Garden State Film Festival

**IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING**

Please provide **all contact information** on the **FilmFreeway platform**.

GSFF must be able to reach you. This includes your **email address, phone number, and mailing address**. If you are outside of the United States, please provide your **WhatsApp information** or another reliable way for us to contact you.

Please do **not** use an email address that no one checks, or an email address for an assistant who may not be associated with your film when GSFF sends acceptance letters, screening information, and Festival updates.

All sales are final.
While GSFF values its alumni, a previous screening or relationship with the Festival does not guarantee acceptance. All films compete equally for acceptance.

GSFF reserves the right to withhold awards in any category in any given year.

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**TERMS AND CONDITIONS**

The undersigned, the authorized representative of the project submitted to The Garden State Film Festival, hereafter called “GSFF” or “the Festival,” for consideration for the Garden State Film Festival, hereby acknowledges the following:

**All submitting filmmakers are required to read the following Submission Rules & Terms before submitting.**

All accepted filmmakers must supply a **digital file** of their film.

GSFF is only accepting: **1920x1080, Stereo, MP4, H.264 files.**
**DCPs are not accepted.** GSFF will create DCPs if needed.

Completion dates of films must be within 18 months of the Festival dates.
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🎬**SUBMISSION RULES**

1. Entry Fees

The Garden State Film Festival entry fees are **non-refundable**.

2. New Jersey Premiere Requirement**

All films must be a New Jersey Premiere, unless the film is a student film, which may have been shown at school or on campus, or unless special arrangements have been made with the Festival. Questions: lauren@gsff.org

3. Language, Subtitles, and Accessibility

All films must be in **English** or **subtitled in English**.

GSFF strongly encourages all filmmakers to include **subtitles or closed captions**, even for English-language films, to provide greater access for our hearing-impaired audience members.

4. Online Availability

With the exception of Web Series, New Media, Music Video, and Pilot submissions, films may **not** be available online prior to screening at the Festival unless special arrangements have been made with GSFF.

5. Withdrawal Policy

Once a project has been submitted for consideration, it cannot be withdrawn.

6. Contact Information

GSFF is not responsible for any failure to contact an applicant using the contact information provided in FilmFreeway.

It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all contact information provided in FilmFreeway is correct and remains valid through the end of the Festival cycle.

**GSFF must be able to reach you. Please use an email address that is checked often.**

7. Feedback Policy

The Festival is under no obligation to provide comments or feedback regarding submitted films to the applicant or any other representative of the submitted film.

GSFF will not be held responsible or liable for the contents of any internal comments or feedback regarding any submitted film obtained by the applicant, any representative of the film, or any third party.

8. Copyright and Clearances

It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to secure clearance from the copyright holders of any copyrighted materials included within the submitted film.

GSFF will not be held responsible for the unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted materials within or relating to the submitted film.

GSFF reserves the right to disqualify, **without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected**, any film that includes unauthorized copyrighted materials.

9. Notification and Final Screening File

Successful applicants will be notified through the contact information provided in FilmFreeway. GSFF will notify all applicants **no later than mid-January**.

Accepted applicants will be required to upload the **final screening file within two weeks** of the date of notice.

**There will be no opportunity to change the submitted file later.**

The contact information in FilmFreeway must be kept valid from submission through the end of the Festival. GSFF will not be held responsible for failure to contact the applicant when using the contact information provided on the platform.

10. Teachers and Student Submissions

We love you. Teachers submitting on behalf of students must enter contact information for the student and/or the student’s parent or guardian so that, if selected, the student receives Festival information and can attend.

**Email, phone number, and mailing address are required.**

Students must submit to the proper category: **Graduate, College, High School, or younger.** Students must also supply a **student ID**. QUESTIONS: Lauren@gsff.org

11. Promotional Use

All films selected for screening at the Festival grant GSFF the right to use **stills and excerpts for promotional purposes.

12. Trailers

Trailers must be provided by the applicant if requested.

