RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Applicant (hereafter also referred to as: “entrant(s)”, “candidate(s)”, the “filmmaker(s)”, or “you”) to the Grand Teton Film Festival (hereafter also referred to as: the “festival”, “GTFF”, the “event”, “we”, and “us”) is required to acknowledge and adhere to the rules and regulations as described in the following sections. Entry to the festival is by volunteer action of the candidate and acceptance into the event is granted by GTFF as a privilege to those applicants who; meet all requirements; respectfully communicate with festival officers and personnel; seek to maintain a safe and educational environment; seek to promote the art of film and filmmaking; and who demonstrate the willingness to maintain the wholesome integrity of the event through appropriate behavior at all festival activities and locations. This privilege can be rescinded by GTFF at any time for any reason as stated in the sections below.
Persons intending to submit films into GTFF must apply online through the official Festival website using the film submission entry form. No other form or method of entry will be accepted. You must also include in your submission certain materials that will be used to promote your film at the festival. Failure to provide the required materials may disqualify your entry.
Call for entries to GTFF2020 will open on February 1, 2020.
See MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS below for information on what you need to prepare and submit with your film.
See TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS below for information on approved aspect ratios and codecs.
It is your sole responsibility to ensure that your online entry form is properly submitted. Upon submitting your application and materials, you should receive a confirmation email detailing the next steps. If more than 48 hours have passed and you have not received a confirmation, you may email GTFF at submissions@grandtetonfilm.org to follow up on the submission status. It is also your responsibility to ensure that all web links are functional. The links must also remain active through the end of the festival. All materials and payment must be received by the specified deadline. Festival personnel will contact you using the information provided on the submission form. It is your responsibility to notify GTFF of any changes to this information as it may affect your eligibility if our communication attempts are unanswered.
To be eligible for acceptance into the Grand Teton Film Festival:
- Your project must conform to the CONTENT REQUIREMENTS and FILM SUBMISSION GUIDELINES.
- Your project cannot be a modification of any previous submission to GTFF. See RE-ENTRY for details.
- Any project submission that was either accepted or rejected in past GTFF seasons is not eligible for re-submission. See RE-ENTRY for details.
- Your project must meet the TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS in order to be screened at festival locations.
- You must submit all necessary MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS pertaining to your film as well as pay the applicable film submission fee BEFORE the deadline.
You ARE eligible to submit more than one film in the same or differing categories as long as all titles conform to the eligibility requirements. See MULTIPLE ENTRIES for more details.
1. By submitting a film to the Grand Teton Film Festival, you acknowledge that you are authorized by the film’s creators, producers, and investors as well as publishers of any copyrighted material to enter the film into the festival. You submit the film at your own risk and accept all responsibility and liability for its exhibition. You understand and acknowledge that the festival and festival personnel will not be held liable for exhibiting a film if you did not obtain all necessary copyright and exhibition licensing or permissions, or for exhibiting films that contain unlicensed copyrighted material (such as music soundtracks and etc).
2. Film submissions made to the Grand Teton Film Festival does not guarantee acceptance. Films and related content must adhere to strict guidelines regarding viewer content, running time, and the level of professionalism your film displays. You will be notified within 10 days of your submission if it has been selected as an official entry.
3. Films selected as official entries for their intended categories will be critiqued by a panel of professional filmmakers who will base award nominations on the following filmmaking elements:
a) Cinematography
b) Editing
c) Screenwriting
d) Acting
e) Sound Design
f) Visual Effects
g) Direction
4. You accept all liability for the film’s content and indemnify Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC as well as its officers, administrators, committee members, personnel, patrons, sponsors, donors, and partners against any legal action that may result from your film’s exhibition.
