Eligibility and Submission
Open to all students attending any Arizona high school, college, university or professional school. Enrollment in a film or TV program is NOT required. Home-schooled students accepted.
Films may be either narrative or documentary, live action, animated, or experimental.
High school division films must run at least 3 minutes and no longer than 6 minutes including all titles and credits. College division films must run at least five minutes and no longer than 8 minutes including all titles and credits
Film-makers may submit a maximum of four entries.
Each submitted film must be accompanied by a completed official entry form and a signed statement of ownership.
Evaluation and Critique
Evaluations and critiques will be offered by professionals from all facets of the film and television industry.
Two panels will be established. One for preliminary acceptance. The other to determine the most outstanding finalists of each division
Evaluations will be based on a non-comparative point system.
The areas of film-making to be evaluated and critiqued include:
-Overall use of the medium
- Screenplay-Storyline
- Cinematography
- Art Direction/Sets, Locations, Wardrobe
- Editing
- Sound
Panelists have agreed to accept responsibilities as outlined by the festival.
Evaluations and critiques will be returned to each film-maker without panelist identification.
Evaluations will be tabulated by a committee other than the panelists.
Final tabulation will determine the award recipients.
Filmmaker eligibility
Short film festival entry NOT required for workshop participation.
All students attending any Arizona high school, college, university, or professional school are invited to participate. Enrollment in a film or television program is NOT required. Home schooled entrants will be accepted.
Two divisions are available High school division, ages fourteen through eighteen.
College division, ages eighteen through twenty-three.
Entrants may submit a maximum of four films.
Entrants must include proof of student status. A copy of student ID, letter of student verification, etc.
Copperstate Student Short Film Standards
Only completed films will be accepted.
Films must have been made within the twelve (12) months prior to submission.
All films submitted must be original work.
Any film submitted may be either: narrative, documentary, live action, animated or experimental (no music videos will be accepted).
High school division entries must run at least three minutes and no longer than six minutes including all titles and credits. College division entries must run at least five minutes and no longer than 8 minutes including all titles and credits.
A trailer, not to exceed forty-five seconds, may me submitted with each entry.
Each film submitted must be accompanied by an official entry form signed by the entrant stating ownership of the film. Up to three individual owners will be accepted.
No film may contain any form of nudity.
A non-refundable administrative fee ($15.00) must accompany each submission
Any submission not meeting any requirement or deemed unsuitable or inappropriate for Festival exhibition will be deleted
Entry Agreement
Your retain all ownership rights in your film. However, by submitting to the Copperstate Student Film Festival, you hereby give the festival organizers permission to view the film and format it for presentation and grant the same a non-exclusive right and license to use, modify, prepare derivative works of, reproduce, perform, distribute, transmit or other wise display the film (including derivative works thereof) to the public, in a ll media formats and through all media channels including but not limited to film, video, television, internet, and other electronic, broadcast and other media, now known or later developed, and to authorize others to do the same, provided the foregoing is in furtherance of the Festival’s educational, or promotional purposes, The above licenses granted by you are perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free, non-terminable and irrevocable.
In the event that the Copperstate Student Film Fair posts your film on its website, you understand that the Festival cannot guarantee that the film, if posted, will not be forwarded, used , modified and/or further distributed by third parties. The Festival and those it may authorized shall not be responsible for unauthorized duplications, modifications, distributions or use of the Film by third parties on the internet or otherwise.
You agree that the Copperstate Student Film Fair and its designees shall have the right to use your name, likeness, and biography in connection with the Copperstate Student Film Festival and in advertising, publicity and promotion related thereto. It is your responsibility to ensure that the necessary contracts or releases have been obtained from those individuals or entities whose names, likenesses, trademarks, written materials, scripts, photographs, artworks, musical compositions, or similar materials or rights are used in connection with the film. Copies of such contracts or releases shall be provided to the Festival upon request. You agree that you will not submit your film unless you are the owner of all proprietary rights (such as copyrights, trademark rights, rights of privacy, rights of publicity, trade secret or other rights) in and to the film and all materials included in the film or unless you have written permissions from the rightful owners to use the film and all materials included in the film and to grant the licenses herein granted to the Festival to use the film and all materials included in the film.
You represent and warrant that the film contains no libelous or unlawful material, contains no instructions that may cause harm or injury, and that you won or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and to authorize the Festival to use all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to the film and any and all material in the film, in the manner contemplated by this Agreement. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Copperstate Student Film Fair and its officers, directors, sublicensees and affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising from: (a) your violation of this Agreement, and (b) the violation of any third party rights, including but not limited to any copyrights, trademark rights, rights of privacy or publicity, trade secret or any other proprietary right, by your film. This obligation and the representations and warranties made by you in this Agreement shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement.
The Copperstate Student Film Fair is under no obligation to exhibit or display any submission to the FESTIVAL. All decisions regarding the selection of films for the Festival and their subsequent display shall be at the discretion of the Festival organizers.
