PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A FILMMAKING COMPETITION, FILMS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN PRODUCED ARE NOT ELIGIBLE. YOU MUST MAKE A FILM FOR THE COMPETITION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES BELOW. PLEASE DO NOT PAY THE FEE WITHOUT READING THE FULL DESCRIPTION, NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED.

The Fusion Doc Challenge is a timed filmmaking competition sponsored by Fusion Media Networks and the Doc Challenge where filmmakers from around the world sign up to make a short documentary in five days that is 4-7 minutes in length. In addition to being restricted on time, filmmakers choose between 2 assigned documentary genres (such as Adventure, LGBTQ, Music, Art, etc.) and a specific theme (such as "Behind the Curtain") that dictates the content and direction of their film. The Fusion Doc Challenge is very similar to International Doc Challenge, but filmmaking teams get to choose the five days they would like to make their film between now and November 5, 2014. After November 10, the top 12 films are determined by an esteemed panel of judges and premiere at the Fusion Doc Challenge Screening at Slamdance in January 2015. Fusion Doc Challenge will host an opening weekend party at Slamdance and the films will screen at Big Sky Doc Film Festival in February. In addition to the top 12 films, an additional 8 films are chosen for an exclusive 18-month distribution deal with Fusion. The films also compete at TheAudienceAwards.com to an online international audience.

Prize money will be awarded in three categories:

Fusion Winner: $2500
Doc Challenge "Best Film in Competition": $1000
Audience Award Winner: $1000

1. ELIGIBILITY: The International Documentary Challenge is open to individuals across the world. The following are not eligible: employees, contractors, directors and officers of FilmSpur and Fusion Media Network, LLC (“Fusion”)and their, subsidiaries and affiliated companies, distributors, web design, advertising, fulfillment, judging and Challenge agencies involved in the administration, development, fulfillment and execution of this Challenge (collectively, "Challenge Parties"), and the immediate family members of each (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and spouse or "step" of each) and those living in their same households (those persons whether related or not who live in the same residence for at least three months during the twelve-month period preceding the start date of the Challenge). Void where prohibited.

2. TO ENTER: To register for the Challenge, follow the instructions found on www.theaudienceawards.com/fusiondocchallenge. Registration is based on a first-come, first-served basis and space is limited. It costs US $125.00 to participate per team.

3. The Challenge will commence August 25, 2014 and conclude November 10, 2014. Filmmaker teams get to choose their five days to compete.

4. If a team ("Entrant") wants different dates, they must notify Doc Challenge within 2 days of competition. There is no refund for withdrawal.

5. Entrants will be required to sign the standard Doc Challenge Team Leader's Agreement. If under the legal age of majority in your state of residence, your parent or legal guardian must sign it on your behalf. A copy of this agreement is available at www.theaudienceawards.com/fusiondocchallenge.

6. All costs associated with the production of the Entry are solely the responsibility of the Entrant.

7. Eligible Entries will be judged based on the judging criteria stated below in #12 below.

8. Basic Requirement of the Challenge: At the Kickoff time, Entrants will receive an assignment and be given exactly 5 days to make a video (an "Entry"). See www.theaudienceawards.com/fusiondocchallenge for details.

9. PROJECT TERMS OF SUBMISSION: By submitting an Entry into this Challenge, each Entrant warrants and represents that the Entrant owns all rights to the Entry he/she is entering in this Project, including, without limitation, the video or digital recording, and the performance contained in each Entry, with the exception of any assets provided by the Doc Challenge for use by Entrants in connection with this Challenge. Each Entrant further warrants and represents that the Entrant has obtained permission from each person who appears in the Entry to grant the rights to the Challenge Parties described in these Official Rules, and will submit copies of such permissions to the Challenge Parties. By submitting an Entry, Entrant agrees to the Official Rules, and further agrees to indemnify and hold Fusion, FilmSpur, Challenge Parties and their respective affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders or other partners, and any of their employees (collectively, the "Challenge Indemnitees"), harmless from any and all claims, damages, expenses, costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) and liabilities (including settlements), brought or asserted by any third party against any of the Challenge Indemnitees due to or arising out of the Entrant's Entry materials in this Challenge, or the Entrant's conduct during and in connection with this Challenge, including but not limited to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights, right of publicity, right of privacy or defamation. Entrant agrees to release, indemnify and hold harmless Fusion, FilmSpur and the Challenge Parties from any and all claims that any advertising, presentation, web content or any other material subsequently produced, presented, and/or prepared by or on behalf of Fusion, FilmSpur or the Challenge Parties infringes on the rights of Entrant's work as contained in any Entry.

