Here, for the curious but not necessarily lawyer-minded, are our rules, regulations and bylaws. These do not supercede the official rules, which can be found here. This page only summarizes them. You will be asked to accept and adhere to the rules when you register.

1) The Festival and Competition

The IndieRoar Online Film Festival and Competition is open to all original short films under 25 minutes long. There are five categories: Drama, Comedy, Horror, Documentary and Animation. The Festival runs from October 30, 2009 to January 14, 2010 and the Competition runs from January 15, 2010 to the January 22, 2010. 

2) Entry

Entry to the festival costs $35.00 (non-refundable). One film per category, but filmmakers may enter as many distinct films in the same or other categories as they wish. Films must be 25 minutes or less and may be submitted in any one of several formats (.mov, .wmv, .avi, .flv, etc.), with resolution no 18ptr than 1280 x 720, and no more than 1.5 gigabytes in size. 

For more technical information on this, visit the FAQs.

Films will be accepted any time between October 30, 2009 and January 7, 2010. After January 7, 2010, films entered will not be eligible for competition.

There are no conditions regarding films shown in other festivals, elsewhere on the internet, or when they were completed. They must be original to the filmmaker who enters the film. 

3) Content and Authorship

IndieRoar is open to all original short films under 25 minutes, though content deemed  pornographic, inflammatory, propagandistic or otherwise objectionable by IndieRoar may be removed from the site and from competition. Films entered into the Festival must be original to the filmmaker submitting them and must be able to satisfy current limited exhibition copyright laws, if applicable.

Anyone may submit a film so long as they either possess the copyright of the film or have permission to do so by the copyright holder. Films of questionable authorship may be removed from the site.

4) Filmmaker's Page

Each film entered has its own Filmmaker Page. The Filmmaker Page is designed to give the filmmaker the tools to promote his or her film and provide information or enhance viewing.

One of those tools is the email blast. Filmmakers are encouraged to email their URL to friends, families, cast and crew, strangers and acquaintances to come see their film (though its up to the filmmaker to make sure their viewers are registered to count towards their viewership tally). Emails not related to promoting their films, such as spam, phishing, scams, etc., are prohibited and can result in removal of the film and other legal penalties.

Other tools include cast and crew lists, filmmaker biographies, special comments and a photo gallery. It's up to filmmakers to provide accurate, film-related information – IndieRoar doesn't want to and can't possibly verify each entry. Caveat emptor and all that. But blatantly misleading, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable content deemed by us on the Filmmaker's Page may result in the film's removal from the site. 

5) Viewership, Voting and the Guest Judge

IndieRoar is a viewer-driven site.  The 20 or so most watched films by registered viewers will be tallied after December 13 and go into the Competition. Viewers are not required to register in order to watch films.

Viewers can rate each of the films they watch by awarding 0-5 stars on the film's web page. In the case of a tie at the end of the Festival, the film with the highest ratings will go into Competition. 

The Viewer who has watched the most films in each category will be invited to participate as a Guest Judge, in that category only.

6) Competition and Awards

Each of the five categories have two judges, the Guest Judge and a member or two of IndieRoar who will review the 20 or so most watched films and select First, Second and Third Places. In each category, First Place will receive $5000 cash plus prizes; Second Place receives $1000 in cash plus prizes; and Third Place receives $100 in cash. 

Winners will be announced by email January 22, 2010.

Films which win first place may reenter subsequent IndieRoar Festivals but will not be accepted into Competition again.

7) After the Festival

After January 22, 2010, all films will remain on IndieRoar until February 28, 2010. Filmmakers who wish to keep their films on the IndieRoar website after February 28, 2010 may do so for a 12pt annual fee. All other films will be removed. No copies or archives will be kept, so please make sure you keep a copy of your film.