How do I enter?

First read the Competition Rules to be sure your film meets all entry qualifications. If it does, send it, along with the completed entry form, to The Superman Celebration Fan Film Competition, c/o The Metropolis Chamber of Commerce, 607 Market Street, Metropolis, IL 62960.

 

Where can I get an entry form and rules?

You can download an entry form here, and you can find the rules here. Please read the rules in their entirety before entering the competition.

 

When is the deadline for entry?

Your entry must be in our hands by 5:00 PM CST on Friday, April 13th, 2012. Late entries will be disqualified, but they will be given the option of entering the following year's competition if they meet all requirements set forth by the entry rules.

 

How much does it cost to enter?

There is no entry fee for the Superman Celebration Fan Film Competition.

 

When will the prizes be awarded?

The prizes will be given out at a special presentation on the evening of June 9th, 2012. Be sure to keep an eye on the Superman Celebration website for the exact time.

 

Do I have to attend Superman Celebration to win a prize?

No, you do not have to be present to win, and whether or not you will or will not be in attendance does not matter in the outcome of the competition. However, if you can make it, it's always a lot of fun to see your film screened in front of an audience of 250-400 people. If you do win a prize, and you have marked on your entry form that you won't be attending, we will let you know in advance so that you may send us a pre-recorded short acceptance video. Your prize and trophy will be mailed to you in the weeks following Superman Celebration.

 

Why do I have to submit 2 DVD copies?

We ask for two DVD copies as a precautionary measure to ensure that we have a watchable copy. As you all know, sometimes home-produced DVD's turn out corrupted and unplayable, so sending two copies is a way of ensuring that we have a viable copy to screen both to the judges and to the audience.

 

Can I have my film(s) returned to me after the Competition?

Submissions will not be returned. Please do not send us your only copy of the film.

 

Why don't you accept Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs?

At this time, we are not set up for these type of discs for the traveling setup we use to display the films. This is something we hope to change in the near future.

 

Can I enter a film that belongs to someone else?

No, you cannot. Only the creator of the film, or a primary member of the creative team, may enter a film. If you enter a film without the permission of the owner, or if you enter a film that you participated in without the consent of the rest of your creative team, you assume complete liability for any financial claims to any prizes and awards that others may make should you win. Also, we do extensive online checks of films to see if any others make creative claims on the work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and will result in a life-long ban from the Fan Film Competition.

 

Can I nominate someone else's film?

We do not accept nominations from others. If you find a film online that you feel would be a great entry, contact the creator(s) and send them a link to the competition information.

 

Why can't my submitted DVD's have a menu?

We request direct-play copies (DVD's play immediately upon being placed in the DVD player) to speed up the judging and screening processes. We ask that your submission discs not contain extras such as behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, etc, as they will not be viewed, considered, or included in the judging process.

 

Why don't you allow films longer than 15 minutes?

We have a 15-minute maximum allowable running time because we have a limited amount of time to screen the films at Superman Celebration, and we want to be able to screen as many as possible for audiences. At this point and time the Celebration's Artists Alley and Writers Way doubles as our movie theater. Because of the shared facilities and other events that are scheduled in the space, we are only given a certain amount of time to screen the films. If this ever changes and we get a designated theater space, we will increase the allowable running time for entries. (And if you want to help Superman Celebration and the City of Metropolis get such a space, donate to the Save the Massac Theatre fund!)

 

I have a film that is over 15 minutes that I'd like to enter.Can I break it into multiple parts?

You may break your film into multiple parts. However, each part must be a viable film unto itself. If part two makes no sense without having seen part one, we would not recommend entering it. Each part will be judged as a separate entity.

Why don't you allow R-rated films?

Superman Celebration is a family-oriented festival, and as such, the Fan Film Competition must be family-oriented. This is something that will not change.

 

Why must my film consist of at least 85% original visual elements and dialogue? Why doesn't my mash-up/montage fan film qualify for the competition?

While we appreciate so-called "montage/mash-up" fan films, (films made entirely of pieces of films/media made by professional sources such as movie studios, video game creators, etc.), they are ineligible for this competition as they are comprised primarily of work that is not actually created/originated by the person editing the film. This 85% rule only applies to the visual elements (original footage and visual effects) and dialogue (script/screenplay) of the film. The music score and sound effects may be entirely derived from other sources.

