Screeners for the people who made it
Share a short film privately with cast and crew.
One password, downloads off, a new code when the run ends.
Upload the finished short, set it to Password, leave the original download switched off, and send the link and the code to the cast and crew. When the festival run is over, change the code or make the film Private. It works on every plan, the free one included. A password keeps a stray link from playing; it does not stop a person who has the code from passing it on.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
By uncompressed.io · Updated September 2026
The setup
One film, one link,
and one code for everyone.
The people who made the film want to see it, and you want it to stay off the open web until the festivals have had their look. The simplest arrangement that does both takes a few minutes.
Upload the finished cut
Upload the export you would show a programmer. The player streams that file as uploaded, without another platform re-encode, so the cast sees the grade you signed off, subject to their device and connection.
Set the visibility to Password
Every film has five modes: Private, Password, Unlisted, Public and Embed only. All five are on every plan, the free Starter plan included. Choose Password and type one code for the whole group.
Check that the original download is off
Each film has an Allow original-file download switch. It is off unless you turned it on. Leave it off, so the watch page shows no download button.
Send the link and the code separately
Post the link in the cast and crew thread and send the code another way, or at least in a separate message. A code pasted under its own link is only a longer link.
That is the whole workflow. Nobody makes an account. The code is checked on the server, and each viewer’s browser keeps a 30-day cookie, so the sound designer who watches it three times this week types the code once. Guessing is rate limited to 20 attempts an hour per film per network address.
Why a password
Four ways to limit a link,
and only one fits a group.
A cast and crew is a group of people who all need the same access. That rules out most of the options before you start.
Public puts the film on your profile page, where anyone can find it. Embed only plays inside embeds; the embed address opens directly in a browser and does not check which site it is on. Neither is a private screening.
The honest part
A password is a shared secret,
and the people you trust can pass it on.
A password can be forwarded. Anyone you give the code to can send it, with the link, to anyone else, and the gate cannot tell the actor you invited from the cousin she forwarded it to. That is what a shared password is, on any platform.
What the password does
A link that leaks on its own, in a screenshot, a group chat or a shared document, does not play without the code. That covers most real accidents with a cast list.
What download off does
It removes the download button and the link to the original file. It does not stop a browser from saving what it plays, and it does not stop a screen recording. A determined viewer can keep a copy of any film that plays in a browser.
What it cannot do
It cannot tell you which crew member watched, stop a recording, or recall a copy someone already made. No browser link can promise that.
When the file itself is the risk
The Vault takes the film off the web entirely: no watch page, no embed, no download. Vault includes encrypted local playback, supported capture restrictions, visible session identification and invisible per-person forensic marks in the macOS app. These are distinct controls; forensic detection depends on the recovered copy. These controls reduce risk; they cannot guarantee that footage never leaks or that every leak can be traced. Each viewer then needs the compatible macOS app, which is a bigger ask than a link for a cast screening.
For most shorts, the password is proportionate. The people watching made the film with you, and the real risk is a link drifting into a public thread, not a crew member setting out to leak it. Tell the group plainly that the link is for them and not for sharing. It costs nothing, and a clear request is part of the arrangement.
Premiere status
Festivals ask about public availability,
not whether a link had a password.
The worry behind this search is usually a festival rule. The official pages we read test whether a film was shown or made available to the public. None of them says how a password-protected link shared with a cast is treated, so this page will not tell you that a private link keeps your premiere status. Ask each festival you are entering, in writing. The festival-by-festival reading is in does a private link affect festival premiere status; the short version is below.
Quoted from each festival's own page, fetched 17 September 2026 and listed in the sources. Rules change every edition; read the page for the edition you are entering.
One conflict to avoid
When the run ends
Change the code,
or switch the film to Private.
Change the password
Every earlier unlock stops working, because each viewer's cookie is tied to the code that was current when they typed it. Give the new code only to the people who should keep access. The link itself stays the same.
Or make the film Private
The watch page stops showing the film to anyone but you. Use this when the film is going public elsewhere, or when nobody should be watching for now.
Know what neither can reach
A player that already loaded the film holds a playback link that keeps working for up to 2 hours. A copy someone already saved or recorded cannot be recalled by any setting.
Changing the film’s link name does not revoke anything: the film’s id-based address keeps working, so use the password or the visibility. If a copy has already turned up somewhere it should not be, the steps are in what to do if a screener leaked.
Questions
Frequently asked
Does the cast need an account to watch?
No. They open the link and type the code once. The server checks it and sets a cookie that lasts 30 days, so a crew member who comes back next week does not type it again, unless you have changed the code in between.
Can I give every crew member their own login instead of one password?
Not on one film. The email option on the gate holds a single address per film: if the access code contains an @, the viewer types that one address instead of a password. That suits a film sent to one person, not a list. For a cast and crew, one shared password is the fitting mode. The email gate also does not confirm identity; anyone who types the address gets in.
Can I put the password-protected film on our production website?
No. A password-protected film does not play in an embed; the frame shows that the video is unavailable. Keep the private screening on its watch page, and embed a trailer set to Unlisted, Public or Embed only instead.
Will the free plan keep the film up for the whole festival run?
It can. The free plan holds one film at a time with no time limit. Free accounts are cleared after 90 days with no sign-in and no view on any film, with an email warning first, so a film the cast keeps watching, or an account you sign in to, stays.
A private screening room for one short
Password links are on every plan. The free plan holds 5 GB, one film at a time, with no card. Unlimited video streaming is included, with no per-view or bandwidth overage charges. Storage and team-seat charges are separate.
Sources
- 1.Sundance Film Festival: Submit (2027 festival) (fetched 17 September 2026: features and shorts made available to the general public, including on any streaming or online platform, before the cutoff are not eligible; the page does not mention password-protected, private or unlisted links)
- 2.Festival de Cannes: regulations, short films in competition (Article 3) (fetched 17 September 2026: short films must not have been screened on the Internet; the page does not address private links)
- 3.Hot Docs: submit a film (2027 festival) (fetched 17 September 2026: short films available online are considered Toronto Premieres; the screener link password must not change during programming; the page does not say how a password-protected link affects premiere status)
- 4.Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand: inscrire un film (fetched 17 September 2026: no exclusivity or premiere requirement; no viewing links accepted for preselection copies)
- 5.uncompressed.io: plans and pricing (product page)