WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
The growing need to champion GOOD has never been more apparent. In the face of this, we, especially storytellers, are not powerless. Stories are powerful. Stories plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into an audience. Telling the story of a real person, for example, can humanize an abstract issue, or a far-distant conflict and convert it into something relatable. Science proves the brain synchronizes with the subject of a well-told story. Stories move people in a way that facts and figures alone never will. Film works to enhance this power of storytelling by touching our hearts over our rational minds.
As you look across your world and your immediate community, are there stories that matter to you? Can you shed light through a story that could inspire people to take interest, care and take action towards positive change?
We challenge you to tell these stories in your own way to, first and foremost, make your viewers feel. Whether it’s a strong sense of compassion, empathy, inspiration, outrage, awe, or all of the above, many of us have experienced that moment where you wished you could do something after watching a powerful film.
We then challenge you to take this a step further to harness that very moment. Come up with specific actions, big or small, so your viewers can be a part of that change you envision and mobilize for you as they watch. We are looking for short films that have the potential to go viral. Films that you just can’t help but share to have more people be informed and engaged. There is a magic quality to this type of content. You know it when you see it. Will you be able to capture this magic in your film and harness it? Storytelling combined with social actions can lead to impact. We are ultimately looking for short films and campaigns that have the potential to exemplify this power of storytelling to create more GOOD in our world.
ELIGIBILITY & GUIDELINES:
Student Impact Producers must be currently enrolled at an accredited high school, film school, college or university in the United States
Students may collaborate with students at institutions outside of their own school
Students may not pay consultants outside their schools (students may pay appropriate travel expenses for mentors, or may offer minimal stipends to university employees to assist in the logistics of their production)
Students are encouraged to engage and partner with impact oriented organizations, individuals and businesses to enhance their campaign’s reach, and impact potential
Impact Film length must be shorter than 10 minutes in complete length, including title cards and credits
You must develop an Impact Campaign on UPTOGOOD.org around your film.
Impact Film used for your Impact Campaign must lead to at least one or more calls to actions other than “SHAREit,” defned as “FUNDit,” “SIGNit,” “PROMISEit” on UPTOGOOD.org
Impact Film must include at least one mention of your custom UPTOGOOD campaign URL (ie: you may include it in the last frame of your film.)
Impact Film must be available on Vimeo or YouTube. If you use Youtube, annotations linking to your UPTOGOOD Impact Campaign is encouraged.
Your Impact Campaign on UPTOGOOD must remain Active from the time of submission through at least 4/22/18.
If you are under the age of 18, you must have consent from your parent or legal guardian to develop and publish your Impact Campaign on UPTOGOOD
The festival entries must be submitted in the form of impact film campaigns via UPTOGOOD.org. You must complete the Submission Form (https://goo.gl/BG28Kj) and submit your Impact Campaign by 3/24/17 5pm PST
If you are selected as a finalist, you will be notified and be asked to submit screening copies of the Impact Film and Intro Video by emailing a link to the files uploaded on Dropbox or WeTransfer in MPEG4 / h264 at 1080p / 10-25 mbps format to festival organizers. Finalists will also be asked to submit screening copies of the Impact Film and Intro Video on DVD and mail it in. If you are selected as a finalist, you agree to submit screening copies of the Impact Film and Intro Video per festival instructions by 4/10/17 5pm PST. Submission email address and mailing address will be provided when finalists are notified. Intro Video must be no longer than 60 seconds that introduces the filmmaker / production team (name, school), explains why this film, campaign and festival matters to the filmmaker / production team, and describes the proposed calls to actions reflected in the UPTOGOOD impact campaign. This video should allow the audience to get to know you behind the scenes and get them to act on your campaign. This video will be played after your film is screened should your film be selected as a finalist.
Please review UPTOGOOD’s Terms of Use (https://www.uptogood.org/tos-utg/) and Community Guidelines (https://www.uptogood.org/community-guidelines/). Submissions to the UPTOGOOD Impact Film Festival presumes that you have read and agreed to the Terms of Use and Community Guidelines of UPTOGOOD.
JUDGING CRITERIA:
A panel of judges will review each submission and declare finalists on 4/3/17 10am PST using the following judging criteria:
A panel of judges will review each submission and declare finalists on 4/3/17 10am PST using the following judging criteria:
Meets Eligibility and Guidelines
Impact Film’s ability to inspire action for positive social impact
Demonstrates the power of storytelling to develop empathy and/or other strong emotional resonance
Impact Film's artistic quality
> Demonstrates visual and technical strength, incorporating best practices in filmmaking
Impact Film’s journalistic integrity
> Accurate and factual
> Truthful, and does not falsify or take facts out of context
> Explores points of view that challenge your perspective as appropriate
> Fair and credible
Impact Campaign’s ability to compel action
> Demonstrates creativity in Impact Campaign’s Calls to Action
> Demonstrates clarity in Impact Campaign’s Calls to Action
> Impact Campaign’s potential reach and impact
> Demonstrates strategic strength in mobilizing relevant partners
> Demonstrates compelling Impact Campaign messaging and management skills to mobilize an audience
> Compelling and strategic proposed plan for marketing, distribution, partnerships and outreach
> Traction demonstrated via stats of UPTOGOOD calls to action (FUNDit, SIGNit, PROMISEit, SHAREit) during judging period
> Traction demonstrated via stats of UPTOGOOD calls to action (FUNDit, SIGNit, PROMISEit, SHAREit) during judging period
Your effectively spreading the word and engaging with your supporters play an important role in increasing your chances of your submission being judged favorably. Read our tips for promoting your submission. (https://goo.gl/7yr4pI)
