QuestFest - Official Rules - Please read carefully

[Jason Ramsey]

Ok, folks... Consider this a draft and subject to revisions clarifications especially in the next day or so, but I wanted to get them out to you. think I've covered most of my bases.

DVXuser Announces QuestFest coming July 3rd, 2009

The "Studio" has done the research and found that Quest is Best. The Studio believes that Quest is going to be the "IN" theme for the summer blockbuster season.

As such, they have decided to contract out a whole slew of Quest Themed Films for release on July, 4th.

What is QuestFest?

There’s something out there. Something virtually unobtainable. Something your protagonist needs despite the incredible odds and obstacles that stand in his/her way. They may need help along the way from new allies, but careful those allies don’t turn out to be wolves in Grandma’s clothing. Whether it’s sacred scrolls hidden in the land of the living dead, the phone number of that certain someone, a brain, a heart, a highly guarded diamond, a smile from an embittered friend – whatever it is your characters need more than anything else – their journey begins at DVXuser’s QUEST FEST.

Don't be afraid to dig deep. This can be more than just about getting through booby traps in an unearthed temple (which is fine). But it's also OK to ask what's REALLY at stake? What does it mean not only in terms of fame and fortune but emotionally, personally and / or psychologically to your characters if they fail?

THE PITCH

The studio does NOT feel it necessary to decide which films are good or bad, and has NO interest in partaking in that sort of subjective process. They would just as soon leave that up to the viewers to decide.

But, the studio does want to make sure that the filmmakers they enlist have a clear and strong vision of their project.

You must submit a written pitch via Private Message (PM) to one of the following "studio representatives": Larry R, Zak Forsman, Jack Daniel Stanley, David Jimerson.

They will then hand deliver your pitch to the studio for review in the Yellow Room and will get back to you as soon as possible.

You may also (if you wish, and in addition to the written pitch) submit a "Video Pitch" no more than Two (2) Minutes in length. After being greenlit, you may use your Video Pitch for promotional purposes around the web. Your pitch should not just be a compilation or montage, and must contain an oral or written explanation. You can feel free to be creative. The NO footage rule still applies.

Your pitch should be a brief synopsis of your idea that illustrates a clear and strong vision for your film. You should also be able to clearly and concisely express how your idea fully embraces the theme that the studio has chosen for their summer movie season.

The studio wants to know that you have a clear understanding of both your project, and the types of films we are looking for (Quest themed).

Again, the studio has absolutely NO interest in deciding whether they think your film idea is a good or bad one, and will NOT be pre-screening your entries on any such basis. They will leave that up to the viewers.

Your Pitch should ask and/or answer these three questions: What does your character(s) want? What are they willing to do to get it? What stands in their way?

Please note that you are NOT officially entered in the fest, and are NOT eligible for competition until you have submitted your "Pitch" to DVXuser, and have been "Greenlit" to begin production.

SHOOTING DATES

DVXuser has set March 23rd, 2009 - July 3rd, 2009 as the designated shooting dates for all QuestFest films.

Films MUST be made between this time. Deadline for entries is JULY 3rd, 2009 at 11 AM Pacific Daylight Time