5. You acknowledge that entry to the festival is voluntary and does not grant you entitlement to a portion of ticket sales, event profits, or compensation of any kind. You likewise are not entitled to determine showcase order or exhibition time frame. By submitting your film and all required promotional materials, you hereby grant Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC permission to exhibit your film during the showcase, to have it critiqued by a panel of judges, and to use your film with related materials to promote the event on location; the official website; social media channels; and other mediums and formats yet to be perceived, discovered, or determined throughout the universe in perpetuity without limitation and compensation.
Films must meet the following qualifications upon submission to the festival. Failure to meet one or multiple requirements listed below will result in disqualification.
1. Films must remain within specified run time.
2. Non-English language films must have English subtitles at the time of submission. Dialogue lists and Closed Captioning are not accepted or supported.
3. All films must have original content and cannot be depictions, imitations, or recreations of any other copyrighted work.
4. All music must be original unless proper licensing has been obtained by the filmmaker(s) to use copyrighted performances or stock music obtained from legal sources. Documentation of licensing and permissions may be requested after submission. Music attribution must be displayed in the credits section of your film.
5. Regarding Music Videos, only original music or performances of works listed as Public Domain will be accepted. Fan Covers, Arrangements, Parodies, Lipsyncs, or Collaborations of copyrighted works will be disqualified unless proper licensing and exhibition permissions have been granted by the copyright holder. Documentation of licensing and permissions must be provided upon submission and attribution must be displayed in the credits section of your film.
6. Projects must have a storytelling element and meet the current film industry standards of what constitutes a theatrical motion picture production. Films that are intended to be (or are disguised as): advertisements; promotional or corporate films supporting a business, product, political or social issue, or idea; political or social propaganda; or that are rallies for social movements, causes, or trends; or otherwise will be disqualified.
7. Viewer content must be kept to the equivalent of a PG-13™ rating by the MPAA® as well as the following restrictions:
a) No nudity or sex scenes.
b) No graphic depictions of sexual assault or rape.
c) No extreme, excessive, or graphic sexual contact.
d) No same-frame murder, killing, or suicides.
e) No graphic displays or depictions of drug use.
f) Limited references to drugs and drug use.
g) Limited alcohol use and/or abuse.
h) No gore, gratuitous violence, or extreme bloodshed.
i) No excessive/major cursing or obscene language. Absolutely no “F-Bombs”.
j) No obscene gestures, actions, or imitations.
k) No racial slurs or incendiary remarks regarding gender, sexual orientation, or religion.
l) No dangerous or life-threatening stunts that were filmed without regard for personal safety or the safety of others, or situations where innocent people were harmed, traumatized, or pranked due to blatant misbehavior, negligence, mischief, or criminal activity.
m) No disturbing psychological trauma or graphic torture.
n) No disturbing images or themes.
o) No slasher-horror films. (Horror Films or Thrillers are acceptable as long as they meet the requirements listed above.)
Films can be rejected or disqualified at any time if 1) festival personnel determine a film has not met the exhibition requirements, 2) the film has created or will create negative publicity for and/or tarnish the reputation of the festival and its sponsors, or 3) the film creates or will create hostile actions, threats, boycotts, or protests by the community, other festival participants, sponsors, or festival attendees.
- A Gift Shop will be setup on location to sell merchandise. If your film has been selected as an official entry to the Festival, you are invited to sell DVDs, Blu-rays, or posters from your film in the Gift Shop. Music Artists exhibiting a Music Video at the festival may sell CD Albums in the Gift Shop as well.
- Individual Filmmakers and Music Artists will not be allowed to staff the Gift Shop themselves or with other representatives. Festival personnel will conduct and process all transactions.
- You are responsible for providing the merchandise. Any unsold merchandise must be picked up at the conclusion of the Festival. A fee will be charged for any materials that need to be shipped back to you.
- If you opt to sell merchandise at the Festival, you will be required to pay a $20 cover charge. The Gift Shop will also deduct a 5% fee on all transactions to cover handling and debit/credit card processing fees.
- You can opt in to sell merchandise at the Festival up until 10 days prior to the event. Opt in by contacting us at: store@grandtetonfilm.org.
