The ACM-NE Nor'Easter Awards recognizes achievement of Community Media/PEG Access Centers and their affiliated local producers.

1st Place - Engraved Plaque
2nd Place - Certificate
3rd Place - Certificate

Submitting Your Video
All entries will be submitted exclusively via the FilmFreeway system. DVD's and other submission methods cannot be accepted. If you encounter any issues with your submission, please contact us at videofestival@acm-ne.org.

NOTE: Entries must be made online by Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 11:59pm. New this year, all entries received by Friday, May 26 (early deadline) will receive a $5 discount on each entry.

SPECIAL Contest Videos must be entered online by September 1, 2023.

Eligible Videos / Time Period
All videos submitted must have been wholly produced and cablecast for the first time on a PEG channel between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022

Choosing A Category
Programs can only be entered ONCE, so please choose the category it fits best. A different episode from a SERIES can be entered in a maximum of TWO different categories. For example: “THE SHOW: Episode #3” can be entered in the talk show category. “THE SHOW: Episode #5” can be entered in the diversity empowerment category. A third episode of “THE SHOW” will be disqualified.

Length of Video Entry
Entries may be any length, but judges are only required to watch 10 minutes of each entry. You may submit any part of a single program, or three to four segments from a series program, separated by a fade or slate and not exceeding three minutes per segment. Segments MAY NOT be re-edited; they must appear as they were originally cablecast. If you want the judges to watch from a specific point in the program, it is your responsibility to clearly convey that to judges with accompanying material. If you are only sending an excerpt of a show, make sure it is clearly marked as an excerpt or include the open of the show before the excerpt.

Overall Excellence for PEG Stations entry rules
This professional-only award for Access Centers recognizes access organizations in the Northeast region. Your entry can be either an edited 10-20 minute compilation of clips from a minimum of six different productions OR links to a minimum of six individual programs representing your best of the best. The latter option might be ideal for smaller access centers that don’t have the time or staff to put a compilation together. But keep in mind that all entries will be judged together in their respective budget categories, whether those entries are compilations OR clips. Be as creative as you want without altering the content.

Programming examples should include shows created by media center staff, community producers or non-profit organizations with editorial control, by students, school employees and/or education access staff, or by government employees or government access staff.

IMPORTANT: We encourage support materials for this category so use the entry form to submit any documentation or e-mail us at videofestival@acm-ne.org and we will attempt to forward your information to the judging site. Along with your video entry, state if your organization is P, E, and/or G, or any combination; the number of full and part-time staff, and your annual budget for the entire organization for 2022.

The budget divisions for the Overall Excellence category are as follows:
– Under $300K
– $301-600K
– $601-850K
– $851 and over

Producer Division (Formerly Professional or Non-Professional Entry)

Your producer division will be based on your Access Center’s overall budget, rather than strictly categorizing your program as Professional / Non Professional. If you are submitting your entry as an Access Center, your entry will go in the Budget #1 category if your center’s total budget is up to and including $350,000, and will go in the Budget #2 category if your total budget is $350,001 and over. If you are an independent producer (formerly called nonprofessional) utilizing your center’s staff and resources, you are eligible to enter Budget #1 unless your show was created under certain conditions. We ask that you review all the information below.

To help you determine which division to enter in, please refer to the following information:

Are you an Access Center or Independent Producer?
If “Access Center”, then please answer below:
Is your center’s budget $0-$350,000?
If “YES”, then you are in the Budget #1 Division
Is your center’s budget $350,001 and over?
If “YES”, then you are in the Budget #2 Division

If “Independent Producer”, then please answer below:
1. Are you using 3 or more Access Center Staff as production crew?
2. Was this project created with equipment and resources that are normally available only to Access Center staff?
3. Are you currently working as a professional in the media field?
If the answer to ALL of these questions is “NO”, then you are in the Budget #1 Division. If the answer to ANY of these questions is “YES”, then you are in the Budget #2 Division

Each entry must be paid by credit card on-line or mailed with the appropriate entry fee.
– $35 for Alliance members
– $50 for non-Alliance members

All winners will be notified by email on or around September 7, 2023. FIRST PLACE winners will be asked to provide a video file for inclusion in the winners reel. Producers who do not submit a file cannot be guaranteed that their clip will appear in the reel at the awards ceremony. A list of contest winners will be posted on the ACM-NE website – acm-ne.org shortly thereafter. All awards will be presented at the Video Festival Awards tentatively scheduled for October at the ACM-NE Regional Conference in Providence, RI (further details coming soon).

Category awards will be in the form of engraved plaques for first place, and certificates for second and third place.

Payment for Video Entries

All entries must be paid for through the FilmFreeway system this year. If you encounter any difficulties submitting your payment please contact us at videofestival@acm-ne.org.
If you would like to check on the status of your ACM Membership. Please email info@allcommunitymedia.org or call 952-928-4643.

Reasons for Disqualification

- Program is not viewable for technical reasons. Judges will make every effort to view your entry. Please check your entry submission before you hit “submit”.
- An entry that clearly violates a specific requirement of the category in which it is entered.
- Improper emendation for the purpose of this contest.
- Program or excerpts of programs should be entered in this contest as they were originally cablecast.
- Incorrect payment
- Entries submitted after deadline of Thursday, June 15, 2023: This is a REAL deadline, there will be no extensions! Enter early and often!
- Failure to properly name your digital entry. (File name must include Entry number, Category type and number, and show title.)

Note: No refunds will be made for any entry that is disqualified, or if any other error is made by the producer or submitter of any entry.

Indemnification and Rights

All decisions made by the judging panels and the ACM-NE Festival Committee are final. To promote community media, the ACM-NE retains the right to distribute the winning programs on a nonexclusive basis for a period of two (2) years. The producer of the work is responsible for obtaining all approvals, clearances, licenses, etc., for materials contained in the entry and will provide such clearances upon request.

Be A Festival Judge!
To volunteer to be a festival judge, please contact us at videofestival@acm-ne.org.
Judging will take place approximately between July 1 and August 25, 2023.