10. As a condition of entry, participants must agree to the Team Leader's Agreement, which sets forth the rights of Entrant FilmSpur, and Fusion with respect to the use of Entries by Fusion and FilmSpur. Entries that do not include all required information and adhere to the foregoing and following requirements will be considered void and will not be considered in this Challenge.

11. If any group of individuals elect to collaborate on an Entry, they are required to designate one (1) person as the agent of the group to enter the Challenge, agree to these Official Rules, sign the Team Leader's Agreement and accept the prize on behalf of the group. Neither Fusion, FilmSpur nor any of the Challenge Parties are liable for any disputes between collaborators arising out of or related to the Challenge.

12. SELECTION OF WINNERS: Judges Prize: Entries will be judged by a process in which a qualified panel of judges ("Judges") will evaluate each eligible Entry based on the following judging criteria:

Creativity (45%)
Technical Merit (30%)
Adherence to the Assignment (25%)

In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score in the first Judging Criteria, continuing thereafter to each Judging Criteria in order, as needed to break the tie. Entrants agree that FilmSpur has the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising from this Challenge and that all decisions of FilmSpur are final and binding.

Audience Award: The top 12 rated films from the Judges ratings will be considered the "finalists". These 12 finalists will be streamed on theaudienceawards.com, where viewers can watch the films and vote for their favorite. The film with the most votes will receive the Audience Award. Other films may be invited to compete in The Audience Awards. All submitting filmmakers receive a filmmaker profile page at The Audience Awards. Filmmakers are notified by email.

13. PRIZES: Three (3) winners (each a “Winner”) will be selected and will each receive the following cash prize(s): (i) the FilmSpur selected winner will receive $1,000.00; (ii) the Fusion selected winner will receive $2,500.00 and (iii) the Audience Award selected winner will receive $1,000.00.

14. The 12 Finalists will screen at Slamdance Festival in January 2015. (date and location to be announced).

15. GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating, Entrants agree to these Official Rules, which are final and binding in all respects. The Challenge is governed by the laws of the state of Montana, USA, and all claims must be resolved in Montana courts or the Federal courts located in New York.

16. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND RELEASE: No liability or responsibility is assumed by Fusion, FilmSpur or Challenge Parties resulting from any user's participation in or attempt to participate in the Challenge or ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with participating in the Challenge. No responsibility or liability is assumed by Fusion, FilmSpur or Challenge Parties for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences which may affect the operation of the Challenge: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any e-mail transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted e-mail transmissions; inaccessibility of the Website in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Website; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of the Challenge, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Challenge, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Challenge. Fusion, FilmSpur and Challenge Parties are not responsible for any typographical errors in the announcement of prizes or these Official Rules, or any inaccurate or incorrect data contained on the Website. Use of Website is at user's own risk. Fusion, FilmSpur and the Challenge Parties are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user's or any other person's computer equipment resulting from participation in the Challenge, use of the Website or the download of any information from the website. By participating in the Challenge, Entrant agrees to release, indemnify and hold Fusion, FilmSpur and Challenge Parties harmless from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Entrant's participation in the Challenge.

17. WINNERS: Winners will be posted online at www.theaudienceawards.com/fusiondocchallenge

18. PROJECT ORGANIZER: FilmSpur, 1121 East Broadway, Ste. #3 Missoula, MT 59802

19. SPONSOR: Fusion Media Network, LLC, 8551 NW 30th Terrace, Doral, FL 33122

20. You will need to be available for interviews with Fusion if your film makes the top 20 and receives 18-month exclusive distribution deal.

Filmmaker Rules
The following rules apply to each participating group/production team

Times: The 2014 Fusion International Documentary Challenge allows filmmakers to choose their five days of competition between July 10, 2014 and November 10, 2014. Once the five days are chosen, the team leader will receive the assignment at 8 am their local time and on the designated start day and will turn in the film and all required forms, images and film five days later by 120 hours later at 8 am their local time.

The participating group must complete its film/video work in time to submit 120 hours at 8 am (local time). Make sure to leave time for any problems or delays that might occur during submission.

The Doc Challenge is open to filmmakers from all nations across the world.

Doc Challenge entrants are accepted on a first come, first served basis. The Doc Challenge organizers reserve the right to limit the total number of teams to 300.

