1. This is a short film festival. Submissions must be no less than 5 minutes and no more than 10 minutes in length.
2. This is a high school film festival. All key film crew members of submitted films must be current high school students (entering 9th-12th grade). Key crew members include producer, screenwriter, director, cinematographer, and editor.
3. This is a family-friendly film festival. We encourage student filmmakers to create content that explores meaning and tells the truth, content that conveys what they have found to be true about life and about what is real. We urge students to think in terms of the truthfulness of the conclusions to which their stories lead, including the cause and effect relationships they establish between actions and consequences.
We insist that students respect the autonomy of all participants in the creation of content, including that of actors, thinking carefully about what they ask actors to perform and experience physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We also insist that students master the fundamentals of their craft before approaching storytelling elements that require the greatest skill and discretion. Therefore, PG-13 should be considered the default maximum rating for any project submitted to the Story Masters Film Festival.
A guide to movie ratings can be found at this website: http://movies.about.com/od/dvds/fl/How-Does-a-Movie-Get-Its-Rating.htm
The following content is prohibited in any project submitted for consideration to the Story Masters Film Festival:
· Depiction of graphic/gratuitous violence and/or gore
· Depiction of violence as a solution to resolve problems
· Emphasis on violent techniques/acts (e.g. methods of torture, self mutilation)
· Encouraging aggressive and sadistic attitudes towards infliction of pain and violence
· Portrayal of sexual assault /coercion, either explicit or implicit
· Nudity of any sort
· Depiction of any sexual activity
· Hate language; racial slurs; expletives must remain mild and infrequent
· Simulation of any drug use
Submissions rejected on the grounds of inappropriate or offensive content will not receive an entry fee refund. Submitters may contact tara@story-masters.org with specific questions about acceptable material prior to submission.
