Room 237 Film Competition

Registration

• The competition is open to anyone internationally.
• There will be a 50$ (USD) registration fee per film entered into the competition.
• Registration will be limited to 36 films.
• Every person working on a film (team members), including cast and crew, must complete a registration form before work begins on the film. It is the responsibility of the team leader to ensure each team member completes the registration form.  Failure to comply will result in the film being excluded from the competition.
• To register, each team member should click on this submission form link, and correctly identify the team they are on.
• To make payment, one member of the team (Team Leader) should click on this button.

Kick Off Event

• The registration form (for the Team Leader) must be completed for each film entered into the competition, team’s cast/crew have until the day of filming start to register. The competition is limited to 36 films, so teams are encouraged to register early.
• The kickoff event will be held via a live zoom meeting.
• At the meeting, the competition rules will be reviewed.
• Two murder weapons will be assigned to each film entered into the competition.
• The zoom meeting will be recorded for those unable to attend.
• An email with the rules and assigned murder weapon will be sent to each team leader after the kickoff event.
• The kickoff event will occur on Sunday, April 21st at 5:00pm ET.

List of Murder Weapons

• • Knife
  • Gun
  • Rope
  • Pillow
  • Plastic Bag
  • Hammer
  • Baseball/Cricket Bat
  • Poison
  • Psychic Powers
  • Teeth (Biting)
  • Body Parts (Fists)
  • Fire
  • Axe
  • Dumbbell
  • Wrench
  • Lead Pipe
  • Arrow
  • Animal (Dog)
  • Virus

Competition Rules

• Finished films must be turned in by Sunday, May 19th at 6:00pm ET.
• Late films will be screened but will not be judged or qualify for awards.
• A character in the film must either be killed or attempted to be killed using either one or both of the assigned murder weapons.
• The murder weapon must be shown in the film.
• The film cannot be longer than 5 minutes, including titles and credits, or it will not be judged or qualify for awards.
• Films not in English must include English subtitles.

Turn In Event

• You film must be uploaded by the Room 237 Administrators by Sunday, May 19th at 6:00pm ET.
• All submitted films must be in digital MP4 format (1080 or 4k).
• Use our partnered transfer sponsor to upload your film. Use this link: You may upload your film(s) to this link: https://horrorhotelfilmfest.myairbridge.com/  
• You do not need to log in, just make sure to have recipient’s email is said: “Owner of this profile”
• Make sure you name your film based on the following: TeamName-MovieTitle.mp4
• Because uploading films can be time consuming, we recommend you to start early as you can.

Judging

• Films that do not meet the criteria described in the competition rules will not be judged or qualify for awards.
• Films will be judged in the following categories:
  • Screenwriting
  • Directing
  • Acting
  • Cinematography
  • Sound Design
  • Editing
  • Scoring
• Each fill will receive a score from 1 – 10 in each of these categories from each of the three judges along with optional comments.
• Three awards (Best, Runner Up, and Honorable Mention) will be given for each category above.
• In addition, the three films with the highest overall scores will be given overall awards (Best Film, Runner Up Film, and Honorable Mention Film).
• The awards for best acting based on the categories above will be for the ensemble cast.
• In addition, there will also be awards for the overall best male and female actors.
• Judges must meet the following criteria:
  • Judges must have directed at least one award winning feature film or 3 award winning short films.
  • To avoid bias and ensure a level playing field, judges should not be involved in the Cleveland Film scene.
  • Judges scores and comments will be returned to the team leader within 1 month after the screening.

Screening

• Films will be screened Friday, June 21st at 7:00pm at Room A.
• The screen block will be 2 hours long.  The time will be allocated as follows:
  • 5 minutes – Introduction by one of the Room 237 Administrators.
  • 90 minutes – Show all films.
  • 20 minutes – Q&A session.

Awards

• The award ceremony will occur immediately after the film block in the same room.
• A will be given to the winner of each category.
• A paper award will be given to each runner up and honorable mention of each category.
• In addition, cash prizes will be awarded to the three overall best film winners:
  • Best Film – 300$
  • Runner Up Film – 200$
  • Honorable Mention Film – 100$
• Physical awards will not be sent to the winning team.  You must be in attendance to receive physical awards.  Winner certificates will be sent as PDF’s to each team leader.  Cash not received in person will be sent electronically.