CrimeCon’s Clue Awards Open Submissions for 2026 Ceremony (EXCLUSIVE) 

CrimeCon’s Clue Awards, an awards program dedicated to true crime storytelling, is now accepting submissions for its 2026 ceremony. The ceremony will be presented during CrimeCon’s annual flagship event for true crime fans, creators and industry professionals on Saturday, May 30, in Las Vegas. 

Dedicated to celebrating excellence across true crime content, The Clue Awards honor projects across television, podcasting, film and publishing. Television categories include outstanding episodic series, outstanding docuseries and outstanding scripted series or film, which was previously added in 2025. The podcast category will recognize outstanding episodic series and outstanding docuseries. Outstanding documentary film and true crime book of the year will also be awarded, in addition to individual achievement honors. Entries can be submitted at ClueAwards.com. 

Early submissions for the 2026 awards will be accepted at a discounted rate through the Feb. 15 deadline. Regular submissions will be accepted until March 21, and April 1 is the cut-off for final submissions. To be eligible for consideration, projects must have been released between May 31, 2025 and March 31 and be available in the United States. 

A third-party committee of true crime content producers, executives and creatives will select the nominees and winners of the Clue Awards. Last year’s panel included professionals from Inside Crime, Campfire Studios, National Center for Victims of Crime, Law&Crime Network, CourtTV and more.

Last year’s awards were hosted by Grammy-award winning hip hop artist and award-winning actor Ice-T, who stars on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Netflix’s “American Murder: Gabby Petito,” ABC News’ “The Girl Who Looked Like Me” and MGM+’s “Godfather of Harlem” were amongst the winners at the 2025 awards, and the families of Liberty German and Abigail Williams, Lead Investigator Lt. Jerry Holeman of the Indiana State Police (“Crimefighter of the Year”) and “Crime Weekly” hosts Derrick Levasseur and Stephanie Harlowe (“People’s Choice: Creator of the Year”) received individual achievement awards.