OIF Film Challenge Rules

Challenge Entry Terms and Conditions

1. You confirm you are the authorized owner or agent for the production being submitted and hereby authorize OIF to screen your film in part, or in its entirety, to the public.
2. All productions are independent. Under no circumstance shall you state or imply that you are an employee, contractor, or a representative of or for OIF.
3. You certify that the script is based on an original story where you or a member of your production team is the creator of same story.  No adaptations. No “Fan” films.
4. The Challenge entrant is required to be an active member in good standing of the OIF community.
5. You will inform the admins promptly if you will not be able to complete your film project prior to the deadline.
6. You have obtained all necessary releases for the submitted production, including pertinent talent and location releases.
7. Film project (script and production) must be submitted by, and rules must be accepted by, a single real person. No pseudonyms or company names allowed for submissions.
8. Please practice safe filming.  No real weapons to be present on any set.
9. Film entries not received by the deadline will not be eligible for awards. However; at the producers’ sole discretion, may still be screened.
10. Opening Cards. Use one of these required “cards” at the beginning of your film to identify the production as a Challenge entry as well as to indicate your self-rating. Please choose a rating in line with current industry practices. 
11. Maximum running time limitation of the film submission for an OIF Short Film Challenge is 9 minutes and 5 seconds, unless otherwise posted on the respective Challenge material.  Total running time includes credits and required OIF slate.
12. Rating Limits: Please use good taste. Keep content to “PG-13” use swear words sparingly and where appropriate for the film’s story. No nudity.  No more than 3 “F* bombs”! We normally have a general audience in the theater, keep it so the whole family can enjoy the screening.
13. Unless otherwise posted on the specific Challenge page, films should be encoded in h.264, .mov or .mp4 format, 1920p x 1080p Full HD resolution (2K, 1.78:1 aka 16:9). Do not submit any other resolution for the screening. For other perspectives, you may use “black bars” (letter-boxing).
14. When submitting films, the file names must match the film title exactly (all lowercase), using underscores to indicate spaces. Shorter names preferred.
    Example: if title is “My Dog Is Great”, film file name should be “my_dog_is_great.mp4”. 
    DO NOT use any other file-naming sequence such as “My dog is great version 2.1” or “filmmaker-Darth-Thomas-My Dog Is Great (Final).mov”, “MDIG.mp4”, or “oif-film-24-mdig-series-b.mp4”.
15. Total stock footage or AI-generated content used must not exceed 15 seconds of total runtime.
16. Spoken word (synchronized dialogue) films must be presented in the English Language unless English Language text captions are used.
17. Only directors and or producers are authorized to nominate candidates for OIF Awards.
18. Award eligibility for directors and writers is limited to one credited entry per Challenge.
19. OIF may show or post images, photos or trailers of your film, up to 90 seconds, via any distribution channel(s) for marketing and promotional purposes. 
20. During production, abide by all local laws and ordinances.
21. Failure to provide the film according to the technical Challenge rules and specifications will cause a one, or more, point deduction to the offending award categories for each infraction (adherence to genre, missing required slates, wrong naming convention, sound issues, wrong format provided, or other technical issues).
22. Once a film has been submitted, it cannot be withdrawn from screening.
23. You hereby indemnify OIF, its staff, agents, and partners from any harm while participating in an OIF-sponsored event.
24. Your OIF film may NOT be shown elsewhere, prior to the OIF screening date for the Challenge you entered.  Doing so will result in permanently being banned from any OIF communities.
25. Award nominations for actors as a lead and/or supporting role is limited to a total of three (3) films per Challenge.
26. Writers and/or Directors are limited to such roles in a single film per Challenge.
27. You are allowed to make minor changes to your script during production, as long as the storyline is not materially changed and all the guidelines are followed, your film submission will likely still qualify.
28. If your script was selected and your film project follows the OIF Film Challenge Rules, you have a secured screening spot at the event. Your cast and crew are eligible for awards as long as the final film qualifies and is submitted by the deadline.
29. The submitter of the film acknowledges their production team has followed the OIF Film Challenge Rules and has acknowledged the Challenge Guidelines. Please communicate these rules with your crew and talent to avoid jeopardizing your submission.
30. Additional Terms and Conditions may apply and will be posted on the dedicated Challenge web page, or on the submission form itself.