The 48 Hour Global Film Challenge

A. Times

The 48 Hour Global Film Challenge (GFC) will occur World-Wide the weekend of [project:label-weekend].

The 48 Hour Global Film Challenge competition period begins [project:filming-starts-date] at [project:filming-starts-time] and ends on [project:filming-stops-date] at [project:filming-stops-time]. All times are referenced to each participant’s local time zone. This is the Official Time Period.

Submission instructions will be sent to teams in advance with details on how to submit the completed film and paperwork and an opportunity to test the uploading system.

B. Creative Process

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

• Writing the script
• Casting (of roles)
• Rehearsing
• Costume/Set Design
• Shooting
• Editing
• Sound Design
• Rendering
• Outputting to USB drive or other media

C. Preparation

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

• Organizing Crew
• Organizing Cast
• Securing Equipment
• Scouting/Securing Locations

D. Footage

All footage must be shot within the Official Time Period of the project.

Animation and special effects are permitted but must be created during the Official Time Period.

No stock footage or footage shot or created at another time may be used unless the footage is part of a post-production effect or on a background monitor, i.e., a television, as long as the team has rights to the stock footage and the stock footage is placed over or under footage that is shot within the Official Time Period. Allowable stock footage includes bullets, fires, explosions, chromakeyed backgrounds, etc., but stock footage of people or other performers is not allowed.

Pre-made sequences or compositions that are available to all via purchase or download are permitted if a majority of frames contain content (e.g., text or images) created within the Official Time Period. The pre-made portion of the sequence may not include people or other performers.

Still photographs are permitted, provided that the team has the rights to them. The photos do not need to be created during the Official Time Period; however, stills created outside of the Official Time Period may not be used in sequence to create the illusion of motion.

Permissible stock footage within effects, permissible pre-made sequences, and still photographs must all be accompanied by a Materials Release demonstrating that the team has rights to use them.

E. Kickoff Event

To be officially eligible for competition:

• The Team Leader must e-mail to the GFC organizers a completed copy of the Team Leaders Agreement before the Kickoff Event. A team may not participate without submitting this agreement.
• Each eligible team will then receive a Kickoff e-mail at 7:00pm their local time on [project:filming-starts-date]. The Kickoff e-mail will contain two genres from which to choose. Teams may choose either genre for their film. In addition, the line of dialog, character, and prop (required elements) will also be in the Kickoff e-mail.
• Each team’s film must be in one of the two genres and all of required elements must be included for the film to be eligible for competition.

F. Required Elements

Each participating group will be assigned required elements that must appear in its 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. Cast & Crew

All cast and crew must be volunteers.

Safety of cast and crew is of utmost importance.  It is the responsibility of the team leader and every member of the cast and crew to ensure safe conditions on set.  In addition, during this time of the coronavirus pandemic, teams are required to follow local rules and protocols to ensure the health of all participants and to mitigate any chance of infection.

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. Cameras

J. Music Rights

Participating groups are encouraged to work with a composer and/or musicians to write and record music for the films. It is permissible for a participating group to use pre-recorded music; however, the participating group must have the rights to any music used in its film and must provide releases for all music used. As with music, pre-recorded sound effects are allowed, but you must have rights to use them.

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 48HFP 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. 48HFP 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 of black
• The official 48HFP animated opening -OR- a title card with: This film was made for the 48 Hour Global Film Challenge 2023. www.48hourfilm.com/gfc 


• A title card with: team name, title, genre, city, and date
• 2 seconds of black

Your film follows this.

Opening Credits

After the 2 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. Additionally, if your film has opening credits other than simply the film's title (for example, the names of directors, actors, etc.), you must include one of the following:

• the text YOUR TEAM NAME presents immediately followed by a 48 Hour Global Film Challenge or
• the text a 48 Hour Global Film Challenge immediately following the title of your film

Note: a 48 Hour Global Film Challenge may be entirely lowercase (i.e., a 48 hour global film challenge).

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.) GFC reserves the right to shorten any end credits that exceed the maximum length for screening purposes.

The end credits must include the words: This film was made for the 48 Hour Global Film Challenge. www.48hourfilm.com/gfc

Slates And Credits After The Competition

For any future screenings, online or otherwise, films should retain the pre-film title card that says: This film was made for the 48 Hour Global Film Challenge 2023. www.48hourfilm.com/gfc.

M. Required Media Formats

If your film does not conform to the submission requirements listed below, it may be disqualified. Also, if your film cannot be viewed on GFC equipment, it may be disqualified.

The maximum accepted file size is 2GB.

Your film must be submitted in one of the following formats:

• Preferred: H.264 encoded .mp4
• Alternate formats: self-contained Quicktime .MOV or Windows .AVI (no proprietary codecs)

N. Submission Notes

• The Team Leader for each registered team will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to properly submit their film. It is the responsibility of the Team Leader to ensure submission information is passed along to the team member(s) who will be performing the upload.
• Films are submitted by uploading them to an online location.
• We recommend that you make sound levels relatively even throughout your film.

O. Production Documents

P. Certification Statement

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 48HFP).

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

R. Official Film Entry

S. Entries Not Returned

T. Disqualification

48HFP and Project Parties may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Entries deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

All participating teams (team leaders, team members and team fans) must adhere to all rules regarding filmmaking competition and online Audience Award voting.

U. Official Winner