FILM/SERIES SUMBISSION SPECIFICATIONS

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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• Creativity: a compelling story or topic with good performances 
• Duration: shorts should be under 40 minutes, full length features should be 60 minutes or more (though some full films below 60 minutes may be acceptable), and episodics should be at least 20 minutes per episode. 
• Trailer: one main trailer of 45 seconds or less
• Poster: one main standard movie poster in dimensions of 27"x40", in high resulution 
• Textless Poster: a version of the main standard poster with no words or text, in high resolution 
• Copyright and Permissions: your film should be copyrighted by you, permissions are needed for music licensing and releases (permission to use their likeness) from people in the project

VIDEO

• Creativity: a compelling story or topic with good performances 
• File size: The file size should not exceed 10 GB
• Video format: The video should be in mp4 format
• Bitrate: The video data should be encoded with a constant bitrate of 10,000 Kbit/s
• Frame rate: The video should have 24, 25, or 30 progressive frames per second
• File name: The file name should not include any special characters or blank spaces
• Subtitles: An English subtitled version should be submitted for the selection screenings
• Size and aspect ratio: The video should be 1920 x 1080 px / 16:9 HD

AUDIO

• Stereo Sound, NOT doubled Mono 
• Audio codec: The audio codec should be AAC with a bit rate of 320 Kbit/s and a sampling rate of 48 kH
• Transcription: English transcription of the final edited film in Word document 

We offer event coverage services for conferences, trade shows, and other corporate events. Our team can help you capture the highlights of your event and create a video that showcases the energy and excitement of the day.

No Advertising, release date, physical product tags (ex- DVD, album, concerts, promotions). Must be a clean and true feature/video. No Commercial blacks longer than 1 second. No Bumpers. No URLs) 

Trailer Notes 

• Has to be a Theatrical Trailer 
• No MPAA ratings card 
• Same Aspect Ratio as the feature 
• No Release Date tagging or voice over
• No Physical Product tagging 
• Between 30 seconds and 4 minutes
• No URLS 
• No DVD references, images or voice over 
• No Nudity / Profanity 

 Chapter Points & Stills  

•  All Chapter points must be provided using time code from the provided masters; time codes from DVDs are not acceptabLe.  

Closed Captioning

• Closed Captioning is required for all FILM content unless original closed captioning does not exist. 

Poster Art Profile

•  TIFF with “.tiff” extension (32-bit uncompressed) or JPEG with “.jpeg” extension 
• RGB 800x1200 pixels minimum size (2:3 ratio) 
• Poster Art of film must contain key art and title. Credit blocks, DVD cover, release date, website, or promotional tagging may not be included. 

5.1 Audio Requirements 

• HD content needs to have 5.1 audio in order to be processed as HD. If it doesn’t have 5.1, content, it will be sold as SD, unless 5.1 audio does not exist. In this case, the content would need to be pre-approved.

1. All text must be TITLESAFE regardless if it is for online use only or not. (See below for details) 

2. bitMAX requires the file codec to be “Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)” NOT “Apple ProRes 422”. 

3. H.264, MPEG2 and MPEG4 are NOT supported file codecs. 

4. Audio must be in STEREO. If both the L and R audio are identical, it is TWO CHANNEL MONO and will fail. (See below for details) 

5. Audio as 44.1k is NOT supported; it must be 48k. AAC is NOT supported, it must be LPCM, 

6. When delivering 5.1 AUDIO, the channels must be clearly named and labeled (either on the tape or the filenames). 

7. 4:1 CADENCE is a failure point for Long Form content. (See below for details) 

8. Content cannot be PILLARBOXED. 

9. Audio and video must be properly SYNCED on all video content. 

10. FIELD DOMINANCE issues resulting from reversing the wrong field (upper/lower) first.  

TITLE SAFE & ACTION SAFE AREAS ON THE SCREEN

Title Safe Title Safe is a term that refers to the zone of a video frame where all of the titles and graphics applied are completely visible without being cut off. Videos need to be Title Safe in order for all text and graphics to be displayed completely within the viewing frame of a video. All content must be in title safe to be considered archive-worthy, REGARDLESS of the current intentions for its use. It may be meant for online use presently, but that can easily change in the future. 

TWO CHANNEL MONO VERSUS STEREO

This occurs when both the Left and Right channels are identical to each other. The audio coming from the Left and Right channels must NOT be identical. This should be checked on a stereo-meter as Final Cut will falsely define anything with two audio channels as stereo. 

MIXED FRAME RATE

Mixed Frame Rate issues occur when different types of source footage recorded using different frame rates are edited together before they are converted to a single, unified frame rate. 4:1 Cadence ( Long Form Content: Immediate Failure) 4:1 Cadence means you have 4 progressive frames of video, and every 5th frame is a repeat of the 4th frame. There should be no repeated frames at all. This issue is often the result of a 23.98 frame video being converted to 29.97 incorrectly. When done correctly, you will see 3 unique progressive frames followed by 2 interlaced frames. Content should be kept native to the frame rate at which it was shot. This also can occur when interlaced content is tagged as progressive. 

Aggregators place your film or series onto the platforms, but unlike a distributor, aggregators do not market the project. Driving viewers to your film using ads, the trailer, the film link and QR code aas well as word of mouth grassroots marketing will all have direct impact on your project's revenues. 

1. Join 3 to 5 top Facebook groups focused on the platform you want to drive your film traffic to, for example, Tubi Facebook groups, and post your film link, trailer and any other types of promotion without spamming the groups. 
2. Join Telegram groups about the pltforms your film is on. 
3. Place your QR code on both sides of any flyers.
4. Use in-person, grassroots marketing as well as digital marketing.
5. Use of stickers with QR codes on them are effective for brining more eyes onto your project.
6. Don't spend too much on the film itself, leave funds for marketing.
7. Post sponsored Facebook ads on weekends in targeted locations.
8. Post Instagram ads on weekends in targeted locations. 
9. Use digital bllboards on weekends in towns where your target audience is.
10. Run YouTube ads on weekends.
11. Write a press release and pay to have it distributed.
12. Put your trailer on YouTube.
13. Put your BTS on YouTube.
14. Put out as much content about the project as possible such as interviews, clips, actor shoutouts, etc.
15. Sign paperwork with any partners or anyone involved in the production, distribution or marketing.