Once again it is that time of year. I don't have this year's prize list yet, but I should have it shortly. I'm hoping for a really big turnout this year so that I can keep the contest going in future years.

Anyhow, below is the standard legal info. Please take note of Section 9(c) though, very important as it contains the preferred technical aspects. Remember, your film may be shown on the big screen, we will need as high of a quality file as you can get us for the festival.



1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited or restricted by law. The H P Lovecraft Film Festival’s Contest (the "Contest") is open to anyone who is, at the time of entry, at least 18 years of age. Contest is and shall hereafter be subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws. All entries shall become the property of Sponsors and will neither be acknowledged nor returned except as herein described. By entering, all entrants are deemed to acknowledge compliance with these official rules.

2. TO ENTER:
Enter the Contest by providing a link to your film in the Festival Contest thread and PM'ing the following information to the forum account “Ceronomus” and by emailing a copy of your film in Quicktime or .AVI format along with a .jpg image from the film to "Ceronomus@Gmail.com". All contact should have HPLFF Contest in the Subject line
Name
Address
Email Address
Date of Birth
Your film’s title
Synopsis of the film
The URL where your film can be located

Each entrant must also submit an original Machinima Submission (as defined below) as directed by Sponsors and which complies with these Official Rules. For purposes of this Contest, a "Machinima Submission" shall mean an animated video created, developed and produced by entrant that is based primarily around footage from a computer game. Submitted films should deal with the themes of Cosmic Horror, Weird Tales, and/or the works of H.P. Lovecraft (or other weird fiction author).

Submissions should be between two (2) and fifteen (15) minutes in length. All submitted works should be stand-alone works. The H P Lovecraft film festival has the unrestricted, exclusive right to disqualify any entry they deem inappropriate for consideration. Use of a profane username or the submission of false or misleading personal information by an entrant will be grounds for disqualification. Determination as to whether information given is profane, false, or misleading shall be made at the sole discretion of the festival. Incomplete or inaccurate entries shall be deemed void.

There is no limit to the number of films you may enter in the contest. Personally identifiable information will be used only for the purposes of this contest and will not be retained for any commercial purposes. All entries must be received by no later than 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time), July 18, 2008.

3. PROMOTIONAL PERIOD: Contest commences at the time of this posting on April 23, 2008 and ends 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on July 18, 2008 ("Promotional Period").

4. PROCESS FOR SELECTING POTENTIAL WINNER OF THE CONTEST: On or about August 1, 2008, potential winners will be selected by film festival staff and judged by the festival head, Andrew Migliore after review of all eligible entries. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

5. PRIZES:
To be announced shortly

6. WINNER NOTIFICATION/QUALIFICATION: Potential Winner: During the seven (7) day period following the selection of a Potential Winner, the festival will attempt to contact the Potential Winner via email. If a particular Potential Winner cannot be reached within said seven (7) day period, that Potential Winner will be disqualified and an alternate Potential Winner will be selected by the H P Lovecraft Film Festival after its review of all remaining eligible entries. Potential Winner must prove eligibility to the satisfaction of Sponsors, which may include verification of age, within five (5) days of notification. In order for a Potential Winner to be deemed the Winner, he or she may be required to sign an affidavit: (i) releasing Sponsors from any and all liability, claims, demands and causes of action for personal injury and/or damage, theft, or loss suffered in connection with this Contest, or the use or acceptance of the Prize or any portion thereof to be eligible for the Prize; and (ii) where permitted by law, granting Sponsors the right to use his or her name, voice and likeness for advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation. In addition, Winner may be required to provide a signed affidavit of eligibility and compliance with official rules and any and all legal documents which Sponsors may require within five (5) business days of receipt before being deemed the Winner. Prize will not be awarded until such requirements are met. Upon receipt of the Prize, the Winner shall comply with any and all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations. The value of the Prize is taxable as income and Winner is solely responsible for all matters relating to the Prize, including, but not limited to, all applicable federal, state and local taxes that become due with respect to the Prize. In the event, (i) the Winner chooses not to accept the Prize, (ii) does not comply with these Official Rules, or (iii) Sponsors are unable to contact Winner or notification of Prize is undeliverable, the Prize will be forfeited in its entirety and awarded to an alternate Winner who will be selected from the remaining eligible entries.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By entering, entrants acknowledge compliance with these Official Rules including all eligibility requirements included herein. Released Parties are not responsible for entries that are illegible, incomplete, garbled, lost, delayed, mutilated and misdirected, or for typographical errors in the entry forms and/or rules. Released Parties are not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions, human error, lost/delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failures of any telephone network, computer on-line systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of entrants on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any web site or any combination thereof, including injury or damage to entrants or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials contained in this Contest. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned including, without limitation, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause beyond the control of the Released Parties which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsors reserve the right at their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest in any manner. Should the Contest be terminated or cancelled prior to the stated expiration date, notice will be posted on “the Movies” forum in the contest thread. In the event of a dispute over who submitted the winning entry, the holder of the winning “The Movies” account will be declared the Winner. The use of any system or agent to submit entries in connection with this Contest is prohibited and will result in disqualification. The H P Lovecraft Film Festival reserves the right at their sole discretion to disqualify any individual they find to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or any web site associated therewith; to be acting in violation of the Official Rules; or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person.