ADD'L GUIDELINES, LIMITATIONS, & REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMITTED FILMS

• Each Filmmaker may submit a maximum of TWO (2) films. However, there is no limit to the number of films you may collaborate on, and you are encouraged to do so. Films MUST be separate, and not two halves of a whole film.
• Films may be any Genre, provided they meet the required theme.
• The maximum runtime of the films is not to exceed SIX MINUTES (6:00:00) + a leader that will be provided by DVXuser.
  • DVXFest is teaming up with CGIFest to provide a series of new leaders. From the leaders submitted to the current CGIFest festival, DVXuser will select at least one leader for you to use. You must include this leader at the very beginning of your film. NO EXCEPTIONS. The leader(s) for use will be provided at a later date. We will make a new sticky thread when this happens, as well as announce it here in the Official Rules.
  • The leader must remain visually unaltered.
  • You are free to alter the audio in ANY way you see fit. If audio is provided, you may use it, omit it, replace or replace it with your own (examples include, but are not limited to: overdubbed narration, v.o. music, etc.)
  • The leader will not count against your six minute runtime but will be in addition to. If your film exceeds six minutes + the length of the leader, you will be disqualified. NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Film Title - You must include the title of your film in your film. This may be in any format and may be anywhere in the film.
• You must have AT LEAST ONE (1) FRAME of credits at the END of your film. A MAXIMUM of FIFTEEN (15) SECONDS of credits will be permitted at the END of your film. This does NOT include any additional credits you place at the beginning of (or elsewhere in) your film.
• Required Element - The required element for this fest is the Pitch Process.
• Films may be shot with any camera and may be delivered in any aspect ratio. Depending on the viewing process this time around, if you have an unorthodox aspect ratio (such as "Again to Return" from LossFest, you may be required to submit a letter/pillarboxed version. Please just keep this in the back of your head as we move forward.
• Films must be Rated "R" or lower... This is a hard R. If you are unsure, please ask first. Do NOT assume.
• Absolutely NO Copyright Violations. Your material must be original, licensed, or royalty free. This includes (but is not limited to) Your script, music, sound effects, etc. DVXuser assumes no liability for copyright violations in your submitted entry.
• All Filmmakers agree to grant DVXuser a NON-exclusive license to use your film for promotional purposes, for it to appear on a future DVXFest DVD (should there be one) or at a DVXuser Sanctioned Public Screening. We will make every attempt to contact you first if any of the above situations should apply to your film. If we cannot make contact, or you request us not to, we will not include your film.
• [b]You may NOT publicly exhibit any footage from your film entry, or shot for your film entry (this includes outtakes, alternate takes, etc) prior to the conclusion of the festival, or your participation in the festival. At such time you publicly exhibit any footage from your film, this will be seen as a forfeiture of any rights to prizes, awards, or acknowledgments. You will cease to be in competition at this point.
  • EXCEPTION: If you have submitted your film to a LIVE Film Festival and been accepted (Slamdance for example) and your film will air before the conclusion of our festival, this is OK. This exception applies ONLY to LIVE festivals. Screening in any other online festival prior to the conclusion of QuestFest, will render your film invalid for competition in QuestFest. However, NO films may be publicly exhibited in any form prior to July 1st, 2009.
• The Festival is open to every country and every language. However, if your film's dialog is in a language other than English, you must include English subtitles in your film.
• There is NO Entry Fee. As always, our festivals are free and open to the public.
• You may enter anonymously if you wish. However, you may ONLY do this with the pre-approval of DVXFest Staff.
• DVXuser Moderators, and DVXFest staff, are free to enter films, and have them rated by the viewers. However, they will NOT be eligible for prizes.
  

OUTSIDE PROMOTION

You may promote your individual entry outside of DVXuser for the purposes of drawing attention to the festival and to let people know the work you are involved in.

This is NOT to include any kind of vote begging whatsoever. The purpose is to draw attention to the festival and to your individual entry, not to garner votes.

You must also include a direct link to the QuestFest forum, not just your own thread.

DVXuser will not tolerate any kind of spammish behavior.

Any outside activities deemed by the festival staff to be considered "spammy" or "vote beggy" may lead to your immediate disqualification from the festival.

Outside promotion is part of the filmmaking process, so we encourage you to take full advantage of it and enjoy spreading the word about your film. Be creative and have fun with it

UPLOAD INFORMATION

File format and size restrictions will be announced at a later date as we are going to try to implement a new viewing system for the next fest, time permitting. So, stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you should keep our usual upload format and info in mind (h.264 .mov or .mp4 of 50megs) and be prepared to fall back on that.

If everything works out well, you will be able to submit any one of several different formats for live streaming of all festival entries. And, if not this fest then for a future fest, the ability to embed your film into your own thread, with the rating stars embedded there in the player as well.

None of this is official mind you.... Just some of where we are trying to head moving forward.

However we do this, we will make every reasonable effort to have the upload page available to you by Monday, June 22nd, 2009, and have it remain open until the upload deadline passes. This will allow you plenty of time to upload your film for rules compliance screening, and to make any necessary adjustments.

