RULES

FILMMAKING RULES

Welcome to the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival. 

The EVENT/COMPETITION takes place on Thursday, April 18th 2024 at 8pm EST to Saturday, April 20th at 8pm EST 2024. We will send an email to all Team Leads with a link to the virtual meet where the theme as well as other filmmaking details for the competition will be revealed. If you can’t make the virtual meet a “Production Packet” pdf with all key points discussed at the meet including where/how to submit your film will be sent to the email addresses of all team leads on Thursday, April 18th 2024 between 8pm - 8:30pm EST. A “Production Packet” will be sent out to all teams.

The Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival SCREENING and award ceremony will take place on the evening of Friday, April 26th 2024. Time and location to be announced at a later date, the location will been the Atlanta metro; please come back to this website periodically for updates. One representative from each team must be present; if your team wins and no team representative is present to receive your award, you then forfeit the award and the next best entrant will be awarded instead. So all in all, someone from the team HAS to be there.

Please carefully review the following filmmaking rules for the film festival event to ensure fair competition and eligibility.

A. Times:

  • The Official Event Time Period for the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival for teams to film and submit their projects will be from Thursday, April 18th 2024 at 8pm EST to Saturday, April 20th 2024 at 8pm EST.

  • The participating team must complete its film in time to submit it on Saturday by 8:00pm EST. Please take note: the DEADLINE to submit all films is SATURDAY, APRIL 20th 2024 at 8pm EST.
    Only films that meet the deadline will be officially part of the competition.

B. Rule Amendments:

  • The Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival Organizers reserve the right to add to or amend these rules at any time before the Official Time Period begins.

C. Creative Focus:

  • All creativity must take place during the Official Event Time Period.  Any creative work in advance of the competition weekend is prohibited. Creative work includes, but is not limited to:

    • Writing the script

    • Shooting

    • Editing

    • Sound Design

    • Rendering

    • Outputting to USB drive or other media

D. Preparation

The only work to begin prior to the Official Event Time Period is:

  • Organizing Crew

  • Organizing Cast

  • Securing Equipment

  • Scouting/Securing Locations

E. Footage

  • Core Footage: Every frame of your film must contain footage shot or created during the Official Event Time Period of the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival event. This is considered "core footage."

  • Supporting Footage: Supporting footage, including stock footage used as part of a special effect, shot or created before the Official Event Time Period may be placed over or under the core footage. However, every frame of your film must contain some amount of core footage, and the assembly of core footage with the supporting footage must occur during the Official Event Time Period.

  • Animation, Titles, and Special Effects: Animation, titles, and special effects created during the Official Event Time Period are considered core footage. This includes footage created using Artificial Intelligence, as per Rule Y.

  • Still Photos: Still photos are permitted as core footage. They do not need to be created during the Official Event Time Period. However, still photos created outside of the Official Event Time Period cannot be used in a sequence to create the illusion of motion and are only acceptable as supporting footage.

  • Rights: You must have the rights to any footage or photos used in your film. A Materials Release specific to the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival event is required for all materials, photos, and/or footage not created during the Official Event Time Period.

F. Required Elements

Each participating team will be assigned required elements in the “Production Packet” which will be sent out to team leads, these elements must appear in the team’s film, such as a genre, a character, a prop and/or a line of dialogue.

  • The required Character must be seen on-screen and it must be clear--either directly shown or by context--who the required character is. The Character name does not have to be said out loud or written on-screen.

  • The required Prop must be seen on-screen. A picture of the required prop is also allowed.

  • The required Line of Dialogue must be used verbatim. It may be spoken, sung and/or written. It may be in any language, though if it is unclear that it is the required Line, there must be a translation.

  • To qualify as an Official Entry, each group's film must be in the genre it selects and must contain all required elements within the official time limit and prior to the credits.

G. Volunteers

Volunteers are encouraged. Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival is not responsible for any cast and crew for the event.

H. Animal Safety

Animal safety, like cast and crew safety, is an important part of 48 Hour Filmmaking. Films that result in the death or mutilation of an animal may be disqualified.

