Film Competition Rules & Info

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DATES;

KICK OFF EVENT & Networking with Actors/Crew: 

Sun, 03/26/2023 5pm - 6:30pm (Announcements at 6pm)

LOCATION: 

Oak Highlands Brewery

10484 Brockwood Road
Dallas, Texas 75238

DROP OFF EVENT: 

Sun, 05/07/2023 12pm - 11:59pm Midnight (cut off time) 

Email (google drive) completed films and release forms texashorrorcult@gmail.com   

PREMIERE SCREENING / AWARDS: 

Monday, 05/22/2023  7pm - 10pm (Films play at 8pm) 

LOCATION: 

Texas Theatre  

231 Jefferson Blvd Dallas, TX 75208

REGISTRATION: 

TEAM LEADERS MUST REGISTER THEIR TEAMS ONLINE FOR THE FILM COMPETITION VIA THE “REGISTER YOUR TEAM” PAGE ON TRUE CRIME - FILM COMPETITION WEBSITE. SPONSORS ARE WELCOME TO REGISTER A TEAM IN THE COMPETITION, BUT CAN NOT WIN A PRIZE THEY HAVE SPONSORED.   

THERE ARE NO LIMITS ON TEAM SIZE. 

REGISTRATION FORMS AND PAYMENT SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE VIA THE TRUE CRIME - FILM COMPETITION'S WEBSITE. TEAM LEADERS MUST GIVE THEIR TEAM A NAME (I.E., A PRODUCTION COMPANY NAME). 

A $125 REGULAR ENTRY FEE  IS REQUIRED WITH TEAM REGISTRATION.   

ALL FEES ARE PUT TOWARDS COMPETITION COSTS AS WELL AS THE FILM AWARDS, PRIZES, AND MARKETING MATERIAL. 

ALL TEAMS MUST BE REGISTERED AND ALL REQUIRED ENTRY FEES MUST BE COLLECTED PRIOR TO 

ATTENDING THE MAIN KICK-OFF EVENT. 

****NO REFUNDS****

KICK-OFF EVENT: 

TEAM LEADERS MUST SUBMIT A SIGNED TEAM LEADERS AGREEMENT, MATERIALS RELEASE FORM TO THE TRUE CRIME - FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS AT THE KICK OFF EVENT.

NOTE: FAILURE TO DO SO WILL DISQUALIFY TEAMS FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE TRUE CRIME - FILM COMPETITION. PRIOR TO GENRE SELECTION AND ELEMENTS DISCLOSURE, FILM COMPETITION ORGANIZERS WILL CLARIFY COMPETITION RULES AND ANSWER ANY TEAM LEADER QUESTIONS. 

TEAM LEADERS WILL RANDOMLY SELECT A TRUE CRIME STORY BY DRAWING FROM A HAT. REGARDLESS OF THE GENRE, ALL FILMMAKERS ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE A SHORT FILM BASED ON THE TRUE STORY PROVIDED TO QUALIFY FOR THE FILM COMPETITION. REAL NAMES FROM TRUE STORIES MUST BE CHANGED TO AVOID ANY LEGAL ISSUES. ALL FILMS WILL BE BASED ON TRUE EVENTS.

THE SHORT FILMS ARE NARRATIVE FICTION AND THE FILMMAKERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS. TEAMS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TRADE THEIR STORIES WITH OTHER TEAMS. THE STORIES DRAWN WILL NOT BE REVEALED UNTIL THE DAY OF THE KICK OFF.

OPEN STATE WIDE:

An exception to this rule will be made for filmmakers who live too far out of town to make the pick up or drop off such as, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, etc. The out of town filmmakers will receive their TRUE CRIME stories by email.

This must be discussed in email with the  event organizers beforehand 

to properly prepare for it and approve it. All teams registered are responsible to be at the screening to receive their awards if they win, or  they must choose some one to accept the rewards on their behalf but letting the event organizers know at least 24 hours ahead of time by email.

FILM REQUIREMENTS: 

EACH TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING THEIR OWN PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT, RELEASE FORMS, PRODUCTION INSURANCE, TALENT, AND POST-PRODUCTION NEEDS. 

COMPLETED FILMS WILL BE A MINIMUM OF 5 MINUTES AND A MAXIMUM OF 8 MINUTES IN RUNNING TIME – INCLUDING CREDITS. (The length may be changed before the kick off by the event organizers depending on amount of teams signed up before kick off)

CREDITS:

OPENING CREDITS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE PART OF THE FILM, AND THEREFORE COUNT AGAINST THE 10 MINUTE MAXIMUM.

CREDITS AT THE END OF EACH FILM ARE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 30 SECONDS AND ALSO 

COUNT AGAINST THE 8 MINUTE MAXIMUM.  (The length may be changed before the kick off by the event organizers depending on amount of teams signed up before kick off)

THE END CREDITS MUST INCLUDE THE TEXT:  THIS FILM WAS MADE FOR 'TRUE CRIME - FILM COMPETITION'. 