- All merchandise must be received a minimum of 7 business days before the Festival so that it can be inventoried and input into the checkout system. Merchandise brought to personnel on the day of the Festival cannot be sold through the Gift Shop due to the need to inventory and input the merchandise into the checkout system.
- If you opt to sell merchandise, you must email a detailed list of all products you are sending to the festival including quantities and your preferred retail pricing for each item. If you do not specify a price, the Gift Shop will apply default pricing to your items. The default rate is $15 for DVDs, $20 for Blu-rays, $5 for movie posters, and $10 for CDs.
- A statement and check for the total sales amount less processing fees will be mailed to the address you provide within 10 business days of the Festival’s conclusion. If no merchandise is sold, you will be notified via email.
- The Festival Gift Shop will be charging and paying Idaho State Sales Tax (6%) on your behalf.
- Individuals are not allowed to set up private merchandise booths at any of the festival locations.
- Upon opting to provide and sell merchandise at the GTFF, you will be required to execute a release agreement wherein you (i) accept responsibility for obtaining any and all clearances necessary to sell copies of your film/music and other related merchandise at GTFF; (ii) warrant that you have the rights necessary to distribute merchandise materials at GTFF; (iii) you indemnify and hold harmless Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC; its affiliates; subsidiaries; and any of the respective directors; officers; employees; sponsors; partners; and representatives against any claim arising out of the merchandising of your film/music at GTFF; (iv) you voluntarily submit merchandise to be sold during the Festival at your own risk and acknowledge that GTFF cannot be held liable for loss, damage, or theft of products; (v) GTFF can refuse to sell your merchandise at any time with or without prior notice and without compensation of any kind for losses (actual or supposed) suffered by the merchandise owner.
1. If your film is selected to be screened at GTFF, you will be notified of your status as an official entry on or before May 9, 2020.
2. If your film is selected, you must execute a release agreement wherein you (i) accept responsibility for obtaining any and all clearances necessary to exhibit your film at GTFF; (ii) warrant that you have the rights necessary to exhibit your film at GTFF; and (iii) indemnify and hold harmless Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC, its affiliates, sponsors, partners, subsidiaries, and any of the respective directors, officers, employees, and representatives against any claim arising out of exhibition of your film at GTFF.
3. Participants whose films are officially accepted into the festival agree to have the film publicly exhibited, critiqued by a panel of judges, and promoted by the festival without limitation or compensation. Participants agree to sign over rights to festival personnel to exhibit and market their film as they see fit for the duration of the festival without limitation or compensation.
4. Official acceptance to the festival does not grant you entitlement to any portion of ticket sales, event profits, or compensation of any kind.
1. You may have the opportunity to submit a revision of your film. See RE-ENTRY section below for more details.
2. You are not entitled to a refund of the film submission fee.
3. All marketing materials that were included with your film submission will be returned to you, deleted, or otherwise disposed of.
You may submit more than one film to the Grand Teton Film Festival in the same or differing categories. However, you may not submit multiple films in the same entry. Each project must be individually submitted. Multiple films sent in the same entry will result in the disqualification of the entry to the festival. Applicants in violation of this policy may re-submit the films in question individually without penalty before the specified submission deadlines.
The main reason for requiring individual submissions of each film is because all funds received from film entries is dedicated wholly to the awards and prizes given to the filmmakers. The more funding we receive from submissions, the better the awards will be.
If your project was rejected or disqualified from the current season of the Grand Teton Film Festival for content violations or other reasons, you may re-enter it if you have made significant changes to the film and if all applicable eligibility requirements are met by the submission deadline. This revision can be re-submitted without penalty or additional fees. To re-submit a film for the current season, please contact the Film Submission Coordinator at submissions@grandtetonfilm.org
If your project was rejected or disqualified from the Grand Teton Film Festival in past seasons, you may not re-submit the work to the festival.
