All grants awarded in this category are two year, multiyear awards.

Support in this category is available for the public presentation of film, video and new media festivals presented within cinematic settings in theaters, galleries, libraries and museums. Touring festivals that circulate to three or more sites throughout New York State are also encouraged. New applicants and applicants with proposals for outdoor Festivals are required to speak with EMF staff in advance of registration.

EMF recognizes that film today is presented in a wide variety of formats, including, but not limited to, 35mm, 16mm, 8mm and DigiBeta. EMF welcomes applications from organizations that value and respect the wide range of technologies employed in the history of cinema to date and moving forward.

The priority of EMF is support for organizations with the capacity to present the artist’s work appropriately and in the format that the artist designates. Applicants must be able to affirm this agreement. EMF funds cannot be used for screenings where there is no agreement between the organization and the artist or his/her representative.

Applications in this category go directly to panel and are not subject to staff review. Please be careful to ensure that your proposal and application materials are clear and complete. Panel will rate all proposals based on the material submitted.

Eligibility

Applicants to Film Festivals must have completed three years of successful festival programming to a public audience.

Organizations may not apply to Electronic Media and Film if applying to another NYSCA discipline area for the same project.

Festivals that demonstrate strong curatorial vision, artistic excellence and strong evidence of innovation or experimentation in film and media as an art form are priorities of the Program.

Projects will not be considered for support when film festival screenings are in the service of another discipline or objective other than film and electronic media as an art form.

Application Instructions

The online application form includes the following questions, and a project budget. Required support materials are listed below.

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Program Summary
Briefly describe the festival including its purpose, type(s) of film/media work presented, scope, audience numbers, when it occurs and duration of the event. Indicate the number of films/screenings, location and venue. Provide the URL for the organizational web site.

2. Curatorial Vision
Describe the primary focus or theme of the festival and the artistic criteria for selecting the work. How does the festival inform critical dialogue in the context of advancing media and film as an art form? What is the goal of this festival in regard to the audience and the curatorial intent? Identify the programmer(s) and/or curator(s) responsible for the festival’s content and describe their credentials.

3.Changes and Developments
Describe any significant festival staff or programmatic changes and developments in the past year. Describe the key program challenges and how the organization plans to meet them.

4. Exhibition Venue
Describe the technical capacity of the venue, presentation format and technology, audience capacity and viewing area. Why was this venue chosen? Describe the technical capacity of program staff support, including projectionists.

Managerial/Fiscal

5. Board and Staff
Describe the board composition and range of expertise and indicate how it serves the organizational mission. Describe the involvement of the board in management and program planning. Who is responsible for oversight of the final program?

6. Finances
Describe the plan for meeting current and future expenses for this festival. Briefly describe rights, rental fees or contracts you have with the artist or distributor. If the media maker(s) is present, describe their participation, fee and number of guest appearances you are planning.

7. Marketing and Outreach
Describe the marketing plan and outreach, including print and electronic media, ticket pricing and subscription plans. Describe the steps taken to increase and diversify the audience, including recent and projected attendance numbers.

8. Planning
Describe the annual planning process for this festival, indicating who participates and how planning informs future staff programming decisions.

Remember to include any financial notes in the Budget Notes area.

Service to the Public

9. Audience and Community
Describe the general audience in demographic and cultural terms. What is the significance of this festival to this community? How is this festival of service to the artists you are screening?

10. Public Interpretation
How does this festival deepen public appreciation and advance understanding of historic and/or contemporary film and media as an art form? What tools or techniques are used to achieve this?

11. Other Programming in the Area
Describe other festival programming in the community. Describe any partnerships or collaborations with other cultural organizations, including local businesses.

12. Publication and Documentation
If applicable, briefly describe the content and presentation format of any documentation or publication stemming from the festival (print catalogue, DVD, CD, Internet). Include contributors and other useful information relating to the scope and purpose of this publication. Describe the plan for distribution and dissemination of this content.

13. Touring Projects
If applicable, describe location, schedule, rationale for selected sites and any plans for revising the content for other sites. Include the value of this festival to the selected communities.

14. Support Materials
List all support materials being submitted for this proposal, including electronic as well as print materials.

Electronic Materials Guidelines for Submission of Support Materials

Instructions for FY13 Support Materials
The Council is now requiring electronic submission of all Support Materials, including forms, documents and work samples.

There are Exemptions to this requirement. Please see Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials below.

Remember to review Program Specific Requirements for all Support Materials indicated in each Program’s guidelines.

Support Materials can only be submitted electronically while the Council’s online Registration and Application period is open.

Requirements for Electronic Submission of Support Materials
Electronic Support Materials must be submitted online to http://nysca.slideroom.com. Remember to review Program Specific Requirements indicated in each Program’s guidelines prior to uploading. All Support Materials including forms and documents for all Program categories including General Support, Project Support, Regrants and Partnerships, can be uploaded as images, video, audio and/or PDF.

If the Support Material is in the form of a URL(s), please create a separate text document titled URL Support Materials, a description of the work sample/content and the URL (link) embedded in the text document. Include this document when uploading all your Support Materials online to http://nysca.slideroom.com.

For Time-Based Media (video and audio) the following is a general guideline to help applicants prepare content for electronic submission:

Images: 5MB maximum (jpg, png, tif file formats)
Videos: 60MB maximum (mov, mp4, wmv, flv file formats)
Audio: 30MB maximum (mp3 file format)
PDF: 10MB maximum (pdf file format)

60MB per Video clips is approximately 6 minutes
30MB per Audio clip is approximately 10 minutes
10MB per PDF is adequate for up to 10 pages of graphical content. Most text only documents are less than ½ MB.

IMPORTANT: When uploading all time-based materials (audio and video), the maximum length allowed is no more than six minutes per sound and/or video clip.

The maximum number of electronic items allowed (uploads) is no more than twenty-five (25) per proposal. For example: One PDF equals one item, one JPG equals one item and one media clip equals one item.

INSTRUCTIONS for uploading and Technical Assistance during the electronic materials submission process are available by emailing your question to support@slideroom.com Monday through Saturday, between 9am and 9pm, Central Standard Time.

Ensuring the Playback Quality of Your Hard Copy Support Materials

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the availability, quality, compatibility, and playback stability of all Support Materials which are exempt from the electronic materials submission requirement

Applicants are encouraged to test and verify that their Support Materials are playable prior to submission.

All Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following hardware:

• Windows XP PC
• 1.6 GHz processor
• 256 mb RAM

In addition, all Hard Copy Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following software:

• For Time-based Work (Film, Moving Images, Music and Soundwork): VideoLAN VLC Media Player (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Still Images: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 OR XnView multimedia viewer (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Electronic Print Materials: Microsoft Word 2003 OR Adobe Acrobat Reader (most current version)

Support Materials

The following materials are required.

Applicants to the Film Festivals category must provide evidence of festival programming over the previous three years.

1.Resumes or biographical statements of two key staff, including curatorial staff (no more than two pages each).

2.The most recent annual program schedule, including dates, artists and works presented over the past three years.

3.Sample contract or letter of agreement between the organization and the artist.

4.Two samples of artists’ work in time-based media, moving image and sound, totaling no more than six (6) minutes per sample.

Optional: Four (4) to six (6) images that best represent this proposal.

Work Samples are a critical component of the review process in this Program.