8. GENERAL CONDITIONS: All entries become the property of Sponsors for the purposes of the H P Lovecraft Film Festival and will not be acknowledged or returned except as herein described. Entry into the Contest constitutes entrant's agreement to sign any and all legal documents which Sponsors may require. By participating in this Contest, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which are final in all matters relating to this Contest. All interpretations of the rules and decisions by the Film Festival are final.

9. MACHINIMA SUBMISSIONS
(a) Each entrant recognizes that the Festival and/or third parties may independently develop, or third parties may submit or may have submitted to the H P Lovecraft Film Festival or made public, or may hereafter originate, submit and/or make public, material similar or identical to one or more of the submitted Machinima Submissions, and each entrant understands and agrees that no entrant will be entitled to any compensation because of Sponsors' use of such other similar or identical material.
(b) Entrants acknowledge and agree that their Machinima Submissions may be used NON-exclusively by the H P Lovecraft Film Festival in whole or in part for any purpose whatsoever regarding the festival and the promotion of the works of H P Lovecraft. Entrants hereby grant to the festival NON-exclusive, irrevocable right and license to exhibit the materials contained in their Machinima Submissions and/or any portions or excerpts thereof, an unlimited number of times, at any of the H P Lovecraft Film Festivals, in perpetuity.
(c) Entries should either be made with a ratio of anamorphic 16:9 (preferred) or in 4:3 with a preferred frame rate of 24 FPS.

10. WINNER'S NAME/OFFICIAL RULES
 For Winner's name and/or a copy of these rules, send a stamped, self addressed envelope to: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Machinima Contest 2626 NE 31st Avenue Portland, OR 97212 USA. Vermont residents may omit return postage on all rules requests. All requests for Winner's name and/or a copy of these Official Rules must be received by August 15, 2008. Winner's name will be available after selection and verification of the Winner.

Glad to see this back!  I've been thinking of it (and my possible entry) for a while now.

Be hard to nudge Joseph from his top spot, though...

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It will indeed, he's practically Lovecraft re-encarnate! (hmm, possible idea there? )

Glad to see this back - unfortunately I'm much busier this year but will have to see if I can get something together... Being VERY careful about it and copywrite arguments with lionhead - especially after last year's fiasco!

Still, huzzah!

Howie.

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Last year's fiasco? Were there problems that I am unaware of? Last year we had Lionhead's full support and even got ourselves pinned to the top of the forums so people could find us more easily (who do I speak to about that these days).

No big deal - they pulled my movie (nyarlathotep) as they said it broke copywrite law - even after much discussion about the competition etc- so I threw a bit of a strop and gave up lol.

Never mind though, I may yet try again and I sure it'll all be ok.

Howie.

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Sorry to hear that, this is the first I've learned of it.

Actually, Howie, if you adapted "Nyarlathotep" from it's original form, it's considered an adaptation - no matter what you do with it- and that IS against the rules. You'd have to contact the estate of H.P. Lovecraft and ask permission to use that, or try whoever last published that piece... I know it seems kind of silly considering... BUT-

I think this contest is pretty clear in that it wants ORIGINAL ideas based in the little universe of H.P. Lovecraft. New stories, new poetry, new flesh-eating demons and black-cloaked occultists chanting tongue-based mantras around a candlelit circle.

Lovecraft created his own lavish universe of demonology and that alone makes him a wonderful muse for a competition.

However...

I'm a little weary about one rule in particular here, so I'm going to have to switch gears and see if the contest can forward us info a little bit clearer about rule #1...

