CINE Competition Rules and Regulations
Eligibility
To be eligible for submission, a production must have been completed or originally aired within the previous calendar year of the competition; for the 2012 Competitions, any production that was completed or broadcast after January 1, 2011 is eligible for submission. Films that are complete but have not yet aired ARE eligible for submission. CINE ONLY ACCEPTS COMPLETED WORKS; WORKS-IN-PROGRESS CANNOT BE SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION.
Worldwide/Foreign Language (non-English) Entries)
CINE accepts submissions from any filmmakers or production entities worldwide, and in all languages; however, for judging purposes, programs with non-English dialogue should be submitted with subtitles or a dubbed English track whenever possible, otherwise, an accompanying English-language script is required. All entry fees, transfers, duties and other applicable fees are the responsibility of the entrant prior to the production being judged. All entries (except those in the Original Digital™ Division) must be on NTSC DVD (see below for more information on DVD formats).
Competition Results
EVERY SUBMISSION INTO THE CINE COMPETITION IS JUDGED. Each entrant will be notified of the competition results by mail at the completion of the entire judging process, which takes approximately three months from the final entry deadline. No results or feedback will be released before the completion of judging.
CINE Divisions and Categories
The CINE Golden Eagle Competition is structured by divisions for student and independent films, television programs (documentaries, news, advertising, fiction, etc.), Original Digital™ and non-telecast/industrial films. Within each division are categories based on subject matter (eg, Environment and Natural Science) or genre (eg, Business - Sales and Promotion). Each entry should be entered into the category that best describes the production. Each production can only be entered into ONE (1) category. CINE reserves the right to assign an entry to a category it deems more appropriate than the category chosen on the entry form; if this involves a change of entry price, the entrant will be notified in advance. If you are unsure which category best suits your production, contact the CINE office (301.652.8714 or info@cine.org) for assistance.
CLICK HERE for a complete list of categories. To see the eligibility requirements for each division, see below.
TELECAST
To be considered Telecast, the production must have aired (or be scheduled/intended to air) by a broadcast, cable or satellite entity. After identifying the proper division, please select a category based on subject matter or genre.
• If your production is a documentary or reality program or series, it should be placed into the TELECAST NON-FICTION ("A") Division.
• If your production is a news piece, series or current affairs documentary, please select the TELECAST NEWS ("B") Division.
• If your production is a fictional comedy/drama series (including children's programming) or made-for-TV film, select the TELECAST FICTION ("C") Division.
• If you are submitting a PSA, commercial, or program open/credit sequence, choose the ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION ("D") Division.
ORIGINAL DIGITAL™
To be considered in the ORIGINAL DIGITAL™ ("E") Division, the production must have been originally produced for the web and/or mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and mp3 players (including video apps). Promotional tie-ins to telecast productions or series (commercials, featurettes, webisodes, etc.) are eligible as long as they were produced for use on the internet or mobile devices and are not primarily telecast. (Please note that Original Digital™ submissions will be judged online rather than on DVD; for more information, please see "DVD Shipment and Formats" below.)
NON-TELECAST NON-FICTION
A production entered into the NON-TELECAST NON-FICTION ("F") Division should be produced by or for a business, school, museum, conference, non-profit or government entity for training, promotional, fundraising or educational purposes. They should not be intended for telecast in any way.
INDEPENDENT
To be considered in the INDEPENDENT (UNAFFILIATED) ("G") Division, a production may NOT have been produced by or for a commercial studio or network, nor by or for a business, school, government or non-profit entity. If the film is licensed to air on television at a future date, it must be entered into a Telecast category. A budget figure must be attached to this entry.
STUDENT
If your film was produced while enrolled in an accredited high school, undergraduate or graduate school or program, choose the STUDENT ("H") Division. A student is not required to be a film or media major, but must identify their school and year of study on the entry form. A film that was produced by a student who has since graduated or left the program is eligible for submission into the Student Division as long as the film was produced while enrolled in a school program. No student production can have been produced as a work for hire.
Series: Television or Digital
Producers of televised or digitally distributed series (defined as 3 or more episodes) may submit that series for special recognition. If you would like to enter an entire series, please select THREE (3) episodes for consideration, and submit the series information on a single entry form (in the "Running Time" field, please enter the combined running time of the three episodes - e.g., 90 minutes for three episodes of a half-hour series). If the series is selected to receive a Golden Eagle Award, it will receive extra recognition for excellence in series television, and will be eligible for additional honors. CINE Special Jury Awards will be presented yearly to selected series from the previous year's competitions, and a CINE Masters Series Award will be presented to the best Televised Series and the best Original Digital™ Series submitted in a calendar year.
Producers and network representatives may also enter an individual episode of a series for consideration; however, single episodes will NOT be eligible for series recognition. When entering an individual episode, please include complete information for that episode, including the series AND episode title.
DVD Shipment and Formats
After submitting your entry form and payment, send TWO (2) DVD copies of your production(s) to the following address:
ATTN: COMPETITION SUBMISSION(S)
CINE
4641 MONTGOMERY AVENUE, SUITE 512
BETHESDA, MD 20814
301.652.8714
If you have submitted a series or multiple entries, please send each episode/submission on a separate disc. CINE will confirm receipt via email. Your entry will not be complete until CINE receives 2 DVD copies of each entry for judging. BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR DVDS TO CINE, PLEASE CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT EACH DVD WILL PLAY ON A STANDARD CONSUMER DVD PLAYER. You will have the opportunity to resubmit a DVD if the judges are unable to play the disc submitted, but this may delay your production's competition results. DVDs will NOT be returned at the conclusion of the competition.
DVD Format
DVD FORMAT - Entries are accepted on NTSC DVD and will not be returned. DVD entries must adhere to professional production standards that will ensure compatibility and playback on standard consumer DVD players. Please ensure that the program that is entered can be easily identified on the DVD menu. Remove all bumpers or commercial blocs from the program.
YES - NTSC DVDs, Region 0 or 1 encoded
NO - PAL DVDs, DVD-RWs
Original Digital™ Submissions
Submissions in the Original Digital™ Division must provide a link at which their submission can be screened and judged online. The submission must be online in its entirety, and available to view on a website that is free and openly accessible to the public, without requiring a subscription or fee. Entrants in the Original Digital™ Division are not required to submit DVD copies of their entries.
Compliance
The CINE entry form must be signed. This signature indicates acceptance of the requirements outlined herein and further stipulates that the person or organization entering the production in the competition has the authority to do so.
CINE is not responsible for notifying any parties other than the entrant, through its contact person, of entry status or of any questions or determinations regarding the entry. However, in order to assure that CINE is able to correspond with the producer of the entry, the party entering, if not the producer, must submit the producer's name and contact information on the "credit form" if the production wins a CINE Golden Eagle. In the event that CINE would like to exhibit the program on our website or at any promotional screenings or educational programs, we will contact the entrant before doing so to obtain permission.
