1) The Festival does not claim any copyright or other rights related to the material submitted. However, by submitting your film or video material to the Festival, you are agreeing to allow the Festival to use partial clips and/or screenshots of your work in the Festival's promotional material.
2) If a submitted film (or other video-based material) is chosen by the Festival to be screened at an event, the submitter must be ready to provide the film in a high quality digital format (at least 1080p or higher) or other formats which may be requested by the Festival. Any alternative formats must be agreed upon by the Festival's directors and the submitter and the Festival reserves the right to withdraw the offer to screen the film if an appropriate format cannot be provided in time for the Festival's event date. Additionally, by submitting material to the Festival, you hereby consent to the Festival to share your name and contact information with any producers, distributors, agents, managers, and other industry professionals who may be interested in your submitted material. However, the Festival shall be under no obligation to disclose any personal or contact information related to the judges or jury members. Judging feedback information may be shared at the discretion of the Festival but should not be considered any part of standard procedure and should not be expected under normal circumstances due to time and resource limitations. If a film is selected for screening, the submitter may contact the Festival to opt out of the screening at any time prior to the date of the scheduled screening.
3) All status notifications and communications regarding the event will be sent by the Festival to the submitter by email. It is the submitter's responsibility to check SPAM or JUNK folders in case an important email has been misidentified as unsolicited advertising.
4) The Festival does not have any premiere requirements as of the current season. If your film has premiered at another film festival or was exhibited privately or online, it remains eligible. Films with distribution are also eligible but please notify us of this in your submission. (If your film is accepted to screen at our festival and our screening will be the world premiere, American premiere, California state premiere, or Los Angeles premiere of your film, feel free to let us know so your premiere status can be mentioned on our promotional material.)
5) All submissions of films, short films, web series, documentaries, music videos, or other video-based material must include an online screener. The Festival does not accept physical submissions of film, DVD, Blu-Ray or other physical media for the judging stages. If the online screener is hosted on a service that requires a shared password, it is the submitter's responsibility to ensure that the shared password provided is accurate and up to date.
6) Your film must be understandable to a primarily English-speaking audience. If the main dialogue in the film is not in English, please include English subtitles in all submission copies as well as the screening copy (if your film is selected.)
7) All submissions must be accompanied by the applicable submission fee. Submission fees are paid for the time and work performed by judges and jury. The Festival shall not be obliged to provide any refunds after a work has been submitted. If a dispute arises for any reason, the submitter will be responsible for any transaction fees or costs incurred by the Festival in connection with the dispute. The submitter is solely responsible for any applicable local, state, and/or federal taxes in connection with submissions.
8) All submitted films must be an original work. If the film is based on an existing property or other underlying work, the submitter must have secured the rights to the material. The Festival shall not be expected to verify or investigate the rights secured by the submitter. By submitting your work, you hereby represent that all necessary rights related to the work (including but not limited to story, content, music, logos, performer likenesses and images) have been secured and you accept all responsibility and liability for any copyright violations related to your submission. The Festival reserves the right to disqualify any submission on the basis of legal reasons including but not limited to copyright violations or any content that violates the laws of California.
9) Works in progress are accepted. However, please clearly indicate on your submission forms if your film is a work in progress. It is the submitter's responsibility to ensure that a suitable cut of the film will be ready and available by the date of the event if the film is selected for screening by the Festival. The Festival may accept revisions of submitted material on a case by case basis but is under no obligation to do so.
10) The Festival shall not be held liable nor responsible for any statements or opinions expressed by any individual administrator, jury member, board member, director, judge, staff member, affiliate, partner, or volunteer. Any statements or opinions expressed by such individuals do not necessarily reflect those of the Festival as an organization. If a dispute arises in connection with your submission to the Festival, you agree to contact the Festival and allow the administrators of the Festival at least one week to resolve the problem prior to involving any third party.