 

Who are the judges?

The judging panel consists of at least 10 volunteers, and is composed of writers, comic book artists, filmmakers, video editors, sound engineers, die-hard comics fans, and movie buffs. The overall majority of the judges have never set foot in Metropolis, Illinois and have no connection with the Celebration. We do this purposely to prevent any bias or favoritism. The judges identities are kept secret from the public to prevent harassment, reprisals, personal attacks, or attempts to gain favor.

 

How are the films judged?What are the judging categories?

All films, no matter if they're a comedy, drama, or trailer, are judged on the same seven categories: Script/Story, Acting/Performance, Cinematography, Costuming, Sound, Editing,, and Originality/Creativity.Each judge grades each category on a 100 point scale. The scores for each category are added together to obtain the film's overall score and to determine the winners.

 

What are the judges looking for when they score my film?How can I get the judges to take notice of my film?

See the article entitled, "What Are the Competition Judges Looking For in a Fan Film".

 

In the rules you mention that judging procedures may be modified.Exactly what does that mean?

As the competition has grown, we've come to realize that certain changes may have to take place in order to accommodate not only the entrants, but the all-volunteer staff and judges involved in making the Fan Film Competition happen every year .If the number of films submitted becomes substantially greater than previous years, we will institute a preliminary round of judging to narrow the field down before final judging by entirely separate panel of judges. Also, we've made room in these modifications just in case we ever have a celebrity guest from the film industry who is available and willing to serve as a judge at future Superman Celebration.

 

How do you determine which films will be screened at Superman Celebration?

The films that will be screened are chosen based upon their overall ranking, (which is based upon the cumulative score), and the amount of time we are given at Superman Celebration to show the films and hold the awards ceremony. If we cannot show all of the films that qualified for screening, we show as many as we can, with special consideration for those entrants who will be present at the screening and awards ceremony. We love it when a filmmaker can see how an audience reacts to their film, and we do our best to see that those entrants who are in attendance have this opportunity.

 

How will I know if my film will be shown at Superman Celebration?

You will be notified by email if your film has been selected to be screened.

 

Will I be notified if my film is disqualified?

Yes, you will be notified if your film is disqualified, along with the reasons.

 

If I am disqualified, may I resubmit a re-edited version of my film?

We will allow you to resubmit a re-edited version of your film, but not in the same year of the original entry. You will have to wait until at least the following year to enter the new version of your film.

 

How did the Superman Celebration Fan Film Competition get started?

To answer this question, we have to go back to why we even got the chance to have the Competition in the first place. In 2007, TCB Video Productions volunteered to show fan films on its portable big screen on Friday and Saturday nights during that year's Superman Celebration,providing much-needed evening activities that, at the time, just did not exist there. Even with technical glitches, the crowd of 250-300 people loved it. The Chamber of Commerce was overwhelmed with the crowd's response, and asked if they could do it again in 2008. They agreed, but asked if we could make it a fan film contest. The Chamber of Commerce loved the idea, and luckily was generous enough to provide prize money for the winners. Even as a contest, though, the primary purpose we were tasked with was to provide family-oriented entertainment for those attending Superman Celebration.

 

Why do you allow multiple entries from the same filmmaker? Why not limit it to one film per entrant?

When the Competition started, (see "How did the Superman Celebration Fan Film Competition get started?" above, as it is an integral part of the answer to this question), we had no restrictions on the number of films a filmmaker could enter because we feared we wouldn't get enough entries to cover the number of hours we had to screen the films, (and entertain the audiences), that we were given. We were correct in our fears that first year, as only people who were regular Superman Celebration attendees entered the contest, and we received only nine films. We received only 14 in the second year, and 26 in the third. In the fourth year, we started the 4-entries-per-filmmaker rule, and the number of entries dropped to 20, which is still not a very large number for a film festival/competition. Given our primary task to provide entertainment first and be a contest second, as well as having a few entries every year that were being disqualified due to content, we continued to allow multiple entries by individual filmmakers to ensure that we have enough suitable content to screen. We follow the same allowances from major professional competitions such as The Academy Awards, which allow directors (as well as other professionals) to be nominated (and, if chosen, win) multiple times in the same year. Each film submitted is judged independently as an entity unto itself, not as part of a body of work of an entrant.

