Daybreak Film Festival 2023 Guidelines
2023 Theme - Community

Communities can be physical or social spaces that provide a sense of belonging through connection and inclusion. This theme is up to the interpretation of the film creator.

• Submission Deadlines (subject to change)
• Submissions Open: Friday, July 7, 2023
• Submission Deadline: Friday, October 6, 2023
• Extended Deadline: Friday, October 26, 2023
• Official Selections will be announced: Friday, November 10, 2023
• Event Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023

Rules & Terms

Once accepted, a film may not be pulled from the Festival by the filmmaker for any reason. By submitting your film, you are agreeing to comply with this and all other requirements.

Who can submit a film? This is an open contest for residents of the state of Utah. Professional filmmakers, actors, or other film-industry professionals are allowed but will be placed in a separate category. If too few professionals enter, there may not be prizes for those entries, but they will still be shown. Contestants must be at least 14 years old as of November 18, 2023, and residents of Utah. If you are under 18, you must also submit our permission form signed by a legal guardian. Submission is free.

Basic film requirements. All genres of films are accepted. Films of varying lengths may be placed in separate categories. At the time of submission, creators will classify their films within basic categories for the purpose of judging. The Daybreak Film Festival team reserves the right to switch your submission to a different category as they see fit. All films must incorporate the 2023 theme. Films must also be submitted with a brief explanation of how the film contains the theme. These films are intended to be viewed by a general audience. 

All genres of films are accepted. Films may be up to 20 minutes long, no longer. Any submissions longer than 20 minutes will be automatically disqualified. Films must be family-friendly. At the time of submission, creators will classify their films according to the given categories, but the Daybreak Film Festival team reserves the right to adjust your choice of category as they see fit. All films must incorporate the 2023 theme - Community. A brief explanation must be submitted along with the film to explain the use of this year’s theme. 

Film rights. You must own the rights to your film in order to submit it. All music, images, titles, footage, and other copyrighted material used in your submission MUST be properly licensed. You must have written permission and/or the proper rights to all content submitted.

Categories of submission. Our screeners will separate film submissions into categories (such as skill level, age, etc.) after submissions are collected.

Film submissions are due Friday, October 6, 2023, at 1:00 PM MDT.

Please check your audio levels multiple times and confirm that your audio is not limited to one channel (ie: right or left).

Subtitles. Any film that includes dialogue that is not English must be submitted with English subtitles packaged into the submitted video file. Standalone .srt files are not sufficient. If your film has subtitles please make sure they are "Title Safe". For a detailed explanation of "Title Safe" please watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EvRNUcJN6s&ab_channel=ToddWolfe 

When submitting, you must use the following file naming conventions: 
FirstNameLastName_FilmTitle.mp4 
Or
FirstNameLastName_FilmTitle.MOV

We will only accept the file formats .MP4 and .MOV

Please do not submit films in 4K. Please submit your film in 1080 HD resolution. Any film files that are larger than 2GBs may not be accepted. 

Once you submit your project, it will be reviewed by our screener team. Films that pass the screening will be part of the Official Selection and will receive an email notifying the film’s presentation at the festival. Non-Selected films will also receive an email on the notification date. The notification date is Friday, November 6, 2023 (date subject to change).

During the screening process, the Daybreak Film Festival reserves the right to remove films from moving to Official selection on the grounds of containing gratuitous violence or abuse,  inappropriate sexual behavior, condescension toward children,  replicable unsafe behavior, or negativity/prejudice toward any race, gender, culture, religion, or otherwise not deemed appropriate for a general audience. Films can also be removed if they do not follow the theme.

All Official Selection movies will be screened at our event. Separate screenings may be scheduled depending on your film’s content, genre, and the number of submissions. All Official Selection movies will be watched and reviewed by our Jury who will select the winners. At the end of the screenings, the winners of each category will be announced.

When. Official Selection entries will be shown at the Daybreak Film Festival, Saturday, November 18, 2023 (date subject to change - more information can be found on our website - https://www.mydaybreak.com/live/).

Where. Your film may be played in a theater or on a screen in the greater Salt Lake City Area for a public audience of all ages during the Daybreak Film Festival. Proceeds from admissions will go to the Daybreak Film Festival. Your film may be posted (in part or in entirety) to our website, Facebook page(s), and other related websites, or shown in future screenings by the Film Festival.

Judge selection. Our Jury will be selected from professionals within the disciplines of film, acting, direction, etc.

We will email PDF certificates stating participation in the film festival to the primary contact for each film that is shown at the festival. 

Winners are selected from each category and are the top scores within those categories. Winners who choose to attend the film festival in person will receive an award for each winning film. Awards will be available for pickup for five business days after the festival. Categories will be determined after submission in order to allow fair comparison that accounts for age and experience.

In each category, the film with the highest score will be the winner. Winners who chose to attend the film festival will receive their award on the day of. Awards will be available for pickup for five business days after the festival for those winners who do not attend. Certificates of participation will be emailed to each participant within a week of the end of the festival. 

Categories will be determined after the submission deadline and announced a week before the start of the festival. 

If enough submissions are received, we may also provide certificates or awards for winners within film categories. Screeners select the film’s category after your submission. Potential award categories are Best Animated Film, Best Documentary, Best Music Video, and Best Narrative. These categories are entirely dependent on submissions received. No accolades are guaranteed.

We may request to post Q&As with the creator(s) of each film on our social media pages. People will submit questions, and the questions and answers will be posted on our social media pages throughout or after the festival.

This competition is for films made by individuals or groups for no commercial gain. Financing, however sourced, must only be used to cover the direct costs of producing the film, including (but not limited to) transportation, equipment hire, copyright fees, catering, and actual expenses incurred by actors and crew. Paid assistance from professionals, including for production, talent, or postproduction is not permitted. If it is discovered, either before or after receiving any award, that a film has infringed these requirements, the organizers reserve the right to disqualify it, revoke any awards, and reclaim any prizes.

• Films must be fully completed prior to the date the project is submitted. 
• The Daybreak Film Festival may use portions of your film (including trailers/teasers/stills/posters) for promotional purposes.
• Festival event dates and times may be delayed or changed.

By submitting this film, you agree to indemnify and hold Daybreak Community Association, LiveDAYBREAK, and their associates harmless from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

For more information, please visit our website: https://www.mydaybreak.com/live/

For additional questions, please email: mshaffer@livedaybreak.com