STUDENT ELIGIBILITY
The following key crew members Producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and writer of a submitted film must be students who were enrolled (full-time or part-time) in a degree or Certificate-granting program at an eligible school when the film was made.
SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY
1. Domestic (U.S. based) must be accredited by one of the following agencies:
a. Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
b. New England Association of Schools and colleges
c. North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
d. Northwest Accreditation Commission on Colleges and Universities
e. Western Association of Schools and Colleges
f. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
2. International (non-U.S. based) must meet the following criteria
a. Schools must be accredited by the responsible governing body in their country (in order to submit through the film festival qualifying option).
b. Programs must offer certificates of achievement, associates, bachelors, or graduate degrees.
c. Animation Training Programs do not have to provide college degrees but may offer a certificate to its students upon completion of the program.
d. Program must be either a non-profit educational organization or a government sponsored educational institution.
FILM ELIGIBILITY
Provided you meet the eligibility requirements listed above:
1. Films that are, secondary, undergraduate intermediate level or capstone films, or graduate school intermediate level or thesis films are automatically eligible for entry.
a. Intermediate level means films completed in your second-to-final year (i.e., a junior-level class) for undergraduate students and second year or later for graduate school students
b. For undergraduate students enrolled in an associate degree-granting program (i.e., a 2-year school like a community college), only second-year films are automatically eligible.
c. Secondary means grades 9th thru 12th in the US, technical and vocational as well.
2. A film must have been made as part of a student’s coursework or graduation requirement.
3. All films must be no longer than 20 minutes including opening and closing credits.
4. Films must have been completed and submitted for final credit/grading between June 2, 2024 and June 1, 2025, and within one year of the student’s graduation date, with one exception:
a. Films eligible through the “festival qualifying process” are allowed two years from the date of their completion to qualify.
5. Films maybe submitted as works in progress, however, if a complete film is not available by final submission deadline this may result in low initial ranking and disqualification from further stages of the festival.
6. Films (including any still images) must not display any festival laurels, or awards won.
7. All films submitted must be in English, subtitled in English, or dubbed in English.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
1. The Institute of Media Arts (IMA) honors up to 3 students per project for the following key crew producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors. The Institute of Media Arts will insist that credits be settled before the film may be considered for an award. The Institute of Media Arts will not be bound by any contract or agreement relating to the sharing or giving of credit, and reserves the right to make its own determination of credit for purposes of IMA consideration.
2. Entry forms and films must be submitted digitally via FilmFreeway.com
3. Films must be viewable on FilmFreeway. They can either be uploaded as a video file or pasted as a URL from Vimeo or YouTube only. If one of the latter, please enable your privacy settings to allow your film to be embedded.
4. You must supply your faculty advisor’s name and email when asked. Do not provide your email in lieu of theirs. They will be contacted to verify your film and student status.
5. Each film must be submitted to one category only. If a film is determined to be in an incorrect category, it will be reassigned to the correct category.
6. Films advancing to the nomination group will be asked for the below additional formats. Any hard media provided will be returned to the entrant after the competition ends.
a. An HD or UHD digital video file (we would like the best source available)
b. English closed captioning (required for all semi-finalists)
c. English subtitles (required for all non-English content)
f. English audio description audio file (if it is available for your film)
7. Failure to satisfy all the entry requirements will result in disqualification.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
If the film meets the automatically qualified criteria from above, it can be submitted directly to the competition by the student without taking any other steps. If the film does not meet the automatically qualified criteria, it must qualify for the competition in one of two ways: through school waivers or through film festival qualifying.
SCHOOL WAIVERS
Each eligible school is allowed up to three waivers that can be used at its discretion to award eligibility status to a student film that is not automatically eligible (i.e. films produced outside of curriculum or within a year of graduation but supported by the school) but is deemed of such high quality that it deserves IMA consideration. Each school will determine the process it uses to award these waivers. Before being accepted into the competition, schools must notify the IMA office as to which films have been awarded waivers by filling out a school waiver form. Schools can request access to this form by emailing ftvm@valleycollege.edu.
PUBLICITY
1. Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival participants may only promote their status in the competition within the explicit guidelines provided by The Institute of Media Arts.
2. Filmmakers are encouraged to send printed materials to the IMA for posting around San Bernardino Valley College leading up to the screening of their films. Filmmakers are encouraged to tag social media of the IMA (sbvc_ima and sbvc_ftvm).
MISCELLANEOUS
1. Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival winning films are eligible for screening on our local PBS Affiliate KVCR, provided the filmmakers can provide a broadcast suitable version which meets technical broadcast and streaming standards of PBS.
2. If the eligibility and/or category of any entry is questioned, The Institute of Media Arts reserves the right to make a determination as the IMA Executive Committee may deem appropriate at its discretion.
3. The Institute of Media Arts reserves the right to amend or modify any procedure, process, or rule, as may be considered necessary by the IMA Executive Committee for the proper conduct of the Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival or to adhere to any standards set forth by The Institute of Media Arts .
4. The Institute of Media Arts is not responsible for late, missing, or damaged entries.
5. The decisions of The Institute of Media Arts regarding any matter relating to the Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival will be final and binding in all respects.
JUDGING
1. Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival of The Institute of Media Arts at San Bernardino Valley College shall judge entries on the basis of originality, entertainment, and production quality without regard to cost of production or subject matter. Entries shall be judged only within their respective category.
2. All stages of judging, including Preliminary, Semifinal, and Final rounds, shall be overseen by the members of The Institute of Media Arts of San Bernardino Valley College and their partners.
3. Upon submission, entries shall be verified for eligibility and category.
4. Preliminary entries will be judged via their online digital submission. At this stage, The Institute of Media Arts has the option to re-categorize the entry into a more suitable category. Filmmakers will be notified of advancement to selected status by mid-February.
5. Selected Films entries shall be judged during the in-person screenings only. Filmmakers will be notified of their status by Mid-February.
6. Nominated entries shall be judged online only. Final ballots will be reviewed by an independent Jury Panel made up of industry professionals and academics. Filmmakers that reach nominated status will receive notice of their status by early February.
7. Presentation of award winners in each category will be made at the Wolverine Con International Student Film Festival Ceremony on March 7, 2025.
