2017 DC Adventure Film Festival Rules and Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in submitting your love, passion and work to the
DC Adventure Film Festival (DCAFF).
Please submit all films using FilmFreeway. If you are unable to submit via FilmFreeway or have questions, please contact us at info@dcaff.org.
CRITICAL DATES, DEADLINES, AND INFO
2017 DC ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL — SEPTEMBER 8-9, 2017 WASHINGTON, DC
2017 FESTIVAL EARLY SUBMISSION DEADLINE — MARCH 15, 2017
2017 FESTIVAL FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE — MAY 25, 2017
NOTIFICATION OF FESTIVAL ACCEPTANCE — JULY 25, 2017
FREE SUBMISSION FOR FILM PREMIERES - U.S., North American, and World! PLEASE CONTACT info@dcaff.org for the waiver code.
We accept completed films and works-in-progress*.
Note: The complete entry includes: submission form, payment of handling fees, and film upload. These must be received no later than MAY 25, 2017. After this date, your entry may not be eligible to be included in the judging process. However, the Festival reserves the right to extend this deadline or consider late entries for the program at their sole discretion.
FESTIVAL DESCRIPTION
Every day is a new adventure! The annual DC Adventure Film Festival (DCAFF) brings the world’s best adventure and action sports films, athletes, and speakers to the East Coast and our Nation’s Capital. For two days, the Festival aims to inspire adventure across all generations and cultures. Through our events and the power of film, we encourage people to take part in outdoor activity and celebrate the outdoor experience.
The DC Adventure Film Festival serves as a gathering for the adventure and action sports tribe. Whether you’re a filmmaker, film buff, armchair adventurer, weekend warrior, or pro athlete, the Festival provides something for everyone.
We accept and showcase feature length and short films from all genres of adventure and actions sports. This is what makes us unique. From the mountains to the sea, and through the urban landscapes in between, our films highlight people experiencing the natural and man-made landscapes of our planet. We focus on films that leave our audiences with an itch to get outside and push their own limits!
The Festival also celebrates the adventurous landscapes, people, and films from the Nation’s Capital and surrounding area. Our regional award category (250 Mile Club) showcases films that feature the Mid-Atlantic. The category offers amateur- and pro-filmmakers the chance to screen their films to local crowds while highlighting the area’s adventure and action sports.
We offer unique awards including honoring one person each year with the “Adventurer of the Festival” award. Past recipients include Karl Thompson – “55 Hours in Mexico” and Gwen Moffat – “Operation Moffat”.
Join us for the 3rd annual DC Adventure Film Festival!
CATEGORIES
The DC Adventure Film Festival accepts film submissions across ALL adventure and action sports related disciplines. We showcase both action focused films and storyline, documentary type films. DCAFF defines “adventure” as: to engage in an unusual exciting activity, especially the exploration of a new feat or unknown territory.
Adventure is everywhere and is what you make of it! DCAFF views adventure in a very broad scale from minute micro-adventures like attempting new tricks at the skateboard park or running a new trail in a familiar forest all the way up to lifetime adventures summiting peaks around the world.
If you are unsure if your film is the right fit for the Festival, please contact us as info@dcaff.org and we can view and discuss.
AWARDS
Nailed It! “Best of Festival” Cash Prize $500
Best Cinematography Cash Prize $200
Inspiring Adventure Cash Prize $200
The film that best portrays the adventurous spirit and inspires the viewer to get out there and seize more adventure from each day.
250 Mile Club Cash Prize $250
The film that best highlights the adventurous spirit of our Nation’s Capital and surrounding Mid-Atlantic area. To be eligible, the film MUST feature the Mid-Atlantic area (within a 250 mile circle from Washington, DC’s center).
Audience Choice Award Cash Prize $200
The favorite film chosen by the DC Adventure Film Festival audience.
Adventurer of the Festival Cash Prize: $200
Best actor, athlete, or person who embodies the spirit of adventure.
Note: All winners are responsible for their own U.S. income tax withholding. The Festival is not responsible for withholding any taxes or payments to any government agency, at any level, be it state, local or federal.
SELECTION PROCESS
• Entries are not limited to one award.
• Awards may be presented to the director, producer, or assigned representative of the film.
• The DC Adventure Film Festival reserves the right to make the final decision on the category of any film entered.
• All entries will be viewed prior to the Festival by a pre-selection committee. Finalists chosen by this committee will be screened by a jury to determine award winner and viewed by the public at the DC Adventure Film Festival and subsequent screenings.
• The Audience Choice Award will be determined by online voting and/or ballot.
• The jury determines the award winners. In the event of a tie, the award and money will be split evenly between the tied films.
ENTRY RULES
a. We have a preference for films produced within the last year July 2015 – July 2017. Films produced prior to 2013 will not be eligible for the Festival. We get even more excited when a film is submitted as a Washington DC, national, or world premiere. Plus you get free submission.
We have a preference for shorter films (less than 5 minutes - 20 minutes) since they offer more storylines, variety, and programming flexibility for the Festival. With that said, we do save programming space for longer films. If you are submitting a feature length film (longer than 40 minutes) and also have a shorter cut or special edit available, please note this on the Submission Form at the appropriate questions.
*Works-in-Progress or Rough Cuts – We allow works-in-progress or rough cuts to be submitted with the understanding that if officially selected into the Festival, a final exhibition version must be completed before July 15, 2017. Note – On a case-by-case basis, we allow short teaser films of feature length films that are scheduled to be released after our Festival. Please contact us at info@dcaff.org to discuss your film.
b. Entries may only be submitted digitally online through the festival submission form. If you are unable to submit electronically, please contact the Submission Staff at info@dcaff.org.
