JSSFC Submission Terms & Conditions
1. The Pan African Film Festival, The City of Los Angeles, embRACE LA, John Singleton Short Film Competition (“the Competition”) is open to all ages 18 or over (“the Applicants”).
2. Competition will be run by The Pan African Film Festival, John Singleton Competition Team.
3. By entering the Competition the Applicants accept these Terms and Conditions together with any specific instructions and terms for the Competition which may be mentioned on-air, in any electronic messages, or on the website, or communicated to Applicants in any other way (“Competition Information”). Such Competition Information shall prevail in the event of there being any inconsistency between these Terms and Conditions and any Competition Information.
4. We may cancel or amend the Competition, Competition Submission Entry Dates, Competition Information, or these Terms and Conditions without prior notice. Any changes will be posted either within the Competition Information or these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions were last updated January 5, 2024.
5. Our decision in all matters to do with the Content will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
2. Competition will be run by The Pan African Film Festival, John Singleton Competition Team.
3. By entering the Competition the Applicants accept these Terms and Conditions together with any specific instructions and terms for the Competition which may be mentioned on-air, in any electronic messages, or on the website, or communicated to Applicants in any other way (“Competition Information”). Such Competition Information shall prevail in the event of there being any inconsistency between these Terms and Conditions and any Competition Information.
4. We may cancel or amend the Competition, Competition Submission Entry Dates, Competition Information, or these Terms and Conditions without prior notice. Any changes will be posted either within the Competition Information or these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions were last updated January 5, 2024.
5. Our decision in all matters to do with the Content will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Entry
6. Employees and members of their immediate families (including any live-in partner or household member) of any of the following may not enter:(a) The Pan African Film Festival Staff & Team(b) Any company involved in any capacity in the production or sponsorship of the John Singleton Short Film Competition.
7. The Competition opens at 12:00am PST January 6, 2024. The closing time and date for receipt of entries is 11:59pm PST February 19, 2024 or after receiving the first 300 submissions, whichever occurs first.
8. Applicants may only submit one entry. In the event of multiple entries by the same person, Applicants can only be shortlisted and selected as a Finalist once (in respect of their entry, its the highest that will be used).
9. To enter the Contest, Contestants must do the following:
a) Register an account, complete the mandatory application fields, upload their live action short screenplay, 25 pages or less.b) Read and accept the terms and conditions and receive confirmation of the mandatory $50.00 per entry Submission Fee.
10. Entries must be completed in accordance with the entry process set out above. No other method of entry will be accepted. Entries which do not meet these criteria may not be considered. Entries will not be complete until Applicants have uploaded their screenplay and accepted these Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to disqualify any entries submitted and/or finalized after the Competition has closed.
Representations and Warranties
11. You hereby warrant and represent the following:You are the exclusive owner and sole author of the Script, such that the Script is your original creative work and your submission and therefore will not infringe, misappropriate or violate the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party; and/or you have obtained prior written authorization to act on behalf of any co-creators of the Script; and/or you have obtained the complete and unrestricted rights to the Script.12. Neither your execution of this agreement nor your participation in The Pan African Film Festival, The City of Los Angeles John Singleton embRACE L.A. Short Film Competition , including your submission of the Script, will conflict with or violate any term or condition of any other agreement to which you are a party.
13. There are no threatened, pending or current claims, actions or lawsuits in connection with the Script and you agree to notify The Pan African Film Festival, The City of Los Angeles John Singleton embRACE L.A. Short Film Competition immediate upon your notification of any such claims, actions or suits;
14. You are submitting the Script voluntarily on a non-confidential basis; You are at least eighteen (18) years of age; and You have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this agreement, and you agree to abide and be bound by the terms and conditions herein
Intellectual Property Rights
15. By accepting your Entry, including your submission of the Script, we in no way grant you any additional rights therein or otherwise expand the scope of your rights under applicable copyright laws. You are solely responsible for protecting your rights in the Script, including without limitation, for filing or registering the Script with the United States Copyright Office. You acknowledge and agree that The Pan African Film Festival, The City of Los Angeles John Singleton embRACE L.A. Short Film Competition and/or any participating judges may be independently developing or producing separate works which could resemble the Script and incorporate concepts, themes, formats, plot lines, or characters similar to those in the Script, and that you are not entitled to any compensation and have no rights of any kind with regards to that separate material.
16. By entering the Contest, Contestants understand and agree that:
(a) By entering the Competition,Applicants understand and agree that: In the event of any fault, mistake, misunderstanding or dispute concerning the correctness or acceptability of the entry, or the operation of any part of the Competition, or the interpretation of these Terms and Conditions, the decision we make shall be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
17. None of our, (including their employees, officers, servants, agents) or any other party or organization (including their, employees, officers, servants, agents) involved in the management, promotion, or administration of the Competition, or its entry, or implementation of any awards (or their agents or subsidiaries involved in any way in the Competitiot or any award) (together the “Competition Parties”) will accept responsibility or liability for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, destruction, alteration of, or unauthorised access to entries, or entries lost or delayed whether or not arising during operation or transmission as a result of server functions (including but not limited to security functions by software used by us or any third party), virus, bugs, or other causes outside its control. Proof of submission online is not proof of receipt by us.
