Matador Virtual Film Festival

Matador Network Virtual Film Festival
(“Official Rules”)

OPEN TO ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER. VOID IN ALL JURISDICTIONS WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY. The Matador Network Virtual Film Festival (“Festival”), hosted by Matador Network (“Sponsor”) is open only to individuals who are eighteen (18) years old or older at the time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. Only entries with completed submissions and fully paid entry fees will be accepted. Entry fees will not be refunded for any reason, including but not limited to disqualification of the film in accordance with these Official Rules. The following individuals are not eligible to enter or win a prize: employees, contractors, directors, and officers of Matador Ventures, Inc. (dba Matador Network) (“Sponsor”) their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, legal or financial advisors, distributors, web design, advertising, fulfillment, judging and promotion agencies involved in the administration, development, fulfillment or execution of this Festival (the foregoing parties and Sponsor, collectively, “Festival Parties”), and the immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and spouse or “step”) of each and those living in the same household of each such person (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 Festival).

FILM ELIGIBILITY.
Films must be submitted as an online streaming video via FilmFreeway. Only digital submissions will be accepted.
Films must have been completed after January 1, 2019
Films must be narrative, documentary or experimental and no longer than 20 minutes in length. Pornography will not be accepted. Travel, outdoors and adventure-themed films are encouraged.

FESTIVAL PERIOD. The Festival submission period begins on March 23, 2020 and ends April 12, 2020 at 11:59PM EST (the “Submission Period”). Submissions selected for screening at the Festival will be announced on April 16, 2020. The Festival will begin on April 23, 2020 at a time to be announced.

DECISION.
Sponsor will appoint judges to review each entry and select the films to be shown at the Festival (“Selected Films”). Sponsor will also appoint judges and/or solicit votes for the Best in Show and Staff Pick prizes. Sponsor has no obligation (other than as stated in these rules or on our website) to disclose any of the following information: i) identities of screeners or judges; ii) notes, feedback, or information relating to the submitted project; and/or iii) details regarding the submission review or selection process. Sponsor explicitly disclaims any liability or responsibility for any comments, notes, or opinions expressed about a submission, whether by Sponsor, its volunteers, audience or festival attendees. The judges’ decisions are final.
A popular vote will be taken amongst the audience and winners of that popular vote will be announced during the Festival. The popular vote is final and Sponsor explicitly disclaims any liability or responsibility for any comments, notes, or opinions expressed during the popular vote.

PRIZES.
Each of the Selected Films will be automatically entered into competition and eligible to win the following awards and cash prizes (all prizes listed in USD); winning films will be announced during the Festival on April 23, 2020:
Audience Choice Award: The film that earns the highest number of audience votes during a live online poll will win the Audience Choice Award and a cash prize of $250.
Staff Pick Award: The film that earns the highest number of Matador Network staff votes (voting will be conducted prior to Festival) will win the Staff Pick Award and a cash prize of $250.
Best in Show Award: The film which earns the highest number of Best in Show judge votes (voting will be conducted prior to the Festival) will win the Best in Show Award and a cash prize of $300.
Sponsor will also show Matador Network films during the Festival, however, Matador Network films are ineligible for voting, awards and prizes.
If a film wins Best in Show and the Staff Pick, the film will be awarded the Best in Show Award and the film with the second highest votes for Staff Pick will win the Staff Pick Award. Any film winning either the Best in Show or the Staff Pick Award will still be eligible to win the Audience Choice Award.
Each entrant who submitted a winning film (“Winner”) will be required to sign and return any documents as may be reasonably requested by Sponsor, including but not limited to a Winner’s Declaration. Failure to sign and return these documents, if any, by the specified return date will result in forfeiture of the prize. The Winner must sign and return required documentation within fourteen (14) calendar days of issuance.
Winner is subject to verification, including verification of age and residency. If the Winner (i) is determined to be ineligible or (ii) fails to respond to the initial verification message within 48 hours, the Winner forfeits the prize in its entirety. In the event the Winner is disqualified or forfeits the prize, that entrant will be removed from consideration and the film with the second highest number of votes in the relevant category will be awarded the prize in accordance with these Official Rules.
The Winner will be issued a Form 1099 for tax purposes in the amount of the actual prize award and must submit his/her Social Security Number or Taxpayer ID Number if required by law. All federal, state, local, and other taxes are solely the responsibility of the Winner.
Sponsor will issue payment via PayPal to the PayPal account specified in the Winner’s Declaration, which must be signed and returned prior to prize disbursement. Sponsor will pay all transaction fees (Paypal’s Terms and Conditions apply). Being a U.S.-based company, Sponsor issues payment in USD. If Winner’s Paypal account is not in USD, PayPal will convert Sponsor’s USD payment into the currency of the Winner’s PayPal account and may charge the Winner a nominal fee for this service.

