Sheridan, Wyo • September 16, 2025—The eighth annual WYO Film Festival, presented by The Standish Family Fund, has announced it will award two cash awards for filmmakers at this year’s festival, running October 2–5, 2025, in Sheridan, Wyoming. For the first time in the festival’s history, attendees will have the opportunity to directly shape the outcome of two special awards: Audience Choice Short Film and Audience Choice Feature Film. After each screening, festivalgoers will be invited to cast their vote, making audience voices a central part of the celebration.
To power this new initiative, the WYO Film Festival has partnered with Votemo, a live voting and audience engagement tool designed specifically for film festivals. Audiences will see a QR code on screen at the end of each film and around festival venues, giving them the opportunity to use their phones to rank the films on a scale of 1–5. Votes will be averaged across all audience members who rate each film, rather than counting the number of votes received. This ensures that every film has an equal opportunity to win, regardless of the size of the audience in attendance at its screening. The results will be announced in the days following the closing of the festival.
As an added incentive, every participating audience member will have the chance to enter a drawing for two VIP passes to the 2026 WYO Film Festival.
“These new awards are about deepening the connection between our audience and the filmmakers who bring their stories to Sheridan,” said Breton Shepherd, Executive Director of the WYO Film Festival. “This festival has always been about creating dialogue and community around independent film, and now audiences have a chance to make their appreciation known in a very real way.”
The WYO Film Festival—now in its eighth year—brings together filmmakers and film lovers in the heart of the Bighorn Mountains. With this year’s theme, Stories That Move Mountains, the festival continues its mission to champion independent voices, cultivate meaningful connections, and celebrate the transformative power of film.
Festival passes and individual tickets are on sale now at wyofilmfest.org