During the official Challenge period, all creativity will take place, including but not limited to:
Researching the subject matter
Writing the script (if applicable)
Shooting
Editing
Graphics and Sound Design
Rendering
Outputting to tape or other media

The only work to begin prior to the “Official Doc Challenge Time Period” is:
Organizing Crew
Securing Equipment
Scouting/Securing Locations
Acquiring Music

At least 50% of the footage must be photographed within the time period of the project. Stock footage and photographs are permitted but cannot account for more than half of the footage used. Participants must have all rights to the stock footage and include a release that states this.

To ensure the films were made within the required time frame, each team must prove the date the film was made by adding a time element to the credits of the film. This must be done by having someone who appears in your film hold a newspaper on screen. The date of the newspaper must be large enough to read. This should be done in the credits of the film so as to not affect the flow of your film.

Each participating group must provide the International Documentary Challenge organizers with two e-mail addresses. On the date the team leader chooses to begin production, at 8 a.m. local time, the team leader will receive two randomly generated genres (from which you must choose one to produce), as well as a theme that must be addressed in the film. To qualify as an official “International Documentary Challenge Film,” each group’s film must be in one of the genres it receives and must contain a reference to the theme and the required time element. You must not share the theme or genres with anyone except your team members until November 10, 2014.

All cast and crew must be volunteers.

The finished film must be a minimum of 4 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 7 minutes in duration-not including credits. See Rule 12.

Credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. The 60 seconds is considered additional to the length of the film, as stated in Rule 11. (That is, a film may be 7 minutes long, with an additional 60 seconds of credits, for a total running time of 8 minutes.) 13. Any type of video or film camera may be used, however, a maximum of only three video cameras may be used. (Still photos from still cameras are allowed in addition to this 3 video camera limit, DSLRs used for video count against the 3-camera limit.)

Sound recordings and Sound Effects: Sound recorders are allowed in addition to the three-camera limit above. As with music, pre-recorded sound effects are allowed, but you must have rights to use them.

Films must be submitted online on TheAudienceAwards.com along with all required forms and images by 8:00am your local time five whole days after competition begins (120 hours). Allow for compression and upload. Your film must be less than 1 gb. Films must be compressed with H264 Motion HPEG A, Apple Pro Res 422, DVCProHD.

If your film is selected as a top 12 finalist or as a film that Fusion wants to license, you must submit a Pro Res, full HD version of your film by mail.

Before the finished film begins, the tape should have:
2 seconds of black
A title card with: team name, title, city & country, genre, theme
A title card with: “This film was made for the 2014 Fusion Doc Challenge www.theaudienceawards.com/fusiondocchallenge”
2 seconds of black
Your film

The producer/team leader for each group must submit a complete and signed paper copy of the Team Leader’s Agreement.

Each team must secure talent, crew, music releases and location releases, which must be turned in to the challenge organizers with the finished film/video. The film/video will not be judged or screened unless the Doc Challenge Organizers receive the signed releases.

To be eligible for the Challenge, Entries must be the original work of the Entrant; must not infringe thirdparty’s rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Entrant and/or Doc Challenge). Entries containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by Doc Challenge, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate will be disqualified. Doc Challenge reserves the right to make the final determination as to which Entries are eligible.

Participating groups are encouraged to work with a local composer and/or musicians to write and record music for the films. It is permissible for a participating group to use pre-recorded music; however the participating group must have the rights to any music used in its film and must provide a release for all music used. If you create your own music using a music software program like Soundtrack, please sign the release yourself as the owner of the program.

The Entrant must submit a Certification Statement with his/her completed Entry, certifying adherence to all Official Rules.

To be certified as an “Official Doc Challenge Film,” each participating group’s film/video production must follow all rules herein. The Doc Challenge Organizers reserve the right to screen only certified “Official Doc Challenge Films.”

No Entries (media or documents) will be returned.

Doc Challenge and Challenge Parties may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Entries deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

All certified “Doc Challenge Films” are eligible for judging. A panel of independent judges will select twelve Fusion Doc Challenge Finalists from which the major awards will be selected. All 12 finalists will screen at Slamdance Film Festival in January 2015.

8 additional films will be chosen to screen on Fusion’s Channel. All 20 films (the twelve finalists + 8 more films) will enter a non-exclusive licensing deal with Fusion.

Entrants films will be made available in TheAudienceAwards.com digital library and may compete in Audience Awards competitions. If entrant’s film is one of the 20 chosen by Fusion, you fill will go into TheAudienceAwards.com library after the 18 month exclusive licensing deal with Fusion expires.

The Doc Challenge Organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the Challenge time period.

The cost to compete in The Fusion Doc Challenge is $125 per team.