18. Any entries which are incomplete, incorrect, inaudible, incomprehensible, may be void.
19. In the event of any fault, mistake, misunderstanding or dispute concerning the correctness or acceptability of the entry, or the operation of any part of the Contest, or the interpretation of these Terms and Conditions, the decision we make shall be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
20. We will not be liable to reimburse any expenses incurred in entering the Contest.
21. We reserve the right to disqualify any Applicants and/or entries which it believes have not been made in compliance with these Terms and Conditions or to disqualify any Applications found to have tampered with the entry process or the operation of the Competition or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to threaten, abuse or harass any other person.
Finalists
22. Only the Finalists will be notified.
23. The Finalists first names and surnames may be published.
24. We reserves the right to select an alternative Finalist in the event that a Finalist is unable to be contacted.
23. The Finalists first names and surnames may be published.
24. We reserves the right to select an alternative Finalist in the event that a Finalist is unable to be contacted.
Judging Criteria & Process
25. Screenplays submissions will be judged by ten essential script writing categories:- Premise
- Format / Presentation
- Story Structure
- Plot
- Characters
- Dialogue
- Theme
- Pacing / Emotional Investment
- Style & Tone
- Originality
- Dialogue
- Theme
- Pacing / Emotional Investment
- Style & Tone
- Originality
26. Ten (10) Semi-Finalist who receives the highest scores will advance to Round Two of the Judging process.
27. In the event of equal scores, all tied Semi-Finalists will be judged by our team, who will determine at its sole discretion which Three Finalist should win the Competition.
28. We will take all reasonable steps to contact the winner using the details provided by the Finalist when they entered the competition but in the event of any failure to do so or a Finalist’s failure to respond within 7 calendar days of the results being determined, We reserve the right, in its absolute discretion, to select an alternative winner from the top Ten Semi-Finalists.
29. Prior to Winners being announced publicly Winners will be required to agree, legally review and sign a Short Film Competition Agreement that sets forth terms and condition for The John Singleton Short Film Competition Deliverable & Deadlines.
30. The winners must be available to take part in interviews and/or any other promotional materials and/or events if requested by us. In the event that the winner is not available when required,We reserve the right, in its absolute discretion, to select an alternative winner.
Award
31. After the competitive judging process of all submitted screenplays, three filmmakers will be awarded $20,000 each for the production and completion of a live-action narrative short film of their winning screenplays.32. The winners acknowledges that. The Production Funding Grant is non-transferable and is not redeemable for or any other value or consideration.
33. We may in its sole discretion refuse to provide the Grant, or seek its recovery, in the event of non-entitlement under these Terms and Conditions or Applicants breach of these Terms and Conditions, fraud, dishonesty, or other inappropriate or improper conduct.
Data Protection and Publicity
34. We may exercise its sole discretion to use all Finalists’ names, images, and their comments relating to the Award and Competition experience for promotion of the Award, this Competition, or the Competition Team, and for future promotional, marketing and publicity purposes in any media worldwide without notice and without any fee being paid.35. The information Applicants supply in connection with the Competition (including their personal details):
(a) may be included in a database compiled for the Competition and will be used for the purposes of selecting Finalists;(b) may also be used for inclusion and/or read out in any program produced in connection with the Competition; and(c) will not be supplied to third parties (other than the Competition Team) other than as is reasonably necessary to select Finalists and administer the Competition.
36. Any personal information provided by the Applicants, will only be used by us in accordance with its Privacy Statement which is accessible for the purposes of the Competition or as otherwise set out in these Terms and Conditions.
Liability
37. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or limit the Competition Team’ liability for death or personal injury caused by their staff or supplier's negligence or for fraud. Subject to this, none of the Competition Team can accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any Applicants entering the Competition or as a result of accepting the Award. None of the Competition Team are responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software failure of any email or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Applicants or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the Competition.38. None of the Competition Team promise that the services relating to the Competition will be free from errors or omissions nor that they will be available uninterrupted and in a fully operating condition. These services may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons reasonably beyond the control of any Competition Team. We will not be liable in the event that all or any part of the service relating to the Competition is discontinued, modified or changed in any way.
Standard terms
39. In the event that any Applicant does not, or is unable to, comply with and meet these Terms and Conditions and the Competition Information, We shall be entitled at its sole discretion to disqualify such Applicant, without any further liability to such Applicant. In these circumstances, any Award won by the Applicant may be forfeited. All Applicants must comply with any directions given by any Competition Team including but not limited to any and all relevant laws, rules and regulations, and where applicable.40. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Terms and Conditions shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein.
41. These Terms and Conditions and the Competition Information shall be exclusively governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of California.
42. Our Customer Services team may be contacted by email: competition@paff.org
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