2019 Film Submission Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in submitting a short film to The GO Fund Film Festival! The Festival exists to promote captivating, high-quality, short films that explore the work God is doing among unreached people groups. The event offers a creative platform for aspiring videographers, actors, directors and designers to use their God-given talents to move people to act and understand God’s work around the world through missions and compete for a chance to win $5,000!
The GO Fund exists for one purpose: to accelerate Christian disciple making among the unreached by removing the barrier of student debt for qualified missionaries. We see this event as an opportunity to broaden our reach and invite people into this Kingdom work. Therefore, every film should be produced with a distinct Christian worldview and focused on missions happening among unreached peoples. If you believe your film is in general alignment with the purpose and vision of the Festival, please read the following Rules and Regulations to ensure your film has met the proper criteria. To enter the festival, you must agree to these official rules. Submission of an entry constitutes an agreement to these rules.
Important Dates and Information
· Registration and film submissions for The GO Fund Film Festival 2019 will open February 11th, 2019.
· Films must be submitted through The GO Fund website; the submission deadline is September 20th, 2019.
· Film Submissions are $25.
· The Festival(s) will be held between October and November (specific location(s) and date(s) TBD).
· The top film will be awarded $5,000!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Section I: Rules and Regulations
Section II: Technical Submission Guidelines
Section III: Film Submission Considerations
SECTION I: RULES AND REGULATIONS
1) Films must be submitted by September 20th, 2019, to be eligible for the 2019 Festival.
2) It is the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to secure authorization and permission from the copyright owners for any and all copyrighted or trademarked content. The Festival will not be held liable for any unauthorized use of copyrighted or trademarked materials and reserves the right to disqualify any film for copyright or trademark infringement. Entries that include copyrighted materials (such as images, supers or audiovisual materials) or music (such as music purchased from iTunes, on CD or other downloadable services) without the proper permission and signed release forms will be disqualified.
3) By submitting a Film to the Festival, the filmmaker agrees to allow the film to be screened at the Festival and to allow short portions of the film to be used by the Festival for promotional purposes.
4) Filmmakers must sign a release form and email a copy to chase@thegofund.com. The form can be found here.
5) Filmmakers must submit through FilmFreeway and all fees must be paid before the deadline for a film to be eligible for the festival. Submission fees will not be refunded if a film is disqualified or not selected to be shown at the Festival. Submission fees are $25.
6) All films must be submitted according to the guidelines listed in Section II: Submission Guidelines and must be uploaded by the deadline to qualify. Submission deadline is September 20th, 2019.
7) Films will be selected based on excellence in their work and alignment with the Festival guidelines and objectives as explained in Section III: Film Submission Considerations.
8) Filmmakers may submit multiple films, however, each film must be accompanied by its own entrance fee and submission form on FilmFreeway, as well as a release form.
9) Once the films have been reviewed and the selection process is complete, filmmakers will be notified using the contact information included in the submission form. It is the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure that the Festival has the necessary and correct contact information.
10) The Festival is under no obligation to provide feedback on individual films or on the selection process.
11) If your film contains content that is not suitable for younger viewers, filmmaker must identify this in their submission form.
12) We strongly encourage you or a representative of the film to attend the Festival to receive any potential awards. Please notify us ahead of time if this is not possible.
SECTION II: TECHNICAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please read the following guidelines carefully to ensure that your film is not rejected due to technical issues. The submission deadline is September 20th, 2019.
1) Filmmakers must provide 2-3 screenshots of their film for use if the film becomes an official selection. We highly recommend you upload a movie poster (both digitally and mail a large printed version to The GO Fund) as well. The screenshots are to be uploaded with the film. Please name your files “[Name of your Film] Picture 1” and “[Name of your Film] Picture 2” and so forth. These can be uploaded to your digital press kit on FilmFreeway.
2) Each film submitted should begin with a black screen (for one second) and then the Film should immediately start without any further delay. Please, do not include any trailers or special introductions.
3) Audio should be mastered in stereo sound.
4) A one or two sentence logline and a film synopsis of no more than 120 words must be submitted with the application. This will be used to promote the film if it becomes an official selection.
5) The film should follow a three-act structure.
6) Tech Specs:
· Acceptable Video Formats: NTSC 1080p Apple ProRes 422, NTSC 1080p H.264, .mov, .mp4, 720p, Apple ProRes 4444
· File Specifications: We only accept multiplexed files, meaning the audio, video, and subtitles are contained in one (1) single file.
· Your film should not exceed 8 GB
SECTION III: FILM SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS
1) Every film should explore unreached missions from an evangelical Christian worldview.
a. Nearly 40% of the world still does not have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, currently only 3% of the Christian missionary force is serving among them. A people group is considered unreached “when using criteria of less than 2% Evangelical and less than 5% Christian Adherent.” (source: Joshua Project) Read more here.
b. If your film explores unreached missions, it would be considered eligible. You can tell the story of a missionary who is on the field or getting ready to go to the field. You can tell the story of an entire people group or just an individual within the people group. Your story can be about the state of modern missions or it can be a silent film that tells a story through strong visuals. The ideas are endless, you get to tell the story and invite others into the beautiful things God is doing around the world.
2) Consider: not everyone watching your film will be a professing Christian, make sure to invite people into the story by avoiding too much Christian-ese. Our hope is that people will see the beauty of the gospel on display and leave with a better understanding of missions and how they can be involved.
3) Consider: this is a family-friendly setting. If your film includes explicit images or language it may be considered but may not be shown. This is not an automatic disqualifier, but we ask that you are sensitive and strategic in your use of explicit material.
4) Your film must not contradict The GO Fund Statement of Faith.
5) Consider: every film will be scored based on three criteria.
a. Content
Plot (Is the theme and/or story clear?)
Call to action (Does the story line move people to action?)
b. Following Guidelines
c. Creativity