So I was looking at the rules for the EFS 72 hour challenge this year. And it is a great big huge NOPE. Last year registration was $20. There was a screening, that everyone who went had to pay for including the entrants, but it was not required. This year, registration is $35. You are required to go to the screening, and you have to pay for it. AND....you have to give all exclusive rights to EFS, and they reserve the right to sell your movie, without notifying you or sharing any of the proceeds with anyone involved in the making the of the video. So....you pay to make the film. You pay for the equipment and people's time. You pay for any props, etc you may need. You put your blod sweat and tears into writing, producing, editing a short in 72 hours. You pay to enter the film, and potentially to even see your own film...then THEY get to profit off it and you can't. And this is regardless of your placement in the challenge. It applies to those who did not place, as well as first and second. That is not OK with me. I can understand them asking for rights to reproduce in marketing materials and on thier website for the winners. But this just seems over the top. Why would I put that much effort into something that, if done well, I can't even use to get myself work? I was using it to help boost my skills. I can't justify it for that. What if this year I actually make something awesome? That would be a first, and I would definitely want to put it up on my Vimeo page and hand the link out as an example of what I can do. If someone saw it and decided they wanted to use pieces for a commercial and were willing to pay me, I would damn well want the right to do that.
And they are wording it..."We are only accepting the first 60 registrations". Like they expect to get more. Last year, with no limits, they had 40 entrants. What do they think has chnaged? They have done everything they can to curtail the number of entrants, then they egotistically think they will get more registrations than last years number plus 20%. This whole thing smacks of not respecting or trying to take care of the artists involved. And that is what this should be. It is not an international grand scale thing. It is small and local. They have several high vis sponsors, such as Pabst Blue Ribbon. They don't NEED to exploit the artists. They are choosing to. This kind of endeavor in a small podunk town like Eugene will never be a multi million dollar venture. You do it to give fledgling local film makers a place to cut thier teeth.
There are plenty of others out there that are less to enter and allow you to keep rights to your own work, or at thevery least you only have to allow them to use your final product in thier marketing materials and promotion. I intend to find one and go there instead. I am sad, as I was hoping to support local. But in this case I can't. I just...can't.
And they are wording it..."We are only accepting the first 60 registrations". Like they expect to get more. Last year, with no limits, they had 40 entrants. What do they think has chnaged? They have done everything they can to curtail the number of entrants, then they egotistically think they will get more registrations than last years number plus 20%. This whole thing smacks of not respecting or trying to take care of the artists involved. And that is what this should be. It is not an international grand scale thing. It is small and local. They have several high vis sponsors, such as Pabst Blue Ribbon. They don't NEED to exploit the artists. They are choosing to. This kind of endeavor in a small podunk town like Eugene will never be a multi million dollar venture. You do it to give fledgling local film makers a place to cut thier teeth.
There are plenty of others out there that are less to enter and allow you to keep rights to your own work, or at thevery least you only have to allow them to use your final product in thier marketing materials and promotion. I intend to find one and go there instead. I am sad, as I was hoping to support local. But in this case I can't. I just...can't.
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