Competition Rules

Rules

Don't break these or we'll break you.

Big Book of Rules

The Run & Gun Competition starts precisely on August 12th at 7:00pm when contestants will be given 3 surprise elements that must be incorporated into their films. The finished films must be delivered August 14th by 7:00pm.

Please note that delivery MUST BE DONE IN PERSON.

Eligibility

Who's in and who's out

  • All entrants must be residents of British Columbia.
  • All films must be shot in British Columbia within the 48 hours of the festival.
  • Entrants cannot be employees of This is a Spoon Studios or staff for the Run & Gun contest.

The following MUST be done in the 48 hours:

Time is limited

  • Writing the script
  • Costume & set design
  • Shooting
  • Editing
  • Sound design
  • Rendering
  • Output to DVD, USB, or WeTransfer
  • Delivering final product

The following can be done prior to the 48 hours

We aren't that mean

  • Organizing crew
  • Organizing cast
  • Sourcing equipment
  • Location scouting

3 Surprise Elements

Surprises are always fun

To keep this competition true to the 48 hour format each team will be given three random elements at the start of the 48 hours. These elements could be anything from an object, location, line of spoken dialogue, character, etc. Each filmmaker must incorporate the three surprise elements in their films, failure to do so will result in disqualification. If there is a surprise prop must be on screen for a minimum of 5 consecutive seconds.

Music

M-M-Moped Music

Music included in film can be produced before the 48 hour period. By submitting a film you are claiming you have the rights to the music in the film. We won’t ask you for this documentation, we will just believe you and we are pretty dang gullible.

Late Entries

Tsk tsk tsk

Late entries will be reviewed and could be shown at the Awards Gala but they are ineligible to win prizes, unless special permission has been made.

Themes and Genres

All genres are allowed and encouraged at the festival. We have no restrictions on content: entrants can swear, stab, and make dick jokes all they want. That being said, we might get in trouble for exhibiting things like excessive nudity so don’t go too crazy. Use common sense.

General

The accoutrement

Finished films MUST BE UNDER 5 MINUTES, and that’s including credits. We want to show as many films as possible so keep it short and sweet. Please do not upload or promote your film publicly until after the Awards Gala.

We know that our This is a Spoon headquarters is New Westminster was a bit of an inconvenient location for some people last year to have our kick-off Directors Meeting, so this year we will be livestreaming our event kick-off. Be sure to follow us on Facebook at This is a Spoon Studios. The livestream will answer any questions you might have, and it will also be when we reveal the 3 surprise elements. Please keep in mind that the hand-in still needs to be in-person!

Tech Specs

Technical Spechnicals

Final films must be delivered as a high resolution digital file. We would love a ProRes 422 1920x1080 .MOV. But any .MOV, MP4, H.264 or .AVI works for us, the higher resolution the better.

Submissions will not be accepted unless all these requirements are fulfilled. Ensure you complete the delivery package by the time the contest ends.

  • Final film under 5 minutes (including credits)
  • Release submission form
  • Synopsis (under 200 characters)
  • Film Title (please have it appear on-screen as well)
  • Typed out credits as a text file (Word preferred)
  • One (1) behind the scenes clip of the making of (can be shot on a phone)

Jury

TBF

Awards Gala

What we all care about

At the end of the competition, all teams are invited to the Rio Theatre for an awards gala on August 28th where the Top 15 films will play and awards will be given for the following categories: Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Audience Choice, Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Best Directing, Best Sound.

We want to show as many films as possible at this final screening. If we get too many submissions we will host an online film festival of all the films that didn’t make it to the finals the day before the Gala.

The finalists will be alerted 1 week before the event. Each finalist team gets 2 tickets to the Gala. Additional tickets can be purchased at the door.

Release and Liabilities

Sign away your rights

By entering a film in the 48 hour Run and Gun competition, you are giving permission for This is a Spoon Studios & VanChan to project your film for the Awards Screening Gala as well as giving This is a Spoon Studios permission to post the videos on the This is a Spoon website via unlisted YouTube video. By entering the contest you are declaring that you have releases for all actors, music, locations, art clearances etc.

No liability or responsibility is assumed by This is a Spoon Studios LTD. or VanChan. Create at your own risk. So please don’t hurt yourself, animals, or equipment while making your film. Great idea to insure! (Insure your production cheap & fast at GearPolicy)

Make a kickass film and have fun!



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