TVOntario invites students enrolled in television, broadcast journalism, film and new media programs at Ontario colleges and universities to participate in TVOntario Telefest.

Students are encouraged to express their originality, creativity, and technical expertise in their productions without limitation to subject matter or content, governed only by acceptable broadcast standards and TVOntario's own content standards. Student projects are submitted to the college or university program director or department head, who may select up to three entries in each of the Telefest categories. These selections will then be sent to TVOntario as the official entries of the college or university. No entry will be accepted by TVOntario unless it has been submitted by the program director or department head.

The rules and regulations for TVOntario Telefest can be divided into two sections:

Entry Requirements
The Selection Process

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

No more than six (6) students may be registered as the producers for any entry.

Accompanying Materials

When submitting your production, please complete and submit with it one typed or neatly written nomination package. The nomination package includes four parts:

1. Entry form (category, length of entry, college or university, producers' names, etc.)
2. Description of production (a brief synopsis)
3. Cast & crew/production team (names needed to qualify for craft awards)
4. Release form (granting TVOntario the non-exclusive right to broadcast or mirror your production)

Also required are copies of any necessary copyright clearances (e.g., for music).

Formats

Film and Video

Film and video entries must be submitted on VHS tape only. Submissions in any other format will be disqualified. TVOntario Telefest labels must be affixed to the videotape and the tape case.

New Media

CD-ROMs must be identified as Mac, PC, or hybrid. They must function on one of the following platforms:

PC-Windows 98, 64MB RAM, Pentium III 450, 8x CD-ROM, 800x600 monitor, 16 bit colour, sound card

MAC - OS 8.5, 64MB RAM, 350 MHz G3, 8x CD-ROM, 800x600 monitor, millions of colours

Two (2) copies of the CD must be provided. TVOntario Telefest labels must be affixed to the CD-ROM case.

Website addresses should be clearly indicated on the entry form.
Websites will be viewed on both MAC and PC running Netscape 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.0.

The jury will have the following plug-ins available: Shockwave, RealMedia, QuickTime. If other plug-ins are necessary, they must be clearly identified.

There is no fee for submissions to TVOntario Telefest.

As the presenting sponsor of TVOntario Telefest 2000, Kodak PMI retains the right to promote all Telefest winners. Any entry may be promoted on the international Kodak PMI Website with the entrant's approval. In addition, with the entrantÕs approval and rights clearances, Kodak PMI may use any winning entry at other film and new media festivals to highlight its support of emerging filmmakers and interactive multimedia producers.

SELECTION PROCESS

Judging

Nominated works are screened and judged by a jury of qualified experts from TVOntario and the television, film, and new media communities. Juries retain the right to reclassify or disqualify any entry they believe was submitted in the wrong category.

Judging is based on a number of content and production criteria.

Film and Video

Script: the presentation of ideas; the appropriateness for the medium
Significance: relevance, importance, timeliness Clarity: orderly and lucid organization, composition, writing, and presentation
Originality: creativity in organization, composition, writing, and presentation
Production design: format, creative use of sound and/or visuals
Direction: style, technical competence Performance: narrator, host, teacher, actors, extras Post-production: editing, special effects, photography, and music

New media formats: CD-ROM and Website

Navigation: appropriate interface design, clarity Functionality: entry in its final state, fully functional on a MAC and/or PC platform, with nothing still under construction
Originality: creativity in design, concept, and execution

Awards

Awards will be granted to entries with the highest cumulative evaluation. Following the final judging, all finalists will be notified by phone and by mail, and all entrants will receive a written critique of their work based on the master evaluation form completed by the jury. Videotapes and CD-ROMs will not be returned to finalists. Winners will be announced at the Telefest Awards Gala.

In each category, the judges may award first, second, and third places. The judges also retain the right to not name a winner or winners in a category if, in their opinion, none of the entries meet acceptable standards.

In cases of exceptional merit, the judges may recognize the appropriate individual on a film or video production with a Best of Craft Award for technical achievement in writing, photography, or editing. These awards will be presented to the specific crew member(s) listed on the cast & crew/production team form as the head writer, editor, or director of photography. Appropriate individuals on a new media production may be recognized with a Best of Craft Award in design and concept, which will be presented to the crew member(s) identified as designer and producer.

TVOntario honours the film and video entry judged as the best overall production with the Jay Scott Award. Instituted in 1994, the award celebrates the life and work of film critic and former host of TVO's Film International, Jay Scott. The Special Jury Award is awarded to one English and one French film or video production deemed to have outstanding production values and deserving of an honourable mention. The Volt Award is presented to the most daring and original film or video production. New media entries are eligible for consideration for the Best Overall Interactive Multimedia Production.

Winning students receive an official TVOntario Telefest certificate of merit. Their productions may be broadcast on TVO or TFO or mirrored on the TVOntario Website. Awards will be presented to the production team of each winning entry in the designated categories at the Awards Gala. It is important to note that no more than six (6) students be registered as the producers for each entry. TVOntario will recognize only those six students in the presentation of the award.

Copyright/Releases/Ownership

All productions submitted to TVOntario Telefest must be free of any copyright restrictions. TVOntario cannot accept the responsibility for copyright infringements.

Similarly, TVOntario cannot assume financial or authorizational responsibilities for the broadcast of any entry containing ACTRA or other unionized talent or crew.

It is the responsibility of the college or university to obtain letters of adherence from ACTRA or other professional associations and submit them to TVOntario Telefest.

If music is included in an entry, the producer must ensure that the performing rights to such music are:

1. controlled by SoCan (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) or affiliated societies (in which case, the producer must supply TVOntario with music cue sheets listing all necessary information concerning the title, composer, and duration of the music contained in the entry);
2. in the public domain;
3. controlled by the producer.

Students retain full ownership of entries, agreeing only as a condition of the contest to airing them on the TVO or TFO network (if selected) or mirroring them on the TVOntario Website. Entries may also be used by Kodak PMI at other film and new media festivals to highlight their support of emerging filmmakers and interactive multimedia producers.

TVOntario shall have the right, but not the obligation, to broadcast or mirror the winning entries for a period of three years from the date of the Telefest Awards Gala, the first three months of which shall be an exclusive right.

TVOntarioÕs decision to broadcast or mirror will be at its sole discretion. No entry will be broadcast or mirrored without written documentation from the winner that the appropriate rights and clearances to allow such broadcast or mirroring have been obtained.

TVOntario reserves the right to edit film and video entries according to its broadcast policies or in order to meet the time constraints of its schedule and to make excerpts and to use such excerpts and the names, likenesses, voices and biographical material of all persons performing services on behalf of the producer(s) in connection with the production for the purpose of advertising and promoting the production and TVOntario.