 

Why do you limit the awards to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place?Why don't you give categorical prizes like "Best Drama", "Best Comedy", "Best Actor/Actress", etc.? Why don't you just give out more prizes?

We've stuck with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place award system for several reasons: First, being a small contest, we run into a dilemma- We could divide the prize budget into a bunch of smaller prizes to award to more participants and recognize more individual categories and elements, but risk making filmmakers feel that it's not worth entering just to win a small cash prize, thus not receiving enough entries to screen to audiences at Superman Celebration, which would defeat the purpose of even having the competition. Second, we could charge an entry fee to increase the amount of prize money available to award, but it would make our small competition less attractive to entrants and reduce the number of entries. Third, we could completely eliminate the prize money and award trophies only to include the categorical prizes, but we would face the same issues with making filmmakers feel that it's worth their time and effort to enter. As an extremely small part of Superman Celebration, which is a 501c Non-Profit event, we just do not have the budget to be on the same scale as many larger film competitions, so we will be sticking with the award levels that we have used since the beginning.

 

Why does the Superman Celebration Costume Contest have a $1000 prize, but the Fan Film Competition's First Prize is only $300?

The Costume Contest requires a $25 entry fee per category, is a much larger attraction than the Fan Film Competition, has many more participants, and is much more established. Please see the section above entitled "Why do you limit the awards to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place?Why don't you give categorical prizes like 'Best Drama', 'Best Comedy', 'Best Actor/Actress', etc.? Why don't you just give out more prizes?".

Why don't you do a "Crowd Favorite" like they do in the Superman Celebration Costume Contest?

Actually, that is something we're planning to add to the 2012 Competition. It will work just like the "Crowd Favorite" in the costume contest: The crowd can cast their vote by purchasing a ticket and submitting their vote, (with no limit to the number of tickets they can purchase). The votes for the films are tallied, and a raffle ticket is drawn. The film with the most votes wins "Crowd Favorite" and half the money received from the voting process. The holder of the ticket number that is drawn wins the other half of the money. We will be posting the videos to be screened on our website and YouTube page in the weeks leading up to Superman Celebration so you can start watching them to decide your favorite. Voting will begin on Friday, June 8th, 2012 in the Artists Alley at Superman Celebration with the cutoff time no sooner than the end of the final credits of the last film shown on Saturday, June 9th, 2012. More details will be available as soon as possible.

 

Can one filmmaker win multiple prizes in theFan Film Competition?

Yes, they can, and it has happened before. Each film submitted is judged as an entity unto itself- independent from the person submitting it- not as part of a the filmmaker's submitted body of work, so it is possible for one filmmaker to win more than one prize- even to sweep the awards. As stated in the section above entitled "Why do you allow multiple entries from the same filmmaker? Why not limit it to one film per entrant?", we allow filmmakers to enter up to four films per competition. We follow the same allowances from major professional competitions such as The Academy Awards, which allow directors (as well as other professionals) to be nominated (and, if chosen, win) multiple times in the same year.

What do I do if I disagree with the judges' decision?

You can ask 100 people about the same fan film and get 100 different opinions. And that's just it- They're opinions. You don't have to agree with them, but we do ask that you respect them. After all, opinions are like belly buttons- Everyone has one. (And there would be something wrong with you if you didn't!)

 

Can I find out why my film didn't win?

We do not offer public or private criticisms of fan films, as many filmmakers find it understandably difficult to hear why we didn't choose their film as a winner. It's a no-win situation that we have learned the hard way not to get ourselves into, and it's better for all parties if we just don't go there at all.

 

My film didn't win a prize in this or a previous year's competition. Can I enter it in a future competition?

No. A film may only be entered once in the competition. Once it has been entered, it is ineligible for future entry, despite any changes that have been made after the film's submission to the competition. If your film is disqualified, you may submit a re-edited version of it the following competition year or any year after that.

 

Can I get a table at Superman Celebration to sell my fan film to the public? 

No. We do not allow the sale of fan films, and we do not sell copies of your or anyone else's fan films at Superman Celebration. Most fan films cannot legally be sold because the films contain properties (characters, locations, etc.) owned by other creators and would infringe upon their copyrights.

 

I still have questions.Where can I get answers?

Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .