A copy of the guidelines can be downloaded from www.themercury.org.au/sasa2024
1. A ‘submission’ to the South Australian Screen Awards (SASA) refers to a short film, feature film, web series, game (and associated crew and cast), or a peer nominated individual.
2. All submissions must have been completed after 14th September 2021.
3. All short film, feature film and web series submissions must be received at The Mercury via the FilmFreeway platform www.filmfreeway.com/SASA2024 by 5pm, Monday 29th April 2024. Game submissions and nominations for Individual Awards forms are available from the website www.themercury.org.au/sasa2024 and are to be emailed complete to sasa@themercury.org.au.
4. Submissions will not be accepted without payment of the entry fee. Peer nominations are fee-free.
5. Submissions that have been previously submitted to SASA are ineligible, even if modified significantly.
6. Works-in-progress, corporate, or promotional works are not eligible for submission.
7. The Grand Jury Prize is determined by a simple majority of votes from all engaged members of the Jury, minus any members with conflicts of interest (see Criteria 12). The nominee for the Grand Jury Prize is deemed to be the Producer of the submission.
8. It is the submitter’s responsibility to assess eligibility and provide the correct information. If any information is unfilled, relevant individuals will be considered ineligible for nomination.
9. Applicants may submit more than one project or nomination for Individual Awards.
10. Short Films and Web Series episodes running over 30 minutes (credits included) will be deemed ineligible.
11. Short Films and Web Series are eligible for all Genre and Craft awards, Feature Films, Music Videos and Games are only eligible for their specific category.
12. If a sponsor or judge has direct personal or professional connection or a perceived conflict of interest in regard to a submission that is nominated for an award, they will declare this to The Mercury in writing and will be excluded from the judging process of that submission.
13. The applicant must own the copyright of the film. The applicant is usually deemed to be the Producer, or in the Producer’s absence, the Director may enter on their behalf.
14. In all submissions, at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creatives (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer) must have been residents of South Australia on 14th September 2021. Nominated actors may be non-SA residents. For an Individual Award nominee, or a Craft Award recipient to be eligible for nomination, the nominee must have been a resident of South Australia on 14th September 2021.
15. For a submission to be deemed eligible in the Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Animation, Experimental categories it must be classified as so in the provided submission material.
16. For a submission to qualify for consideration in the Best Student Film category, it must have been produced as part of the curriculum of a high school, film school, or screen related tertiary course. Additionally, at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creative roles (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer) must have been enrolled in the associated educational program during the submission’s development.
17. For a submission to be deemed eligible for the Best Web Series category, the submitted episode must be a part of a series of narrative episodes (fiction or factual) specifically released online or via mobile phone.
18. For a submission to be deemed eligible for the Best First Nations Film projects must have Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creative roles (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer).
19. For a person to be eligible for nomination in the Best Emerging First Nations Screen Practitioner category, the individual must be an Australian Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander practitioner and must not be credited in their primary field of expertise on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
20. For a person to be eligible for nomination for the Young Filmmaker Award the individual must have been 26 years or under at the time of the project’s completion.
21. For a person to be eligible for nomination for the Mercury Rising Award, the individual must not be credited in their primary field of expertise on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
22. For a person to be eligible for nomination for the Best Emerging Producer Award the individual must primarily work as a Producer, and not have a Producer credit on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
23. Video files are asked to be either Apple ProRes or H264 (mp4) format with a bitrate of at least 20 mbps and 16:9 ratio in its native frame rate.
24. For each submission entered, a 10-15 second clip must be selected by the submitter for marketing and screening purposes. We ask submitters prepare these in the event of their film being selected.
25. The submitter must include 5 high quality production stills in .jpg or .tiff
26. If the submission is chosen as a finalist in the Best Screenplay category, the submitter may be required to provide a hard copy of the nominated screenplay to The Mercury.
27. The submitter grants permission for the work, in part or in full, to be screened for promotional purposes and at The Mercury’s discretion, subject to World or Australian premiere rights. It is the submitter’s responsibility to notify The Mercury of any such restrictions at the point of submission, and must be available to screen by 15th June 2024.
28. The Mercury is granted permission to use a nominee’s name, image and up to 60 seconds of the film for publicity or promotional purposes.
29. The Mercury reserves the right to be the final judge of eligibility regarding any Work and/or the Nominee submitted to the South Australian Screen Awards.
30. At any point, The Mercury reserves the right to disqualify a submission if issues arise regarding unauthorised use of copyrighted material without sufficient licensing, or any similar infringement of intellectual property rights.
31. The Mercury presides over a transparent and impartial judging process comprised of national screen industry professionals. The SASA jury decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
32. For further information please contact the team at The Mercury sasa@themercury.org.au or call 08 8410 0979