IF YOUR FILM IS SELECTED FOR SCREENING AT THE FESTIVAL.
Publicity. Except where prohibited, by entering the Festival, if entrant’s film is selected for the Festival, entrant grants Sponsor and their respective agents a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive and sublicensable right and license to use, distribute, and publicly display entrant’s name, location, and/or photo in any way, at any time, in any and all media, including for use in advertising and marketing, without limitation, without any additional approval or consent of, and without consideration to the entrant.
Grant of License. If entrant’s film is selected for the Festival, entrant grants Sponsor and their respective agents a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive and sublicensable right and license to use, distribute and publicly display the selected film on www.matadornetwork.com and any media channels owned, operated or controlled by Sponsor including but not limited to Roku and social media. This grant of license is limited in time from the date of submission until two (2) weeks after the Festival.
Participation. Entrant will be invited to participate in a question and answer (“Q&A”) session regarding their film during the festival. Participation in the Q&A is encouraged but not mandatory. Sponsor disclaims any liability for any questions or comments during the Q&A.
No Fiduciary Relationship. Entrant acknowledges that Sponsor’s exhibition or presentation of the Film at the Festival does not and will not create any confidential or fiduciary relationship between Sponsor and entrant. No compensation will be made to entrant.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY.
Entrant Warranties. Entrant warrants that:
Entrant is authorized, on their own behalf and on behalf of all other persons or entities who have any ownership rights or interests (including, without limitation, intellectual property rights) in or relating to the submitted film (the “Film”), to exhibit this Film at the Festival;
Exhibition of the Film at the Festival will not violate any law or any right or consent of any person or entity;
The Film is not subject to any litigation, arbitration, or other adversarial claim or proceeding, nor is the Film the subject of any threat of litigation, arbitration, or other adverse claim or proceeding;
Exhibition of the Film at the Festival will not violate or infringe any copyright, patent, privacy right, publicity right, trademark, service mark or any other personal or property right of any person or entity, and that the Film does not constitute or include a defamation of any person or entity;
All license fees, clearance fees, and other obligations, of any kind, arising from or associated with the exhibition of the Film at or in connection with the Festival have been paid and/or otherwise cleared.

Indemnification for Infringement. It is the sole responsibility of the Film’s Owners to secure authorization and permission from the copyright and/or trademark owner(s) of any and all copyrighted and/or trademarked content or materials included within the submitted Film. Sponsor expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any copyrighted and/or trademarked content or materials within or relating to the submitted Film, including any content or materials that are or may become the basis for any third party claims for copyright infringement. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Film with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted and/or trademarked content or materials. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding shall be brought or asserted by any person or entity that alleges that the Film makes unauthorized or unlawful use of any copyrighted and/or trademarked content or material, the Film’s Owners shall fully indemnify and defend Sponsor, the Festival, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that any of them may incur in connection therewith.
Limitation of Liability. As a condition of entering, entrants agree that to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (a) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental, indirect, special, exemplary, or consequential damages and (b) that any and all claims, judgments, and award shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, excluding attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Festival Platform Disclaimer and Release: This Festival will be publicized on social media platforms including but not limited to Facebook (“Festival Platforms”). Please be advised that Festival Platforms do not endorse this Festival, have no stake in the outcome or administration of this Festival, and are not Parties to the Festival. By Participating in the Festival, each entrant agrees to release and hold harmless the Festival Platforms from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising in connection with the Festival, including without limitation, claims for personal injury, death and property damages, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy.
Lost or Corrupted Entries; Festival Errors. By participating in the Festival, entrants agree that Sponsor is not responsible for, and each entrant hereby forever waives any rights to any claim in connection with lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete or delayed entries all of which will be void. Sponsor assumes no liability and is not responsible for, and entrant hereby forever waives any rights to any claim in connection with, errors and/or ambiguity: (a) in the Festival; (b) in any related advertising or promotions of this Festival; and/or (c) in these Official Rules. In the event of any ambiguity or error(s) in these Official Rules, Sponsor reserves the right to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes or to correct any such ambiguity or error(s).
Disclaimer of Warranties. Sponsor makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding your participation in the Festival.

SPONSOR’S RESERVATION OF RIGHTS. If the Festival is not capable of running as planned for any reason, including without limitation, due to force majeure or infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Festival, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who is responsible or who tampers with the entry process or otherwise acts in violation of these Official Rules, and to cancel, modify, or terminate the Festival. In the event that an entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost or destroyed, entrant’s sole remedy shall be another entry into the Festival.

GOVERNING LAW & JURISDICTION. By entering, you consent to the jurisdiction and venue of the state and local courts located in the State of California and the federal courts located in the Northern District of California for the resolution of all disputes arising from or concerning these Official Rules and the Festival.

PRIVACY. Any personally identifiable information collected during an entrant’s participation in the Festival will be collected and used by Sponsor and their designees (i) for the proper administration and fulfillment of the Festival and as otherwise described in these Official Rules and Sponsor’s Privacy Policy at https://matadornetwork.com/content/privacypolicy/ and (ii) to send entrant newsletters relating to Sponsor’s and its partners’ events, products, and services which may be of interest to entrant. To unsubscribe from commercial e-mail lists, use the unsubscribe link in any commercial e-mail message you receive. Unsubscribing will not affect your eligibility to win the Festival.

SPONSOR. Matador Ventures, Inc. (dba Matador Network), PO Box 7775 #40021, San Francisco, CA 94120.