Send your questions via email to FAQs@sixmincin.com.

Q: What is the deadline for your competition? When is the Festival?

A: All entries for our 2003 Digital Filmmaking Competition must be postmarked no later than March 3, 2003. The Festival will take place Friday and Saturday, April 25th and 26th 2003.

Q: How do I enter and where do I send my entries?

A: First download our Official Entry Form and print it out. Next read our Production Guidelines. Make sure your production is in alignment with those guidelines, fill out the form, label your tape or disk, enclose your entry(s) and form(s) in a protected envelope or box and send them along with your entry fees to:

Six Minute Cinema
5765-F Burke Centre Parkway
#122
Burke, VA 22015-0122

Q: Do you accept entries from countries other than the United States?

A: The festival is open to everyone from everywhere. Even Americans!

Q: Must the submissions be on VHS tape? What about other formats like DVD, or submitting online?

A: In order to accommodate international entrants and others who were put at a disadvantage by our original VHS/NTSC option, we have recently relaxed our rules in this area and have added disk options too. You may now submit your entry on CD or DVD as an MPEG, AVI, Quicktime, RealMedia or WindowsMedia file. The disk must be readable on a U.S. disk drive. If submitted on videotape the entry can only be provided on standard 1/2" VHS tape in the NTSC (US) format.

Q: Can I submit multiple productions on a single videotape or disk?

A: No. Each submission must be on a separate tape which is clearly labeled on the top and spine with your name, phone number, running time and title. Also, please cue the beginning of your production as closely as possible to the beginning of the tape. This is true even if you are submitting the same production to multiple categories.

Q: What if my production makes it to the Festival - you're not going to show a VHS are you?

A: No. The top three entrants in all six categories in both divisions will be contacted and asked to provide the highest possible quality master available for screening at the Festival and mastering onto the Best of Six Minute Cinema DVD.

Q: How do I know if I'm an Amateur or a Professional?

A: Each entrant must make this decision for themselves. See our definitions of Divisions and Categories for a full explanation. If you still have questions, email us at questions@sixmincin.com.

Q: I know my production can't be over six minutes long but how short can it be?

A: There is no minimum run length requirement. For example, we expect most of the entries in the Commercial / Promotional category to be only 30- or 60-seconds long. Many Experimental category entries may be even shorter than that. Entries will not be judged harshly for being brief and may even be deemed to be more creative provided that they tell they story well in mere seconds.

Q: I have a great production which is over six minutes long. Can I submit it?

A: No. All entries must be under six minutes including opening and closing credits (if any). We would suggest that you edit a new cut of your production for this competition or choose one or more sequential scenes that tell your story in less than six minutes.

Q: I have produced a number of TV commercials which are 60-seconds or shorter each. Can I combine several of them into a single entry?

A: Yes, but we wouldn't recommend it. If one of your commercials is clearly stronger than the rest I would recommend entering it by itself so that its strength would not be watered-down by any potentially weaker productions in the group. Also, one of SixMinCin's objectives is to show how well a story can be told in a short period of time. Trying to successfully tell several stories at once could be problematic. You don't have to fill up six minutes, that is simply the maximum length any one entry can be.

Q: I have a music video that runs about three minutes, and then I paired down the visuals for a 30 sec spot... can I enter both in different categories?

A: Yes, definitely.

Q: Can I enter pieces that have already been viewed on the web or elsewhere?

A: Yes you may. There is no restriction on previous distribution of your production.

Q: Do you need any volunteers for the Festival?

A: We appreciate any help you can offer! Just register with our web site at this page and be sure to check "Volunteering to Help" as one of your interest categories. We will then contact you when we are ready to organize our volunteer force.

Q: Do you have guidelines as to whether entries should be submitted in 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9?

A: You can present in any aspect ratio you like. Keep in mind that your submission must be on NTSC VHS tape and so, if you choose to use 16:9, you'll need to create the letterbox effect for it to display properly.

Q: After graduating from film school I could not find work. Eventually I got to
shoot a video for a local grocery chain. It was shown in store to help sell
donuts. The result, the 3-min 'Donut Man' -a Buster Keaton style film
-helped the store sell over a hundred boxes of donuts a day. Would this film
be eligible for your festival?

A: Your film would be perfect for our Commercial/Promotional category.

Q: Can more than one person work on the submitted film? For example if one person wrote the script and the other directed the film, can the short film be submitted as one entry crediting both people?

A: Yes. That is how every entry is handled. No matter how many people collaborated on the production, one person must designated as the official "Entrant." If the entry wins the Entrant may acknowledge all of the collaborators at the Festival. Also all collaborators should be acknowledged in your credit roll.

Q: I'm interested in becoming a member of SixMinCin. How do I do that?

A: Go to our registration page, fill out the form and hit the submit button. That's all there is to it!

Q: For the advertising category I have a good idea for a commercial. However it's for dodge trucks. I know about the getting permission part, so how would I get permission from dodge? And how would you go about marketing or selling that type of idea?

A: A couple of thoughts:
1) You would need to connect with the marketing department at Dodge, find the right creative people and, even then, they would want to see the finished piece before either giving permission to submit it to Six Minute Cinema or consider it for one of their upcoming commercials.
2) For your Six Minute Cinema entry you could change the name of the company to Dudge or something like that (you'd have to change all visible logos used on vehicles as well). Then you're doing a parody which is allowed under copyright law.

Q: My question is how many different productions can I enter? I'd like to tell a different story for each catagory if that's possible. Thanks for your time.

A: You may enter as many different productions as you like, or the same production in as many different categories as you think it fits. The only limit is that you may only designate yourself as either an amateur or a professional for every entry you make to this year's contest. In other words, you may not enter a documentary in the amateur division and a comedy in the professional division.

Q: Are webcam movies eligible?

A: Absolutely. Any digital image capture method qualifies. Just be sure that you are comfortable that the content of your production will be of interest to a wider audience.

Q: I have a short that fits the criteria pretty well, and it has original music, only the lyrics drop the f-bomb a few times- is that out of PG-13 status?

A: Non-PG-13 material is accepted but may be deemed inappropriate by judges. Sometimes people can't understand the lyrics in songs so it may not be a problem. Of course the f-word has a rather distinctive ring to it!<g> We're sort of feeling our way on this issue this year and will reevaluate after getting feedback from filmmakers, judges and viewers of the Best of Six Minute Cinema DVD. Overall, our recommendation would be to roll the dice, submit your film and see what happens.