St. Paul Lyric Film Festival

JUDGING

The awards will be juried.

Judges are NOT allowed to judge or vote for any work with which they are associated.

The judges will submit their ratings, which will be tracked, and the results calculated.

The process for calculating the winners is:

• The films/videos are shown to the judges.
• The judges mark the ballots rating the films from 1 to 10, 10 being the best.
• All the scores are totaled and then divided by the number of ballots.
• Highest score wins.
• The decision of the judges is final.

ELIGIBILITY, RULES, AND TERMS

• Filmmakers must be 18 years old or older.
• Only one submission per category per individual, educational class, or organization.
• Films must have been completed between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023.
o Submit only fully finished films.
o Revisions/edits to submissions are prohibited.
• All films must be in English or have English subtitles.
• Any music used in the film must be original, copyright-free, in the public domain, or officially licensed. If licensed, you must be able to provide proof of licensing.
• By submitting your film, you pledge that identifiable people appearing in the film consent to the submission.
• Entries must be submitted online through FilmFreeway.
• If a film is chosen to be screened at the Festival, the filmmaker will be required to submit a DCP projection-quality copy of the film.
• There is only one entry fee: $25.
o Entry fees are used to defray the cost of hosting the Festival.
• We do not provide refunds for any reason, except for cancellation of the entire Festival.
o If a payment is disputed by an entrant for any reason, the entrant may be subject to any transaction fees or similar amounts incurred by the Festival in connection with the dispute.
• You MUST include your physical address with your entry.
• If a film is accepted, you will be solely responsible for delivering your promotional materials to and from the Festival venue.
o Press kits will be needed as soon after notification as possible.
• The Festival does not provide room, board, or travel for filmmakers.
• Filmmakers will be provided with all-Festival passes for themselves and one guest to all screenings, parties, and events. We will not issue complimentary tickets to additional people.
• The Festival reserves the right not to make an award in any of the categories.
• The Festival will not offer notes or specific critiques of any films.
• The Festival reserves the right to disqualify or reject any film for any reason and without a refund.

AGREEMENT TO PARTICIPATE AND RELEASE

Please read the following terms and conditions for your entry to the 2024 Film Festival. By submitting your film, you expressly acknowledge and agree that you shall be bound by the terms of this agreement.

I, as an entrant to the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival, hereby agree to permit any film submitted by me to be screened at the 2024 St. Paul Lyric Film Festival and any subsequent St. Paul Lyric Film Festival or related event. If my film is being offered by any streaming service (including YouTube) at the time it is accepted, or at any subsequent point prior to the Festival, I will remove my film from streaming from January 1 to April 22, 2024.

I certify that am the sole owner of all legal rights and title and that I have the authority to submit the enclosed materials to the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival. I guarantee that all rights necessary for screening by the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival have been obtained and I hereby assign those rights, to the full extent necessary for inclusion in the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival, to the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival. I warrant that I have the right to make such assignment hereunder, and further warrant that such assignment shall not infringe or misappropriate any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary right of any third party. If notified promptly in writing of a claim of any infringement or other violation of patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any third party, I will immediately notify the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival of same.

COMPENSATION

I understand that, unless otherwise specified in writing, the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival provides no financial compensation for any exhibition of my work.

PUBLICITY AND USE

The St. Paul Lyric Film Festival reserves the right to use any submitted publicity information, photos, and excerpts in its marketing and publicity, including online formats, for the Festival and for any other uses related to the promotion of the Festival. By accepting inclusion in the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival, I grant non-exclusive rights to showcase my film during the Festival in as many screenings as required, and for screenings thereafter at the discretion of the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival. Such screenings include, but are not limited to, competition screenings and a highlights showcase which may be held after the competition ends. In addition, the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival has non-exclusive rights to repeat the showcase during the year for fundraising purposes. All ticket sale receipts are the sole property of the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival.

I hereby grant the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival unlimited rights to use the film, information and images provided by me within my entry, and any additional material, in accordance with the goals and needs of the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival. I understand and consent to the use and release of my entry and all related materials by the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival. I understand and agree that my entry and any related materials may be copied and used by the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival without further permission from me. The St. Paul Lyric Film Festival may use my name or logo in any marketing materials, or describe publicly the nature of the film submitted, without my further consent.

INDEMNIFICATION

Films must be the original work of the applicants. If a film is based upon another person’s life or upon a book or other underlying work, applicant(s) must secure any necessary rights to make such adaptations. However, it is not necessary to submit the adaptation rights agreements to the Festival. Neither the Festival nor its jury investigates or attests to the authenticity of an applicant’s statement of authorship or rights secured. By entering the competition, you are acknowledging that you have secured all necessary rights.

Applicants are solely responsible for obtaining all necessary rights and permissions for third-party materials included in the film, including but not limited to music, trademarks, logos, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights. St. Paul Lyric Film Festival reserves the right to request copies of any third-party rights.

I indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival, its judges, sponsors, volunteers, St. Paul Tomorrow, and the Town of St. Paul, individually and collectively, from and against any and all claims, demands, losses, damages, judgments, liabilities, and expenses (including, but not limited to, attorney fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, publicity, screening, credits, and loss of or damage to the screening materials entered.

Further, in no event shall the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival be liable to me for: (i) punitive, special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages; or (ii) loss of profits or business, loss of revenues, loss of opportunities, loss of savings, loss of or damage to data, loss of use damages or failure to realize expected savings arising out of this agreement even if been advised of the possibility of such damages.

I understand, am authorized to accept, and agree to abide by all terms listed in this release and in the submission guidelines.

COMPETITION CERTIFICATION

• I/We have read all the rules & regulations, understand, and have complied with these rules.
• I/We warrant the submission of my/our original work and that there are no disputes regarding the ownership of the submission.
• I/We also warrant the submitted material does not defame or invade the rights of any person living or dead. I/We indemnify the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival against any claim made for such violations of law.
• To the best of my/our knowledge, all the statements herein are true and correct.
• I/We acknowledge that once an entry payment has been processed, St. Paul Lyric Festival will not provide a refund.
• I/We agree to hold the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival harmless from and defend them against all claims, demands, losses, damages, judgments, liabilities, and expenses (including attorney’s fees) arising out of or in connection with any and all claims of third parties, whether or not groundless, based on any screenplay/film submitted to the St. Paul Lyric Film Festival or on any screenplay/film developed out of such submission.
• No revisions will be accepted once an entry has been received.
• To the best of my/our knowledge, all the statements herein are true and correct.
• I/We understand that failure to adhere to the Festival rules will result in disqualification and forfeiture of entry fee.