Film submissions that were either accepted or rejected by the Grand Teton Film Festival in past seasons that have been revised, re-named, re-edited, or similar, will be disqualified.
Films must adhere to the following exhibition requirements:
- Accepted Aspect Ratios
- 1920x1080 (16:9 HD Widescreen)
- 1440x1080 (4:3 HD Square)
- 1920x817 (2:35:1 HD Cinemascope/Panavision Widescreen)
- 1920x1038 (1:85:1 HD Academy "Flat" Widescreen)
- 720x480 (SD DVD Widescreen)
- Supported Sound Codecs
- Stereo (AAC)
- Supported Digital Film File Codecs
- All digital film files must be encoded in .MP4 format with AAC sound. No other codecs will be accepted.
- Supported Disc Formats
- DVD
- Blu-ray
- DVDs or Blu-rays may be encoded with surround sound, however, depending on the exhibition location of your film, surround sound may not be supported.
- If wishing to submit a DCP of your film, you must adhere to the technical requirements of the theater. You must send a Blu-ray or DVD of your film as a backup. If opting to exhibit your film utilizing this codec, you must provide and ship an external hard drive with your film in DCP format. Be aware that some festival venues do not support DCPs. Please contact us at submissions@grandtetonfilm.org if you would like to submit a film in DCP format. DCP FORMATS ARE ONLY ACCEPTED FOR FEATURE FILMS OR DOCUMENTARIES. DCPs are not allowed for any other kind of film submission.
All promotional materials related to your film must be included with your submission on FilmFreeway. You are encouraged to provide as much information as possible so that we can help promote your film at the festival. You will be guided on what to include with your submission upon creation of your FilmFreeway profile.
You are required to provide a movie poster or movie poster-size still image from your film as well as a link to the film's teaser trailer on YouTube or Vimeo. Trailer links must be made public and remain visible until after the festival.
You may withdraw your film from the festival at any time for any reason with the following stipulations:
1. If you have submitted your film to be considered as an official entry, you are allowed a three (3)-day grace period where you may give notice of your intent to withdraw from the festival. You will be refunded the full submission fee.
2. If you give notice of your intent to withdraw from the festival after the three (3)-day grace period, you will not be entitled to a refund of the submission fee.
3. You may give notice of your intent to withdraw from the festival up until thirty (30) days prior to the event. After which, you will be assessed a penalty of $250 for the removal of your film from the exhibition line up as well as compensation for the festival’s promotion and marketing of your film on all related media platforms.
4. All marketing materials that were included with your film submission will be returned to you, deleted, or otherwise disposed of.
5. If you withdraw your film due to the failure of securing necessary permissions, licensing, and exhibition rights, your submission fee will not be refunded, and you may also be subjected to a penalty as described in section 3 above.
6. In order to withdraw from the festival, you must send written notice to submissions@grandtetonfilm.org and include the following:
a. The wording “SUBMISSION WITHDRAWAL” in the subject line.
b. Your name and title. (The name must match the name of the original entrant)
c. The name of the film you are requesting to withdraw.
d. The reason(s) you are withdrawing from the festival.
e. A mailing address where any marketing products or merchandise can be returned to you.
- You hereby indemnify and hold harmless Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC and its representatives, directors, personnel, sponsors, partners, and agents against any and all liability that may arise out your sponsorship of, participation in, and advertising with the Grand Teton Film Festival.
- You acknowledge that your sponsorship is by volunteer action and that the donation of funds, services, venues, or products is conducted at your own risk.
- You acknowledge that Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC reserves the right to refuse a sponsor's application and payment for any reason with or without prior notice. Such rejections are decided at the discretion of the Festival Directors.
- You indemnify and hold harmless Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC and its representatives, directors, personnel, sponsors, partners, and agents from any and all claims relating to the damage, theft, or loss of products as well as the damage, theft, or loss of personal or company property while participating in festival activities.