 

--- 1. All entries shall become the property of sponsors and will neither be acknowledged nor returned except as here-in described. ---

 

Please be clearer about what this actually entails. You don't "here-in describe" how you would go about "returning" anyone's film. I know film festivals often have this type of rule in place for screening purposes, where the filmmaker will often hand over his reel to the festival organizers and get it back- if he chooses- at a later date. This rule seems out of place here since you are just asking for links to the corresponding picture and to be sent a copy via e-mail. Are you seizing the rights of the movie from it's maker for the duration of the comp, or what? Say, if I sent you a version of a story that I already had copyrighted for myself. But I was currently shopping the copyrighted story around in various forms... Could I continue to do so during the festival run, or do I call my agent and tell him sorry, and to stop, because this thing is now owned by insert sponsors name here? You also have to take into account the usage of Lionhead's software, which pretty much means when you make a movie with their game - they own the movie - but you still own the story. This rule seems like it might also infringe on Lionhead's rights to their own software... Which only further confuses me.

 

And this next rule here worries me in a most disconcerting way...

9 A.) Each entrant recognizes that the festival and/or third parties may independantly develop... etc. etc.

If I were to send in an entry I'd need stone hard fact that you- or anybody else for that matter- were NOT going to possibly indepentantly develop any idea I sent to you. Making your contestants feel safe is just as imperative as covering your own respective butts remember, and seeing this- I ain't feeling safe.

I apologize if I come off a little rude here, but I'm a writer first and foremost. And while this comp might look great if you're a budding filmmaker, it looks to me like you're fishing for new ideas that you can peruse at your disposal.

I'm going to have to emphasize that everybody who looks at this thread take a real close look at RULE 9 A before they decide whether or not they want to enter this competition.

It basically entails that this competition reserves the right to rip you off. 

  

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When asked, "Is it better to be loved or feared?" The Prince replied, "It is far SAFER to be feared."

Dhorns, I think a few things need to be cleared up.

First, most of Lovecraft's work is no longer under copyright and is free for adaptation.

Secondly, the contest does accept adaptations and one of our honorable mentions last year went to Slarner for his black and white adaptation of The Hound.

Now, to answer your questions,

dhorns:

Are you seizing the rights of the movie from it's maker for the duration of the comp, or what? Say, if I sent you a version of a story that I already had copyrighted for myself. But I was currently shopping the copyrighted story around in various forms... Could I continue to do so during the festival run, or do I call my agent and tell him sorry, and to stop, because this thing is now owned by insert sponsors name here? You also have to take into account the usage of Lionhead's software, which pretty much means when you make a movie with their game - they own the movie - but you still own the story. This rule seems like it might also infringe on Lionhead's rights to their own software... Which only further confuses me.

No, we are not seizing anything. We are maintaining that if you send us a film for consideration, we are not going to return it. To get a copy of a winning film shown at the festival, we need a higher quality compile than is normally hosted here on the movies. Many filmmakers over the past several years of the contest have submitted their festival viewing version of their film on DVD.

As for infringing on Lionhead's rights to their own software, our legaleze is actually based upon the legaleze used by Lionhead itself for a contest several years ago (about the time we ran our first contest. You seem to be confusing discussion of the submission itself with intellectual property. We don't own your intellectual property.

dhorns:

I apologize if I come off a little rude here, but I'm a writer first and foremost. And while this comp might look great if you're a budding filmmaker, it looks to me like you're fishing for new ideas that you can peruse at your disposal.

I'm going to have to emphasize that everybody who looks at this thread take a real close look at RULE 9 A before they decide whether or not they want to enter this competition.

It basically entails that this competition reserves the right to rip you off. 

You come of more than a little rude, but I'll endeavor to answer your question as you seem to wholly have missed the meaning of the phrase "independantly develop." Used in this context it points out that while a filmmaker might have a great idea for Cthulhu destroying...Paris, some other filmmaker may, INDEPENDENTLY, may also be working on a similar idea. Yes, it is a CYA measure, but it is not license to rip off someone's movie or work, it is a step to protect against lawsuits because someone else's work is similar.

So no, the competition does NOT have the right to rip you off. I'd appreciate it, in the future, if you were to contact myself with questions before making unfounded and potentially libelous statements about the contest and its rules, but that's just me. Seeing as these rules are fairly standard for film festivals, ESPECIALLY the highlighted portion of section 9, I'm really not even certain where else to begin.

So please, if you have further questions and concerns? Contact me and I'll try to answer them for you. But being rude and insulting is wholly uncalled for.

On to more pleasant matters. While I don't have the prize packages created yet, I do have a partial list of the prizes being provided by the festival's sponsors. Prizes include..

Festival t-shirts, programs and posters
a 1-year subscription to Videoscope magazine
Assorted titles from Dark Horse comics
Assorted books from Night Shade books
Zombies! boardgame from Twilight Creations
DVDs from Lurker Films
and...of course...the chance to be screened at the H P Lovecraft Film Festival

I'm working with the festival to get the prize packages assembled, but I'm pretty pleased to see that our prizes have continued to get better each year. So here's looking forward to this year's entries. We keep getting more entries, and the bar keeps getting raised. I can't wait to see what folks come up with this year.