13. Multiple Submissions

Applicants may submit more than one project. There is **no limit** to the number of films submitted by the same filmmaker, producer, or production company.

Each project must be submitted separately with its own completed entry form and submission fee.

14. AI-Generated Content Disclosure

GSFF accepts films that incorporate **artificial intelligence tools** in the production process. However, filmmakers must disclose any **substantial AI-generated creative content** in the film’s end credits and in the submission form.

Disclosure is required when AI is used to create or substantially generate:

**Screenplay material, performances, voice work, human likenesses, characters, dialogue, narration, music, or visual content presented as original creative work.**

Disclosure is not required for standard production or post-production assistance, including:

**Visual effects, computer-generated effects, editing tools, color correction, sound cleanup, noise reduction, transcription, subtitles, captions, formatting, or other technical workflow tools,** unless those tools generate substantial creative content.

Failure to disclose required AI use may result in **disqualification**.

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👉IF PROJECT IS ACCEPTED**

1. Screening Schedule**

GSFF reserves the right to adjust screening schedules of films at its discretion without notice.

2. Screening Materials and Technical Issues**

The filmmaker agrees that GSFF will be held harmless for delays due to equipment failure, shipping delays, or the condition of delivered exhibition materials that may prevent screening.

GSFF cannot be held liable for exhibition materials that are lost or damaged.

3. Screening Fees

GSFF does **not** pay screening fees.

4. Travel and Lodging

Filmmakers or screenwriters accepted into and attending the Festival are responsible for all travel, lodging, and all other expenses.

5. Public Relations and Attending Talent

GSFF loves to help spotlight the filmmakers, cast, and special guests who make the Festival shine.

If your accepted project has cast members, notable talent, celebrities, public figures, or special guests attending, please notify GSFF as soon as possible so we can plan appropriately for **public relations, media opportunities, red carpet coverage, interviews, photography, and promotion**.

Please email attendance details directly to **lauren@gsff.org** as soon as they are confirmed.

6. Jury Decisions

All jury decisions are final. Awards will be announced at the Festival Awards Dinner and posted on the GSFF website shortly thereafter.

7. Subject to Change

All stated information, eligibility and submission guidelines, terms and conditions of entry, and entry information are subject to change by GSFF without notice.

8. Rights, Authorization, and Indemnification

By submitting to GSFF, the submitter warrants that they have the legal right to enter the film work to GSFF, own all rights to all elements of the film, or are authorized to use all elements in the film, and are authorized to submit the film for exhibition and related uses by GSFF.

The submitter further agrees to jointly and severally indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The Garden State Film Festival, its officers, directors, committee members, agents, volunteers, and all others connected with or providing services to GSFF, whether paid, in-kind, or volunteered, from liability, damages, costs, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to:

1. The decision or act to exhibit or not exhibit a submission submitted to GSFF by the submitter;
2. The advertisement, publicity, or exhibition of said submission; or
3. Any other use of said submission by GSFF.

9. Acceptance of Terms

By submitting a film, the submitter freely and voluntarily gives full and complete acceptance of all terms and provisions set forth in these General Rules and Terms and Conditions.

The submitter acknowledges that no oral representations, inducements, promises, or assurances of any kind, and no representations, inducements, promises, or assurances not set forth in these General Rules or Terms and Conditions have been made to the submitter or the film’s owners by GSFF or any related party.

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**ACCESSIBILITY NOTE TO FILMMAKERS**

Help us reach our goal of being **accessible to everyone**.

The Garden State Film Festival seeks to make the arts accessible to everyone. GSFF encourages all filmmakers to include **subtitles or closed captioning**, even if the film is in English, to accommodate our hearing-impaired audience members.

GSFF also encourages filmmakers to provide **audio description tracks** for viewers with vision loss, sensory processing disabilities, and neurodivergent disabilities.

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**MOVIE MUSIC COMPETITION**

For more information about the **Movie Music Competition**, please visit www.gsff.org or contact info@gsff.org.