Should Festival staff approve a postal submission method, entries and payments in full must be received on or before the Early and Final entry deadlines in order to qualify for the respective submission rate and/or to be included in the selection process.
c. Entries can be of any duration, in either: narrative, story, documentary, animated or experimental-art form, and can be submitted by professional or amateur filmmakers from any country.
d. The same film may only be entered once in the Festival. Filmmakers may submit different films but must pay individual handling fees for each submission.
e. Entries with soundtracks in any language other than English MUST have English subtitles, be dubbed in English, or be accompanied by an English translation of the dialogue and/or narration. We recommend a font with maximum readability against both light and dark backgrounds.
f. All submissions will be cataloged by the Festival for adjudication, internal viewing, and archival purposes and will not be returned.
g. All films entered in the Festival will also be considered for inclusion in our DC Adventure Film Festival tour programs. If your film is selected for the DCAFF tour, we will contact you.
h. Finalists will be notified by July 1, 2017. Award winners will be notified by September 12th, 2017. All results will be posted on our website at www.dcaff.org.
i. Acknowledge and agree that all matters will be decided by Festival organizers or the Festival jury.
j. The submission of your film to the Festival constitutes acceptance of these Rules and Guidelines and the Terms and Conditions of the 2017 DC Adventure Film Festival found by copying and pasting the following link in your browser: https://goo.gl/JY9wQo
k. All films submitted to the Festival are subject to these Rules and Guidelines and Terms and Conditions and if selected to be in the Festival will be eligible to receive an award.
COMMUNICATION
a. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Submissions Staff at info@dcaff.org.
b. We also encourage entrants to add dcaff.org to your email address list to ensure email correspondence is not sent to spam or bulk mail.
c. Agree to contact the DCAFF immediately regarding any changes to the information contained within the Submission Form including contact information, change of premiere status of the film, or exhibition format. Failure to provide complete and updated information or failure to submit an exhibition copy of your film by the communicated deadlines may cause the film to be removed from the Festival.
FILM MARKETING AND ATTENDANCE
If your film is accepted to be part of the DC Adventure Film Festival, you will help market the screening of your film through all of your available channels (email, social media, website, etc.).
The Festival strongly encourages finalist film directors and associated staff (actors/athletes, screenwriters, producers, etc.) to attend the Festival. A portion of the programming will be provided to you for audience discussion and interaction. On the Submission Form, please indicate whether the director, producer, other members of the creative team, or actors/athletes are available to attend the Festival, if the film is selected.
All finalists are responsible for their own travel expenses.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
1. Submit film information via FilmFreeway.
2. Upload film via FilmFreeway.
3. Enable download option via FilmFreeway for internal DCAFF screening purposes.
4. Pay handling fees via FilmFreeway.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
a. Entries may only be submitted digitally on line through our FilmFreeway page. If you are unable to submit electronically, please contact the Submission Staff at info@dcaff.org.
SUBMISSION/PRE-SCREENER FORMAT
a. For pre-screening, please submit an H.264 in either an .mov or .mp4 format. Use whatever frame rate your project was edited in. The target data rate should be about 4Mbps.
b. FilmFreeway seamlessly integrates with Vimeo and YouTube
c. The size of the image should be at least 960x540, 1080i/p preferred.
d. Audio should be encoded as AAC at about 160kbps.
FINALIST MASTER COPY (IF YOUR FILM IS ACCEPTED TO THE FESTIVAL)
The Finalist Master Copy Technical Requirements below may change. If they do, we will update the Submission Rules and Guidelines, post on our website, and notify the selected filmmakers.
For Festival exhibition screening, our preferred export settings for the Festival are Quicktime files Apple Pro Res 422 (HQ) at HDTV 1920×1080i/p in NTSC. Uncompressed Audio 48kHz, 24-bit, discrete channel and a H.264 MP4 version HDTV 1920×1080i/p in NTSC. Uncompressed Audio 48kHz, 24-bit, discrete channel.
Note: The Festival reserves the right to refuse films that do not adhere to the submission and finalist master copy technical requirements or submissions that do not adhere to the English voice-over or subtitles rules.
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
Entries MUST be accompanied by the following to be used to reproduce, publish and/or exhibit for promotional purposes as they pertain to the DC Adventure Film Festival:
a. One sheet, film poster, or film graphic
b. At least three (3) digital images from the film in 300 dpi jpeg, Tiff, and/or eps format. All images must be accompanied by title (if named), location and photographer credit.
c. Film trailer (if available)
d. Video clips (if available)
e. Press kit (if available)
f. Director’s CV (if available).
UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS
a. We are using FilmFreeway submission entry and film file uploads.
b. If you are not able to upload your film to FilmFreeway, please contact us at info@dcaff.org.
HANDLING FEES
A non-refundable handling fee must accompany each entry form. Only one film submission per entry form and fee. Below are the fees by deadline and category.
Free submission fee for film premiers. Contact us at info@dcaff.org to receive your code.
Early Deadline (on or before 3/15/17) - $25 Short
Early Deadline (on or before 3/15/17) - $30 Feature
Official Deadline (on or before 5/15/17) - $35 Short
Official Deadline (on or before 5/15/17) - $40 Feature
The fee is payable at the time of film submission via FilmFreeway. If you have any questions or issues, please contact info@dcaff.org