- You indemnify and hold harmless Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC and its representatives, directors, personnel, sponsors, partners, and agents from any and all claims relating to accidental injury to self or other company personnel while promoting your company at official festival activities.
- You acknowledge that the Grand Teton Film Festival cannot guarantee a successful advertisement campaign on your behalf and that losses of any kind that have been suffered by you or your company will not be compensated or otherwise refunded to you.
- You acknowledge that Grand Teton Film Festival can revoke your sponsorship and evict you from the Festival locations at any time with or without prior notice if: you or your company do not abide by the Terms of this agreement; your sponsorship threatens the integrity of the Festival; your sponsorship threatens the integrity of other sponsors; you or your company do not conduct business respectfully and professionally with common courtesy shown to all festival personnel and attendees; you make unreasonable demands above what has been outlined in your sponsorship benefit tier; or you threaten in any degree festival personnel with sponsorship withdrawal unless unreasonable demands have been met. In such cases of revocation and eviction, Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC is not liable to repay or otherwise compensate for any and all losses that may have been suffered by you or your company. In such cases of revocation and eviction, you are not entitled to a refund or other compensation, in whole or in part, of any donated funds, products, or services.
- You may withdraw your sponsorship at any time for any reason except in cases described in the preceding section wherein you have been formally notified by festival personnel of the termination of your sponsorship before you have given notice of your withdrawal. Products or services that may have been donated will be returned to you. Any remaining funds donated by you or your company to the Grand Teton Film Festival that have not yet been spent will be refunded to you within 30 days of the Festival's conclusion. Grand Teton Film Festival is not liable to repay or otherwise compensate for any products or services that may have been utilized before your sponsorship withdrawal.
- In cases of litigation brought against or entered into by Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC, you acknowledge and hereby agree that all court costs, attorney fees, and other legal fees suffered by each opposing party will be construed under the American Rule relating to ongoing court proceedings pursuant to the case in perpetuity until the case has been resolved or dismissed by the highest authority necessary and will continue in effect for any and all appeals relating to the case.
- You hereby grant Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC permission to use your personal name, business name, logo, and other identifiers in all promotional and marketing efforts across all media platforms without limitation or compensation within the confines of this agreement except in cases where you or your company wish to remain anonymous.
- You hereby acknowledge that you are authorized by your company to enter into this sponsorship agreement and that you have all the rights, licensing, and permissions required to make decisions for and in behalf of your company.
- You hereby declare that your sponsorship of the Grand Teton Film Festival does not violate any other contractual agreements you may have entered into with any third parties and that your intended sponsorship does not present a conflict of interest with any current business partners or individuals.
- The Terms of this agreement may be modified, amended, omitted, corrected, or added to at any time with or without prior notice.
- If paying with credit or debit card, payment must be processed via PayPal. No other method will be accepted. If wishing to process a transaction via EFT or ACH, please contact us for more information. If paying by check or money order, payment must be received within 7 days of submitting this application. Payments submitted through Money Transfer Services such as Western Union®, MoneyGram®, or Venmo® are not accepted.
- Sponsorships will not be considered valid until funds have been received, verified by the facilitating financial institution, and the transaction is completed. The sponsorship effective date begins upon completion of the transaction and not from the date the application was submitted.
- You acknowledge that your intended sponsorship does not entitle you to a portion of profits resulting from ticket sales, merchandise, and other sources of festival revenue.
- If you or your company are authorized to sell merchandise or other products and services at the festival, you acknowledge that Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC is not responsible for collecting and paying any applicable state and federal taxes on your behalf.
- You acknowledge that if you are authorized to represent your company and/or sell merchandise at the Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival is not responsible to obtain any necessary licenses and permits on your behalf.
- You acknowledge that the Terms outlined in this agreement constitute your full understanding of your intended sponsorship of the Grand Teton Film Festival and that the Terms expressed herein are governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Idaho. You further acknowledge that the sponsorship agreement is automatically termed upon the conclusion of the Festival.