CONCERNING TRAILERS/TEASERS

I keep going back and forth on this. I have decided the following:

If you wish to make a teaser/trailer for your film, you may BUT... It may NOT contain any live action footage of any kind WHATSOEVER. Whether from your film or not. Absolutely NO live action footage. So, think of it more as a promo than a trailer.

But, don't forget, that if you make a Video Pitch, and submit it to the "studio" first, you may use it for promotional purposes. The No Footage from your film still applies.

You MAY make teasers/promotionals promoting DVXFest on the whole, and these may be displayed at anytime. The NO Footage rule, still applies of course. You MAY use footage from previous festivals, but please obtain the filmmaker's permission for any clips you would like to use in this manner.

IF you are not absolutely sure that your teaser would be legal, then you need to ASK FIRST.


VIEWING AND VOTING PERIOD

The films will go live on July 4th, 2009. There will be two rounds of rating, and the rating system will be much the same as it has been for the past several fests... a 10 star rating system. We will have an additional sticky thread that will post as a FAQ/Q&A for the rating period.

The first round of Rating will take place from July 4th, 2009 (at the time the viewing officially opens) until 11 AM Pacific Daylight Time, July 14th, 2009.

Once the first round of rating closes, we will review and verify the results and in the same day announce a to be determined number of films that will be designated "Finalists". The 2nd round of rating will run from July 14th, 2009 until July 23rd, 2009.

Anyone who is a registered DVXuser Member will be eligible to rate the films. However, only those persons ratings with 50 posts or more, (or if you are a submitting filmmaker) will determine the Finalists and the Winners of the festival acknowledgments and prizes (if any).

All other ratings will be for the benefit of the filmmakers to receive data on the how good the audience thought their film was, and we will also announce an "Audience Favorite" that will reflect the highest overall rated film, including ALL ratings.

2ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DVXFEST SCREENING

This is not a guarantee, but we are going to make every effort to plan for and hold our 2nd Live Screening of the Finalist films (and potentially other past DVXFest entries) in or around the Hollywood/Los Angeles area. The date for this screening will be after round two rating closes on or around July 24th or 25th, 2009.

If we are able to pull this off, we will announce the winners at the end of the screening, and will also air the screening live via webcast.

If you are interested in helping to plan and/or organize the screening and feel you will be able to contribute to making this thing go off, please feel free to contact me at jason at landmine dot tv

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So, I think that pretty much covers everything. DVXuser reserves the right to make alterations, clarifications, and/or modifications to the rules until April 27th, 2009. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates.

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If you have any questions at all please feel free to ask away here in the rules thread, or, if you prefer, PM a moderator. But, let's all try to remain calm and civil as it will help the flow of information and ensure that as many people as possible have the most enjoyable festival experience possible. Please do not assume anything. If you are not absolutely certain, ask us first so we can clarify, and also make any changes necessary to the rules in the even that any confusion is caused by a lack of clarity within them.

Good Luck, and Enjoy QuestFest!

Later,
Jason

[Robbie Comeau]

Sounds good!

Loving it.

Robbie

[Rodney V. Smith]

And so we begin...

[Jason Ramsey]

so send me your pitch, Puck... I know you are raring to go

later,
Jason

[Rodney V. Smith]

Originally Posted by Jason Ramsey

so send me your pitch, Puck... I know you are raring to go

later,
Jason

done! Time to go finish the last 2 pages in the script....

[Vader]

Bilbo Baggins!!! Do not take me for a conjurer of cheap tricks! I am not trying to rob you!!!

***

Whoa... my bad. I just had a Lord of the Rings moment there..

[RodThompson]

As a writer/producer, can I pitch a script/story for preapproval even though I won't be directing?

[Jason Ramsey]

you mean a script that you want to do and offer up to dvxuser's to do for the fest? sure.

You mean a script that you are doing for a specific dvxuser member? Sure, I guess

later,
jason

[RodThompson]

Sweet. I have the mad query letter skills, and depending on the director, I'm hoping to produce this time. Thanks, J.

[Norm Sanders]

Hmmm..... (thinking, thinking, thinking....)