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IDA DocuWeeks™ CALL FOR ENTRIES
13th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcases
Los Angeles & New York City - July 31, 2009 - August 20, 2009
PRESENTING SPONSOR |
CONTRIBUTING SPONSOR |
DocuWeeks™ helps to qualify outstanding new feature and short documentaries for Academy Award® consideration, by providing its participants with a seven-day commercial theatrical run in Los Angeles County and in the Borough of Manhattan. (Shorts will screen in the County of Los Angeles only, per Academy requirements.)
To be eligible for Academy Awards® consideration, a feature documentary film must complete a seven-day commercial theatrical run (twice daily) in the County of Los Angeles and in the Borough of Manhattan between September 1, 2008, and August 31, 2009. Short format documentaries must complete a seven-day commercial theatrical run (once per day) in the County of Los Angeles (or in the Borough of Manhattan.) Shorts participating in DocuWeeks™ will screen in Los Angeles only, per Academy requirements.
For complete information about Academy Awards® consideration, please see the 82nd Academy Awards Special Rules for Documentary Awards (Rule Twelve) for complete eligibility and application requirements. Read Rule Twelve here. Each filmmaker is responsible for submitting the Academy Awards® application. IDA will provide the filmmaker with proof of advertisement, guide listings and theatrical runs for submission to the Academy prior to the Academy deadline.
Requirements for application to DocuWeeks™
- Only stand-alone documentaries may be submitted.
- The significant dialogue or narration must be in English, or the entry must have English-language subtitles.
- No type of television or internet transmission of a feature may occur anywhere in the world until 60 days after the completion of theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles.
- The film must meet all requirements for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 82nd Annual Academy Awards® Special Rules for the Documentary Awards.
- To obtain a copy of the rules, please call 310.247.3000 or visit www.oscars.org
To apply for IDA’s DocuWeeks™ please use the online submission process at Withoutabox.com. To get started, please go to this link:
Submission deadlines and fees:
Entry must be made on Withoutabox.com by 11:59pm May 11, 2009.
| Earlybird Deadline: | April 14 | $100.00 |
| Regular Deadline: | April 27 | $150.00 |
| Late (FINAL) Deadline: | May 11 | $250.00 |
Applicants will be notified in mid-June if selected to participate. Entry fee is NON-REFUNDABLE.
Materials requirements are detailed inside Withoutabox.com.
Screening Options
You may choose to screen on 35mm print or Digital Cinema Package (DCP). Please choose this option carefully when you apply, as we have limited slots for each type of format. IDA does not cover the costs of producing either the 35mm print or the DCP print. Print must be provided 7 days prior to opening screening date (TBD).
Co-Op FeesMaking a run for the Academy Awards® is a large endeavor for any filmmaker. Unfortunately, IDA cannot cover the full costs for each film. We have made it as reasonably priced as possible for the selected films to participate. Please note, that if your film is selected for DocuWeeks™, you will be expected to cover part of the costs of the theatrical run for your film in New York City and in Los Angeles (Los Angeles only for Shorts.) IDA Co-op Fees cover the showcase costs including theater/projection equipment rental, paid advertising, and general publicity and promotion. Please be prepared in June for selection and be prepared to commit your Co-Op Fees within 2 business days of the offer to participate. Co-op fees are NON REFUNDABLE.
Rates for Co-op Fees for New York City and Los Angeles Combined
35mm Projection
35mm Shorts $3000 (LA only)
35mm Features $14,000
Digital Cinema Package Projection (Based on running time)
40 minutes or less $4500 (LA only)
41 to 89 minutes $17,000
90 to 102 minutes $20,000
Over 102 minutes TBD
If selected for DocuWeeks™, the filmmaker must provide an Academy/DCI
compliant "Digital Cinema Package" (DCP), which would be loaded to
Academy compliant cinema players and projected with D-Cinema
projectors. Full technical requirements, per AMPAS, are below.
The picture must be projected using 16mm, 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels; source image format conforming to SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000), and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites. The audio in a typical Digital Cinema DCP is 5.1 channels of discrete audio and that is the preferred audio configuration. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Center, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). The audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE 428-2-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master-Audio Characteristics and SMPTE 428-3-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master Audio Channel Mapping and Channel Labeling.
Complete detailed information is contained in the following specifications:
SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema, ISO/IEC 15444-1, SMPTE 428-2-2006
D-Cinema, SMPTE 428-3-2006 D-Cinema
See what our past filmmakers have to say about participation in this esteemed IDA program.