All volunteers will have free access to all Festival activities (including the Award Ceremony) and may participate in them as long as it does not conflict with their responsibilities. Please note the following requirements for volunteer candidates:
- The deadline to submit volunteer applications is May 1, 2020. You will be notified of your acceptance by May 13, 2020.
- You must be at least 18 years of age to volunteer.
- You must have access to your own reliable transportation to arrive at and move between Festival locations.
- You must have a valid drivers license or other form of government-issued picture ID. Student ID or Employee ID cards are not accepted.
- You must live in the Southeast Idaho area and be able to report to your assigned duty on time and remain for your entire shift.
- You must wear Festival attire at all activities which includes a GTFF polo (that will be provided to you) as well as khaki pants and comfortable dress shoes. Skinny, distressed, loose/baggy, tight fitting, cargo, leggings, or capri style pants are not acceptable. Khaki pants must fit well and look professional.
- Men must be clean-shaven or have a well-trimmed beard or goatee. Stubble, 5 o'clock shadow, and hipster beards/mustaches are not acceptable.
- Men and Women must practice good hygiene by; showering or bathing prior to the Festival; using deodorant/antiperspirant; having clean, white teeth; and having clean hair with a groomed hairstyle. Messy hairstyles and distracting hair colors are not acceptable.
- You must be able to stand and walk for long periods of time.
- You must be able to communicate well with other volunteers and Festival attendees.
- You must be courteous, cheerful, outgoing, and energetic during all festival activities -whether you are covering that activity or not.
- You must be willing and able to receive direction from team leaders, Festival officers, or other superiors and carry out those directions willingly and accurately -even if it means a change to your assignment.
- If selected to participate, you will be required to read and sign a Volunteer Employee contract before you will be allowed to work at the Festival.
- You must be able to attend the mandatory training meetings held before the festival.
- Your application to volunteer does not guarantee acceptance. You will be notified by the date specified above (via the email address you provide on your application form) if you have been selected or not. Those that have been selected to participate will receive further instructions.
- It is your responsibility to ensure that the email address you provide on the volunteer application form is correct. GTFF accepts no liability for lost, undeliverable, or diverted communications as a result of incomplete or inaccurate email addresses. It is also your responsibility to check for communications from GTFF that may have been inadvertently filtered by your email service to spam or trash folders.
- Please do not contact us to inquire about your application status before May 13, 2020. If 48 hours have passed from that date and you have not received an email indicating that you have been selected or not, please contact us at volunteer@grandtetonfilm.org.
- If you need to correct information on your application or would like to withdraw it, please contact us at volunteer@grandtetonfilm.org.
There are two (2) Mandatory Training Meetings that you must attend or you will be asked to not participate with us and your position will be given to another candidate.
Festival Policies
The Rules and Regulations may change at any time with or without prior notice. The policies set forth in the Rules and Regulations as established by GTFF are governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Idaho.
Debt Collection
Entrants or their agents who refuse to pay fees, cover charges, or any assessed penalties satisfactorily within the specified timeframe, will be subject to legal action and debt collection efforts. The entrant, their agent, or the parent company representing the film will be held responsible for any and all court costs, attorney/legal fees, fines, and/or collection fees accrued by Grand Teton Film Festival, LLC during legal proceedings or debt collection efforts. Exhibition of the film will also be cancelled and all promotional activities relating to your film will cease.
Event Etiquette
As an official entrant to the festival, you are expected to maintain appropriate behavior at all event activities and locations. You are also expected to comply with any direction or communication received from festival personnel or the personnel of any festival venues. If your presence at the festival is determined to be a nuisance, distraction, threat, or a disruption to festival operations, security personnel will be summoned to expel you from the event. Your film will subsequently be disqualified from any award consideration and its exhibition (if not yet screened) will be cancelled. Your Festival Pass will be confiscated, and you will be banned from attending any remaining festival activities. You will also be barred from applying to GTFF for a period of two (2) years.