TEAMS MUST INCLUDE "A TITLE CARD" BEFORE EACH FILM THAT CONTAINS THEIR TEAM NAME AND GENRE. (10 SECONDS). THIS DOES NOT COUNT AGAINST THE RUNNING TIME MIN/MAX. TEAMS MUST PRINT THEIR TEAM NAME, 

GENRE, AND FILM TITLE ON ALL MEDIA, MATERIALS AND CONTAINERS. 

FILMS MUST ADHERE TO THE TEAM’S DRAWN SUBGENRE AND INCLUDE ALL SPECIFIED ELEMENTS FOR THE COMPETITION.

COMPLETED FILMS MUST NOT CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED IMAGES, CHARACTER, LOGOS, OR OTHER MATERIALS. IF COMPLETED FILM SUBMISSIONS CONTAIN QUESTIONABLE CONTENT (I.E., PORNOGRAPHY, RECORDINGS OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, ETC.), 

EVENT ORGANIZERS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY THE SUBMISSION. 

NO REFUNDS WILL BE GRANTED. 

THE TRUE CRIME EVENT ORGANIZERS RESERVE THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO MAKE THE FINAL DETERMINATION AS TO WHICH FILM SUBMISSIONS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY, SCREENING, AND/OR COMPETITION. FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS ALSO RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO SCREEN A FILM OR TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE SCREENING REGARDING THE CONTENT OF THE FILM. 

COMPLETED FILM SUBMISSION:

ALL COMPLETED FILMS MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A QUICK TIME FILE COMPRESSED 

WITH H.264 AT 1080P 23.97.   

MP4 IS ALSO WELCOMED AND PREFERRED.   

ANY OTHER FORMAT WILL BE REJECTED. YOU MUST EMAIL YOUR FILM AS A GOOGLE DRIVE

ON THE DAY OF SUNDAY,  MAY 7TH 2023, NO LATER THAN 11:59PM MIDNIGHT, BEFORE MONDAY. 

NOTE:  IF COMPLETED FILM SUBMISSION FILES ARE NOT ABLE TO BE OPENED BY FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS, THEY WILL NOT BE SCREENED AND, THEREFORE WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR AWARDS AND PRIZES. 

COMPLETED FILMS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO FILM COMPETITION ORGANIZERS NO LATER THEN SPECIFIED DEADLINE.  ANY FILM SUBMITTED AFTER THE DEADLINE MAY POSSIBLY STILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SCREENED, BUT WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM THE COMPETITION'S AWARDS AND PRIZES. 

DURING THE KICK-OFF EVENT,  FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS WILL DEFINE A LIMITED POST-DEADLINE “GRACE PERIOD” DURING THEY WILL ACCEPT COMPLETED FILM SUBMISSIONS 

IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE SCREENING. 

TEAM LEADERS MUST SUBMIT ALL REQUIRED PAPERWORK AND RELEASE FORMS FOR THEIR SUBMISSIONS. 

RELEASE FORMS WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE DAY OF KICK OFF EVENT ONLY, UNLESS YOU HAVE DISCUSSED WITH THE FILM COMPETITION ORGANIZERS THAT YOU ARE AN OUT OF A TOWN FILMMAKER. 

THE TEAM LEADER AGREEMENT IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THESE RELEASE FORMS BEFORE THE START OF THE FILM COMPETITION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE MADE. PLEASE ARRIVE AT KICK OFF AT AN EARLY ENOUGH TIME TO SIGN THESE FORMS.

· TEAM LEADER AGREEMENT

· MATERIALS RELEASE FORM

THE TEAM LEADER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS A COPY OF EACH OF THESE FORMS WHEN THEY TURN IN THEIR COMPLETED FILMS AT THE TIME OF THE DROP OFF, ALL OTHER RELEASE FORMS MUST BE CREATED AND PROVIDED BY TEAM LEADERS AND MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH THEIR FILMS ON DROP OFF DAY IN EMAIL WITH YOUR COMPLETED FILM:

· TALENT OR CREW WAIVER AND RELEASE FORMS 

· LOCATION AGREEMENT FORMS 

· MUSIC/STOCK RELEASE FORMS 

FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ANY COMPLETED FILM SUBMISSION THAT HAS FAR EXCEEDED THE LIMITED POST-DEADLINE “GRACE PERIOD,” IF MISSING ANY REQUIRED PAPERWORK AND RELEASE FORMS, AND/OR OTHERWISE FAIL TO COMPLY WITH COMPETITION RULES AND REQUIREMENTS.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  

FILM COMPETITION EVENT ORGANIZERS MAY ADD TO OR AMEND THESE RULES AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM COMPETITION.

DATES;

KICK OFF EVENT & Networking with Actors/Crew: 

Sun, 03/26/2023 5pm - 6:30pm (Announcements at 6pm)

LOCATION: 

Oak Highlands Brewery

10484 Brockwood Road
Dallas, Texas 75238

DROP OFF EVENT: 

Sun, 05/07/2023 12pm - 11:59pm Midnight (cut off time) 

Email (google drive) completed films and release forms texashorrorcult@gmail.com   

PREMIERE SCREENING / AWARDS: 

Monday, 05/22/2023  7pm - 10pm (Films play at 8pm) 

LOCATION: 

Texas Theatre  

231 Jefferson Blvd Dallas, TX 75208