I was speaking to Howie more about how "Nyarlathotep" pertained to TMO's rules. Lovecraft's stories are actually rather trickier when dealing with TMO. Alot of them have been optioned by Hollywood many times, not to mention are still being published. TMO might have the stance that pulling anything to do with Lovecraft's probably not a bad idea, just to be safe. In which case, obtaining permission before releasing your movie on here can be done- and might need to be done.

About the rest of that stuff.

I'm rude because I care.

If I see alot of legaleze about submitting a movie with not one line in the rules stating that the artist's intellectual property is safe while submitted- I care really hard.

It's one thing to state cleverly in the rules that there might be similar entries or similar stories popping up somewhere after your entry has been presented. But you do not clearly state anywhere that the festival, the sponsors, the people explicitely involved will NOT be the ones providing those possible similarities. And I just wanted to point that out. And did so with my previous post...

But I'm going to give you a break here, man. Because you're not asking for the hard time I've been giving you. Chances are- this is going to be a great competition! And everyone taking part is going to be thrilled having been involved.

Like I said, Lovecraft can be a great muse for this type of thing.

 

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When asked, "Is it better to be loved or feared?" The Prince replied, "It is far SAFER to be feared."

Ceronomus:

who is, at the time of entry, at least 18 years of age.

 

Awww, I guess that rules me out- and I was wanting to enter this year.

Oh well, best of luck to the contestants!

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Clever or not, that really is a standard clause for all such contests. Flat out, it means that your original idea might also be someone else's original idea. It does not say that the festival reserves the right to make derivative works based on your entries (which totally would be license to rip people off).

But really, check out the festival itself. This isn't some new festival being run out of some kid's mother's basement. http://www.hplfilmfestival.com/ Quite the festival really, and in the business of showing, not making movies. Lurker films, owned by the festival's owner, does release films, but not create them. In fact I'm hoping to convince him to eventually release a DVD of Machinima, but that might take a while.

Anyhow, Lovecraft has been a fantastic muse so far. Check out films like Quietus to get an idea of what some of our winning entries have been like. The contest continues to grow every year and I look forward to this year's entries.

As for the age restriction? Sorry, that's a CYA for all the varying state and federal laws revolving around contests of any sort.

Maybe next year?

Next year sounds , but I might not wait a whole year to release this film.

I'm sure I'll come up with something else though!

 

See ya in 2009!

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Bear in mind, you can release a film now and enter it into next year's contest. So long as it hasn't been entered before, it is eligible. Of coure, if you want to wait and enter TWO films next year, you can do that too.

I always look forward to this contest, and I'm glad to see it's back (and with even more prizes!).   I'll definitely be submitting another entry this year again.  Thanks again for allowing the TMO community to participate, and thanks also to Biggstrek and Howie for their kind votes of confidence (I just hope my luck holds out this year around).

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TRANSIENCE is now online

Well Joseph you've been there before and more than once. I'll be glad to see you enter again this year and hope to a part of it again as well.

 

LOVECRAFT!!

Uh-oh, Joseph Kwong is entering.

 

THE Joseph Kwong!

 

Nobody here even stands a chance! Hehe, j/k there is a chance...it is just very, very small!

Seriously though, I look forward to seeing these entries, they'll be great!

And maybe I'll do as you said and make my movie now, then just enter it next year!

 

 

 

 

Gosh, 2009 has never felt so far away...

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I'm actually aware of the Lovecraft film festival. I know it's legit. I'm not suggesting you're a "parent's basement" operation. I would not have been as cordial with you had that been the case. Likely, I would have just contacted a guild rep and let them deal with you.

Fact is, I'm mostly ticked about your contests lack of a certain rule- one which is ALWAYS in place in contests of this magnitude in order to protect the interests of the participating artists... You know, the one that clearly states that the festival, it's sponsors, etc. will only use the submitted films for promotional purposes of the festival itself... I've been subtle about the lack of this rule up until now, hoping you'd notice the potential loophole that corresponds with it's lacking. (potentially directly affecting rules 1 and 9 A as I previously stated)

I'm not saying you guys are rip off artists. I'm simply stating that the potential is there. And since it IS there. It might be worth taking a closer look for those interested in participating.

Other than a slight revisal of the rules in the future (maybe next year- since this one is off and running) to include protection of participating artist's work- this is a cool contest. No doubt about it. The Lovecraft film fest was already cool anyway. Hence the props which went with my fair warning.

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When asked, "Is it better to be loved or feared?" The Prince replied, "It is far SAFER to be feared."

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.