I. Camera

Any type of video or film camera may be used. There is no limit to the number of cameras.

J. Music Rights

Please don’t put any copyrighted (famous) music on your film. Please look for ‘Royalty Free Music’ on the internet. You could also make your own music if you’re a musician, or if your friend is part of a band who has their own original music, you can ask for their permission and use that. This also applies to footage and graphics – don’t steal anyone else’s without permission!

Note: Song parodies (i.e., use of identifiable pre-existing compositions with new or altered lyrics or music) may not be included in the film without a signed release from the composition's rights holder. This rule applies without regard to whether the song parody arguably constitutes fair use under US or international copyright law.

K. Total Running Time

The finished film must be a minimum of 4 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 7 minutes in duration—not including end credits. In other words, the official running time begins after the required Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival slates and ends prior to the end credits. The required slates and the end credits do not count towards the minimum time of 4 minutes. The film story may not be longer than 7 minutes. Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival reserves the right to shorten any film that exceeds the maximum length for screening purposes.

L. Credits

Pre-film Required Slates

Before the finished film begins, the media should have...

  • 5 seconds title card with: film title (any legible font/style accepted)

  • 5 seconds title card with: Official graphic for the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival (which will be sent to Team Leads in the “Production Packet”).

Opening Credits

After the 10 seconds of black, some films start with opening credits. These are not encouraged, but if you use them, opening credits are considered to be part of the film, and therefore count against the seven-minute maximum. 

End Credits

Credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. The 60 seconds is considered additional to the length of the film, as stated above. (That is, a film may be 7 minutes long, with an additional 60 seconds of credits, for a total running time of 8 minutes.) Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival reserves the right to shorten any end credits that exceed the maximum length for screening purposes.

Bloopers and/or behind-the-scenes are permitted during or after the end credits adhering to the 60-second maximum length.

The end credits must include the words: This film was made for the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival www.churchcreatives48.com

M. Required Media Formats

Maximum File Size: 5GB.

Export File Codec: H.264 1080P or 4K.

IMPORTANT: If your film does not conform to the submission requirements, it may be disqualified. Also, if your film cannot be viewed on Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival equipment, it may be disqualified. Please check with festival organizers at contact@atlchurchcreatives.com to make sure your film can be viewed on our equipment.

 N. Submission Notes

  • We recommend that you make sound levels relatively even throughout your film. (If your film has uneven sound or sound that peaks, it may be modified to protect the playback equipment.

O. Production Documents

Each team must secure releases for talent, crew, music and locations (and any other applicable releases), which must be turned in to the project organizers with the finished film/video. The film/video will not be screened before the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival Organizers receive the signed releases.

P. Signed Agreement

The Entrant must submit a Signed Agreement with his/her completed Entry, certifying adherence to all Official Rules.

Q. Eligibility

To be eligible for the Project, Entries must be the original work of the Entrant; must not infringe third-party's rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Entrant and/or Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival).

Entries containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate will be disqualified. Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival reserves the right to make the final determination as to which Entries are eligible. Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival reserves the right to refuse to screen a film or to make an announcement at the screening regarding the content of the film. Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival reserves the right to alter a film in order to remove or delete offensive or defamatory content.

R. No Pre-Screening Distribution

The Entrant should not distribute their entry/video/film in any way prior to it receiving its official Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival premiere screening. This includes uploading the video to any website or screening the film for groups of anyone other than the team. The Entrant is encouraged to make a trailer of their film and distribute that instead. This trailer should be no longer than 48 seconds.

S. Official Film Entry

To be certified as an Official Film Entry, each participating group's film/video production must follow all rules herein. The Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Fest24 Organizers reserve the right to screen only certified Official Film Entries.

T. Disqualification

Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival and Project Parties may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Entries deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

U. Submission

  • A downloadable release form link can be found on the churchcreatives48.com website.

  • Instructions for submitting completed release forms shall be included in your “Production Packet”.

  • Both written and electronic signatures are allowed on the Team Lead agreement form. Please ensure compliance with these rules to avoid disqualification and to ensure a successful participation in the Atlanta Church Creatives 48 Hour Film Festival!