Rules and Guidelines

The YOUthFILM Project is brought to you by the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section (YLS), in collaboration with the Classroom Law Project, as part of Community Law Week. 2009 Contest Registration Packets will be released Fall 2008. Last Year's Registration Materials are available here.

Teams

Filmmaking teams must be no larger than 5 students of high school grade level or younger. Students must reside in Oregon or in the Clark County, Washington area. Persons exceeding grade 12 are not eligible to participate as a team member. However, actors or film subjects may be of any age or grade level. Each student filmmaker under the age of 18 must have a parent or legal guardian sign the Registration Form. Any actors under the age of 18 who appear in the film must have a parent or legal guardian sign the Supplemental Actor Consent Form. Only students registered as filmmakers are eligible for the prizes awarded to winning teams.

Film Guidelines

Each submitted film must run no more than 5 minutes, including credits, which must appear at the beginning of the film and include your team name and title of your film. Each film must be based on 1 of the 5 TOPICS listed in the Registration Packet, and each film must incorporate at least 3 out of the 5 ELEMENTS listed in the Registration Packet.

Deadlines

Each team must submit the Registration Form by no later than February 27, 2009, via e-mail to registration@theyouthfilmproject.org or to the address listed on the Registration Form. Each team must submit a Submission Form with the team’s film by no later than March 13, 2009 to the address listed on the Submission Form. [Registration and Submission Forms to be released Fall 2008. Last Year's Registration Materials are available here.]

Film Format

All submitted films that follow contest rules and guidelines will be posted on www.theyouthfilmproject.org. A CD-ROM of the film in MPG-1, MPG-2, or MPG-4 format must be submitted with the Submission Form. Teams may also upload their films on www.youtube.com or www.video.google.com. Teams that upload their films to a third-party web site should send an e-mail with a URL link to their film to the YLS at registration@theyouthfilmproject.org.

Original Product

Each film must be the original creation of the filmmaking team. Each team must comply with privacy and copyright laws and must either obtain permission or comply with fair use doctrine for any material subject to copyright, including music. We will not be held liable for any legal action that may be initiated as a result of posting a film that contains copyrighted music or other material that was used by any team illegally and/or without permission.

Judging

We will judge each film based on preset criteria and award prizes to films in various categories. Prizes will be awarded to winning teams on April 28, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard in Portland, Oregon.

Mentoring

Teams are encouraged to seek assistance from teachers, advisors, and mentors within their respective schools, groups, and clubs or from the Multnomah Bar Association. Team members seeking an advisor may contact us at info@theyouthfilmproject.org.

Resource Assistance

Teams that need assistance with acquiring or using filmmaking equipment or converting films to a digital format should contact tus at info@theyouthfilmproject.org.

Ownership

By entering into the contest and submitting a film, each team acknowledges that we may use each submitted film or a portion thereof for any purpose, including without limitation, posting on www.theyouthfilmproject.org, public screening at the Hollywood Theatre, or distribution by any other means. The YLS is a nonprofit organization; prizes awarded in the contest are donated or purchased with funds donated from local law firms, community organizations, and individuals. No team is entitled to any money or other compensation from us related to any submitted film. We will not return submissions to teams unless prior arrangements are made.

Equal Opportunity

The YLS is an equal opportunity organization and does not discriminate based on color, race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or any other unlawful reason. The YLS reserves the right to disqualify any film from this contest if the YLS, in its sole discretion, believes the film is highly objectionable, violent, offensive, fails to follow the contest rules or guidelines, or is otherwise inappropriate under the circumstances.