already finished for this festival. | **Start syncing** under **Finish setting up**, after a colleague had already finished it. Reload. |
| FilmFreeway is already connected for this festival. | A colleague connected it first — your **Connect** or **Start syncing** saved nothing. Reload. |
| FilmFreeway is not connected for this festival. | The key was removed while you were replacing it, or finishing setting up. |
| Choose a season of this festival that is not completed or archived. | The season you picked has been completed or archived, or the festival has no season that can take films. |
| Choose where FilmFreeway's submissions go first. | A category was matched on a connection with no season linked — usually a tab left open across an Undo. Finish setting up first. |
| That category is not in this season. | A category you matched to was taken off the season in the meantime. Choose again. |
| That item has already been dealt with. | **Dismiss** on an item that had already cleared itself or been dismissed. |
| FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization. | Anything but Remove key and Undo sync, while FilmFreeway sync is off — usually turned off while the page was open. See [When FilmFreeway sync is turned off for your organization](#when-filmfreeway-sync-is-turned-off-for-your-organization). |
| Not available in a support session. | **Connect FilmFreeway** or **Replace key**, in a support session. |
| You do not have permission to change this festival's settings. | Your account cannot open Settings for this season — or, for a category choice or an Undo, for the season the films go into. |
| The change could not be saved. Try again. | Anything else. Nothing was changed. |

## What it does not do

- **It reads one FilmFreeway season — the current one.** Older seasons on
  FilmFreeway are not brought in; import their CSV exports instead.
- **One FilmFreeway festival per festival, into one season at a time.** To
  switch to another FilmFreeway festival, undo the sync first; once it can no
  longer be undone, switching is for us to do — see
  [Removing the key](#removing-the-key).
- **No screener passwords**, because FilmFreeway does not share them. Add them
  on each film's panel if its link needs one.
- **No stills, trailer stills or your festival's own questions** — the same as
  a CSV import.
- **It is not instant.** A film submitted on FilmFreeway arrives on the next
  sync, not the moment it is submitted.
- **Undo is all or nothing, and only for 30 days.** It takes out every film
  the syncs brought into the season, and is refused whole once a judge has
  started scoring or a filmmaker has unlocked any of them — see
  [Undoing the sync](#undoing-the-sync). There is no way to stop a sync while
  it runs, short of removing the key.
- **Changing a category's match moves no film already here.** Move those with
  **Edit categories** — see
  [Changing a match moves no film already here](#changing-a-match-moves-no-film-already-here).
- **Removing the key does not delete anything the sync brought in.** Films and
  their submitters' details stay until you remove them.

## Related guides

- [Festival settings](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/festival-settings.md#filmfreeway) — the screen this
  tab is on, and the Festival tab's **FilmFreeway submission link** row, which
  is a different thing: the link your public page sends filmmakers to.
- [Finishing setup](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/finishing-setup.md) — the season's setup steps, which
  offer **Connect FilmFreeway** beside **Import CSV**.
- [Importing submissions](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/importing-submissions.md) — the CSV way in, which
  works beside the sync, what a FilmFreeway export brings in, and the category
  picker the Categories block shares.
- [Imports](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/imports.md) — where each sync's batch is listed, and why none of
  them is rolled back there.
- [Submissions](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/submissions.md) — the **Changed on FilmFreeway** filter, the
  **From FilmFreeway** chip, withdrawing a film and editing its categories.
- [Opening a submission](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md) — a synced film's notices,
  and its Audit tab, where FilmFreeway's changes and withdrawals are named.
- [Emails your festival sends](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/emails-your-festival-sends.md) — every email,
  including the first-sync email and FilmFreeway needs attention.
- Support sessions — what our support team can and
  cannot do on this tab.
- [Your account settings](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-account-settings.md#notifications) — turning
  that email off for yourself.