Submitted films will be chosen by a selection committee. The selection committee is made up of eight (8) members – collectively comprise of Individuals from the arts community, filmmakers, actors, and professors – each of whom brings a unique perspective and range of experience. Each member assigns a score to the film. Members of the Selection Committee does not see the scores of other members. The projects with the top scores will be submitted to the Festival Jury for final selection.

The POP Festival Jury is comprised of ten (10) members. Each jury member conducts a private independent Yea or Nay vote on each selected film. Films that receive a Yea will be considered for the POP Academy Award for the category being considered.

The Finalist panel is made up of three (3) members. The panel will select no more than Five films or Actor/Actress per category.

A three (3) member group determines the winner of each category.