Click here to read filmmaker comments.
"Kudos to DocuWeek and its Theatrical Showcase, a wonderful screening
program that is well-curated and generous to films that don't have
distributors in place. Thanks to Docuweek, important, little noticed
films can qualify for the Academy Awards and be seen in great
theaters."
-- Alex Gibney, Academy Award winner, Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
"The
IDA provides an extremely valuable service to filmmakers with Docuweek.
It's unlikely I would have been able to qualify my films for Academy
consideration without it."
--James Longley, Academy Award nominee--Sari's Mother (2007); Iraq in Fragments (2006)
"DocuWeek
is a must! In a highly competitive and ever-changing theatrical
market, DocuWeek allows documentary films to be qualified for the big
awards. It's a great way to showcase films at a theatre with other
documentaries before deciding on a release plan or a distributor."
--Amy Berg, Academy Award nominee--Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
"In
2006, the selection of our film The Blood of Yingzhou District for
IDA's DocuWeek marked the beginning of the road to winning an Oscar
that year.
Our
recent short film, Tongzhi in Love (2008), is every bit as beautiful a
film—maybe more beautiful—but (ominous music starts here) it wasn't
ready in time for the IDA and we handled Oscar qualification, yes,
ourselves. We made the Academy Short List in October 2008, so we now
had a better than 50/50 chance of a nomination. The devil had us in his
hand; we were rehearsing our speech, picking out (in Ruby's case) her
gown (I wasn't going to wear a gown) and . . . you know what happened
next.
The moral of this story is clear: Go with IDA.”
--Thomas Lennon & Ruby Yang, Academy Award winners, The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006)
“The
DocuWeek Showcase was a wonderful way to begin Jesus Camps’s incredible
journey to the Oscars. I would recommend it to any filmmaker that wants
to make sure they are qualified in a legit way, and be in excellent
company!”
-- Rachel Grady, Academy Award nominee, Jesus Camp (2006)
“DocuWeek
was an exciting showcase for our film. We will be forever grateful for
the opportunity to qualify for Academy Award® nomination through the
IDA's Docuweek™. Without it our film would not have received the Oscar®
nomination or the subsequent purchase by HBO™ and Emmy® Award for Best
Documentary. DocuWeek was our lucky break!”
-- Kimberlee Acquaro, Academy Award nominee, God Sleeps in Rwanda (2005)
"When
Ferry Tales was finished, hardly any festival (or anybody for that
matter) was interested in a quirky film 'about the ladies room on the
Staten Island Ferry'. After we were invited to DocuWeek, everything
changed - suddenly the film was on peoples’ radar and even got a
surprise-Oscar-nomination!"
-- Katja Esson, Academy Award nominee, Ferry Tales (2003)
“DocuWeek
was full of joy, everyone was so enthusiastic and supportive to me and
the film, it paved the way for the Oscar®! I was thrilled to be a part
of it.”
-- Maryann Deleo, Academy Award winner, Chernobyl Heart (2003)
“DocuWeek
was a vital component in our efforts to have Spellbound reach a wider
audience. We're deeply aware and appreciative of what it did for us,
and we hope it continues to bring compelling documentaries to receptive
audiences.”
-- Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch, Academy Award nominee, Spellbound (2002)
* Smile Pinki / Oscar® Winner / 2008
* The Betrayal / Oscar® Nominee / 2008
* Taxi To The Dark Side / Oscar® Winner / 2007
* War/Dance / Oscar® Nominee / 2007
* Salim Baba / Oscar® Nominee / 2007
* Sari's Mother / Oscar® Nominee / 2007
• The Blood of Yingzhou District / Oscar® winner / 2006
• Deliver Us From Evil / Oscar® nominee / 2006
• Jesus Camp / Oscar® nominee 2006
• Iraq in Fragments / Oscar® nominee 2006
• Darwin’s Nightmare / Oscar® nominee 2005
• God Sleeps in Rwanda /Oscar® nominee 2005
• Born into Brothels / Oscar® winner / 2004
• Hardwood / Oscar® nominee / 2004
• Chernobyl Heart / Oscar® winner / 2003
• Ferry Tales / Oscar® nominee / 2003
• Spellbound / Oscar® nominee / 2002
• Why Can’t We Be a Family Again? / Oscar® nominee / 2002
• Children Underground / Oscar® nominee / 2001
• On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom / Oscar® nominee / 2000
• The Personals / Oscar® winner / 1998
• The Last Days / Oscar® winner / 1998