RULES

TOSCARS 2013 GUIDELINES

1. TIMELINE:

Early bird registration: December 10, 2012 – January 10, 2013

Waitlist registration: January 1, 2013

Team Selection: January 10, 2013

Pre-Production: January 11 – January 31, 2013

Shooting: February 1 – February 3, 2013

Poster Art/Nominations Due: February 7, 2013

Film/Producers packet Due: February 14, 2013

Screening/Ceremony: February 19, 2013

2. ELIGIBILITY:

Participation fee: $50
Available to the first 90 registrants.
Fee includes participation in the TOSCARS competition and admittance to the Awards Ceremony to be held at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday, February 19, 2013.
In order to participate, you MUST be available the following dates: February 1 – February 3, 2013.
If you are unable to commit to this time frame, please note that you will NOT be able to participate as filming will occur on that weekend only, for ALL teams. If time permits you may have extra days for pick up shots (at the discretion of your TEAM LEADER (TL)).
NO REFUNDS. If you choose to participate and pay the required fee, no refunds will be given. If you decide to withdraw from the competition and still decide to attend the ceremony, you will have to purchase an additional ticket for attendance. As the TL may chose to replace you in the team with a new team member.

Under these circumstances, the new member does not have to pay an additional fee and will automatically be allowed to attend the ceremony for free.

3. THE FILMS

10 Films will be parodied.

If there are not 10 Best Picture Nominations, then the remainder of the films will be chosen by the TOSCARS COMMITTEE to include additional films. (i.e. an Actor Nomination whose film is not nominated for Best Picture)

4. ORGANIZATION:

10 TEAM LEADERS are invited by the TOSCAR Chairpeople based upon their expertise and experience with the competition.
Please note that Brits in LA, Inc has a zero tolerance policy (no bullying, violence, or abusive language.)
The spirit of the Toscars is collaborative and inclusive. That said, your Team Leader is the Producer and has the final say.
TEAM SELECTION will occur at a place to be determined in the evening on Thursday, January 10, 2013. The first 90 participants that have registered will be randomly selected by the assigned TL.
Names will be drawn two at a time until all participants have been assigned to a team.
Once the teams are selected, the TL will then randomly select a Nominated Film.
The TL will be responsible, through team discussions, in determining how teams are composed (i.e. actors, writers, directors, editors, sound, etc) . Please make sure that you record good audio. -This is one of the most important aspects of making a film.
The TEAM LEADER is your PRODUCER (As if you were on a professional film), please regard your TL with respect at all times. (TL’s will to their best endeavor remain fair at all times, and will choose the roles for his/her team with careful execution, they may even audition for roles.)
Three (3) Additional Members may be chosen, if needed, to reach a maximum of 13 team members. The three members do not have to pay to participate, but will need to purchase a discounted ticket in order to attend the ceremony. We will offer each teams add-ons a discounted ticket of $10 to attend the Toscars.
No persons under the age of 18 will be allowed to participate. No persons under the age of 21 will be allowed to attend the after-party.

5. RULES FOR TOSCAR FILMS:

A) The production schedule is the same for all films:

2 Weeks of Pre-Production Jan 11 – Jan 31
3 days of shooting, February 1 – February 3, 2013.
Reshoots/pickups at the discretion of the producer/TL.
Feb. 4 – 14 Post-Production
Feb. 14 – Final Cut of film, art work, nominations and “producers nice packet” delivered.

B) All films must be delivered in Apple ProRes, Quicktime file, .MOV, Aspect ratio of 1920×1080, 23.9fps. (please make sure you are delivering one complete file with both picture and audio flattened.

C) The final cut should be delivered on a flash drive/thumb drive to 6424 Ivarene Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90068 by 5pm on Feb. 14.

D) The Title MUST be changed from the original film that you are parodying.

E) All TL’s must turn in a 300dpi digital image of their ‘Poster Art’ by Feb. 7. This must be an original graphic. The posters from these graphics will be displayed in the foyer of The Egyptian on the night of the Screening.

F) Films should be no longer than FIVE (5) MINUTES in length, including the titles and credits.

G) Films must be rated PG-15. Keep it clever.

H) All ten original members of the Team must appear on-screen at some point in the film. The 3 “add-on” team members have the option to appear onscreen or not. The 3 add-ons participate for a $10 participation fee. A Team cannot be more than 13 participants but if less than ten people sign up in the drawing on Jan. 10, TL CANNOT add more than 3 people to the team.

I) Budget must be no more than $250 (not including food.) The Team is responsible for coming up with their own budget. The Toscars do not provide the finance for your movie.Your participation fee goes towards the actual Toscars screening and awards event costs.

J) Toscars Waiver and Talent Release Forms must be signed by all team members before first day of Principal Photography and turned in with your Producers packet on the 14th. This is for your protection, Team Leaders, to do this before you start shooting.

K) Receipts must be kept by the Team Leader for all services rendered whether they are donated or not and copies turned in with final paperwork “Producers Packet.”

L) TL must also turn in list of Nominations (following the descriptions below) with the artwork for the Poster on February 7th.

M) The beg, steal and borrow spirit of the TOSCARS will remain.

N) Music must be ORIGINAL.(Ifyou don’t have a musician in your group – you may go to an outside source to provide original music (You will need a signed music release form for artist/ publishing co.). No license free music can be used.

O) Location Agreements must be created, signed and turned in by TL.

P) All footage must be original except for royalty-free images pulled from public domain. If royalty-free images are used, they must be materially altered to be considered “original.”

Q) All trademarked images, logos, and licensed graphics must be pixelated or removed from final cut. We advice to avoid shooting in the first place.

R) The script must be original – and must not parody any of the other movies in consideration for The Toscars.

S) No one may participate in more than one film or be on additional teams simultaneously without the approval of the TOSCAR PRODUCERS.

T) List of all participants/crew/must be turned in with the final cut, receipts, check list, etc.

U) Brits in LA, Inc will provide a team of facilitators (Toscars 911) who will support and guide teams.

V) If any of the above rules are broken…. Your film will not be eligible for voting. On the NIGHT OF THE SHOW

A panel of 5 judges will determine the winners in 9 categories with an additional Audience Award:

Best Film – (Team Leader (Producer) will accept this 1 (one) award
Best Whactor
Best Whactress
Supporting Whactor
Supporting Whactress
Best Boss (Director)
Best Tunes (music)
Best Threads (costumes)
Best Scribbler (writer)
Audience Award

W) On TOSCAR NIGHT the shorts will be screened in the order of the Original Title Alphabetically (i.e. as an example, 2012 would have screened the Con-Artist first).

X) TL uses their own discretion in using Union members. Please visit the SAG website for additional paperwork under “New Media.” The Toscars has permission to post all 10 films on their own website. If the TL wishes to put the film up on a third party website (e.g. Youtube, Vimeo, Funny or Die, etc.) you will be responsible for any and all negotiations with SAG. In order to request permission for various uses of your film, please contact SAG directly.

Download a PDF version HERE