Festival Deactivation Policy
Our goal at FilmFreeway is to provide simple, reliable and trustworthy submissions to film festivals and creative contests for filmmakers and artists everywhere. This is only possible when filmmakers trust all festivals and contests on FilmFreeway to act in a professional, ethical and honest fashion. Festivals that do not adhere to this standard may be barred from using FilmFreeway, either temporarily or permanently, depending on the seriousness of the breach.
There will always be unforeseen events that may lead to deactivation, but the following are sufficient cause for deactivation: quality; fraud, false information, and discrimination.
Submitters who use FilmFreeway expect festivals to manage their events in a professional and quality manner.
There are several ways we measure festival quality, with the most important being Reviews and Complaints.
After a festival concludes, submitters may rate the festival on a five-star scale and provide a review on the overall festival experience. These reviews are visible publicly on festival profiles and help provide transparency and accountability of festival quality. Reviews are a helpful resource for the community to learn about festivals and also for festivals to receive important feedback from submitters.
Your festival star rating is based on an average of the number of stars submitters gave you (from 1 to 5 stars).
The easiest way to keep your average rating high is to provide a high quality festival experience and timely communication to submitters.
If your festival’s average rating falls too low or you receive consistently negative reviews, your festival may be deactivated.
We record all complaints that we receive from submitters about festivals. As a precaution, after receiving a complaint we may temporarily suspend a festival until the issue is investigated and resolved.
If we receive multiple or consistent complaints about your festival that we believe are valid, your festival will be deactivated.
Fraudulent activity undermines the trust on which FilmFreeway is built. That’s why we are constantly on the lookout for fraud by festivals and contests who may be gaming our systems.
We will immediately and permanently deactivate any accounts associated with fraudulent activity.
Sending spam emails to submitters is never acceptable and a matter we take very seriously. If we receive complaints or evidence that you are responsible for spam your account may be deactivated.
We will immediately and permanently deactivate any accounts associated with fraudulent activity.
FilmFreeway is designed to give submitters accurate information about festivals and what submitters can expect to experience at the festivals. Any false, inaccurate, misleading or outdated information creates confusion among submitters and can diminish their experience with FilmFreeway.
FilmFreeway has a zero tolerance policy for false information. If you include any false or blatantly misleading information in your festival's listing (including but not limited to organizer names, venue information, photos, festival history, sponsors, and prizes) your festival and all related accounts will be immediately and permanently banned from the site.
Festivals must obtain express permission from filmmakers before uploading, publishing or otherwise making films visible or accessible on the Internet.
If you upload a film to the web without the permission of the filmmaker your account will be immediately suspended.
If you trade or sell the personal information of submitters your account will be immediately suspended.
We do not tolerate discrimination on FilmFreeway.
It is unacceptable to refuse to provide services based on characteristics like a person’s race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, gender identity, age or any other characteristic protected under relevant law. Actions like these will result in permanent deactivation.
We expect festivals using FilmFreeway to act in compliance with all relevant national and local laws at all times. This includes meeting any regulatory requirements for festivals in your area.
Anyone who violates this policy may lose access to FilmFreeway.
If you have been deactivated for quality reasons like low star ratings, it is possible, although not guaranteed, that your festival may be reactivated on the platform after you provide proof of the steps you’ve taken to improve.