terms & conditions

TO ENTER

To register for Music Video Race, you must first apply by submitting a Music Video Race application form.

To be notified when we open applications for the next MVR, sign up HERE.

Please read everything here and on the FAQ page, and if you still have questions, feel free to email us at musicicans@musicvideorace.com or film@musicvideorace.com with any questions.

 
 

THE RACE WEEKEND

The project will commence at 8pm on Friday night, at the kick-off event* in your city and end at 8pm on the following Sunday. You must drop your video off by 8 PM to be eligible for prizes. NO EXCEPTIONS. Plan for traffic, baseball games, parking, giant robot attacks, etc…

2015 dates TBA

*All participating bands and filmmakers will be emailed an information packet including kick-off location details at least 10 days before the filming kicks off in your city.

At the Kick-Off, musician and filmmaker teams will be paired up and given exactly 48 hours to make and deliver a music video.
Team leaders for bands and filmmakers MUST be present at the kick-off and drop-off.

Signing up to MVR means you are prepared and willing to make a music video with a stranger in 48 hours! This requires keeping an open schedule and open mind.

All creativity must take place during the race weekend but you are permitted to organize crew
/cast
, equipment
 & locations in advance.

Pre-recorded music is strongly encouraged, as audio quality will be judged strictly and live sound is a harsh, harsh mistress.
 
 

PAPERWORK & RESPONSIBILITIES

Selected Entrants will be required to sign the standard Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Leader’s Agreement.
You can find all of the agreements at the bottom of this page. Team Leaders are responsible for submitting all of their team’s paperwork so please read through the rules and terms & conditions in advance so there are no surprises.
By sending payment to MVR, you are agreeing to the terms of these Official Rules and the terms of the Band or Filmmaker Team Leader’s Agreement.
All costs associated with the production of the Entry are solely the responsibility of the entrants. Have a conversation about it EARLY. NEVER spring costs on somebody. We encourage low- to no-budget filmmaking.

 
 

THE SCREENING

San Francisco 2014 screening will be held on July 20th at The Independent.
Austin 2014 screening will be held on September 13th at Empire Control Room.
Los Angeles 2014 screening will be held on November 16th at The Bootleg HiFi.

Each filmmaking team will receive ONE TICKET to the screening. Each band will receive ONE TICKET to the screening. Additional tickets may be purchased through The Independent website.

 
 

SELECTION OF WINNERS

Entries will be judged by a process in which a qualified panel of judges will evaluate the eligible Entries based on the following criteria:

-Concept
-Best use of song provided
-Art direction
-Cinematography
-Editing
-Grand Prize: Best Music Video

Individual awards-
-Best On-Screen Performance
-Best Song

 
 

OK, that was the quick rules overview. The rest of this stuff is a bit dense, but it’s important to you and us, so read this too before you apply.

 
 

PROJECT TERMS OF SUBMISSION

By submitting an Entry into this Project, each Entrant warrants and represents that the Entrant owns all rights to the Entry he/she is entering in this Project, including, without limitation, the video or digital recording, and the performance contained in each Entry, with the exception of any assets provided by MVR for use by Entrants in connection with this Project. This means no cover songs. Each Entrant further warrants and represents that the Entrant has obtained permission from each person who appears in the Entry to grant the rights to the MVR described in these Official Rules and the Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Leader’s Agreement, and will submit copies of such permissions to MVR. By submitting an Entry, Entrant agrees to these Official Rules and the terms of the Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Agreement, and further agrees to indemnify and hold MVR and the Project Parties harmless from any and all claims, damages, expenses, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) and liabilities (including settlements), brought or asserted by any third party against MVR or any of the Project Parties due to or arising out of the Entrant’s Entry materials in this Project, or the Entrant’s conduct during and in connection with this Project, including but not limited to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights, right of publicity, right of privacy or defamation. Entrants hereby release, indemnify and hold harmless MVR and the Project Parties from any and all claims that any advertising, presentation, web content or any other material subsequently produced, presented, and/or prepared by or on behalf of MVR or the Project Parties infringes on the rights of Entrant’s work as contained in any Entry.
 
As a condition of entry, participants must agree to the Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Agreement, which sets forth the rights of Entrants and MVR with respect to the use of Entries by MVR. Entries that do not include all required information and adhere to the foregoing and following requirements will be considered void and will not be considered in this Project.
 
If any group of individuals elects to collaborate on an Entry, they are required to designate one (1) person as the Team Leader of the group to enter the Project, agree to these Official Rules, sign the Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Leader’s Agreement and accept the prize on behalf of the group. Neither MVR nor any of the Project Parties are liable for any disputes between collaborators arising out of or related to the Project.


 
 

GOVERNING LAW

By participating, Entrants agree to these Official Rules which are final and binding in all respects. The Project is governed by the laws of the State of California, and all claims must be resolved in the State of California courts.
 


 
 

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND RELEASE

No liability or responsibility is assumed by MVR or Project Parties resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the Project or ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with participating in the Project. No responsibility or liability is assumed by MVR or Project Parties for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences which may affect the operation of the Project: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any e-mail transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted e-mail transmissions; inaccessibility of the Music Video Race website at www.musicvideorace.com (“Web Site”) in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Web Site; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of the Project, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Project, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Project. MVR and Project Parties are not responsible for any typographical errors in the announcement of prizes or these Official Rules, or any inaccurate or incorrect data contained on the Web Site. Use of Web Site is at user’s own risk. MVR and the Project Parties are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user’s or any other person’s computer equipment resulting from participation in the Project, use of the Web Site or the download of any information from the Web Site. By participating in the Project, Entrant agrees to release, indemnify and hold MVR and Project Parties harmless from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Entrant’s participation in the Project.

 
 

GENERAL RULES

The following rules apply to each participating musician/filmmaker team:

A. Times: Music Video Race will occur in-

San Francisco between Friday July11th 2014 8pm Pacific Standard Time and the following Sunday July 13th at 8pm Pacific Standard Time.

Austin between Friday September 5th 2014 8pm Central Time and the following Sunday September 7th 2014 at 8pm Central time.

Los Angeles between Friday November 7th 2014 8pm Pacific Standard Time and the following Sunday November 9th 2014 at 8pm Pacific Standard Time.

These 48 hours are known as the “Music Video Race Time Period.”

 
B. The participating group/team must complete its music video in time to deliver it to the drop-off location on Sunday by 8:00 pm.

 
C. Only videos that meet the deadline will be officially part of the competition.
 
D. All creativity must take place during the “Music Video Race Time Period”. Any create work in advance of the competition weekend is prohibited.
 
Creative work includes, but is not limited to:
-Writing the script
-Rehearsing
-Costume/Set Design
-Shooting 
-Editing
-Sound Design
-Rendering
-Outputting to tape or other media
.


The only work to begin prior to the “Music Video Race Time Period” is:
-Organizing Crew
-Organizing Cast
-Securing Equipment
-Scouting/Securing Locations
-Song Recording (You may record live sound for the video, but keep in mind sound will be judged
.)
 

 
E: All footage must be shot and edited within the Music Video Race Time Period.
 

 
F: Each participating group must have a representative at the official Kick-Off. Prior to the Kick-Off, each group must submit a complete Music Video Race Band or Filmmaker Team Agreement signed by its team leader. A team may not participate without submitting this agreement.
 

 
G: Each band will be paired up with a filmmaking team by MVR, in a manner determined by MVR.
 

 
H: Any type of video or film camera may be used.

 
I: Songs that are not pre-recorded are permissible, but must be original compositions. Released or unreleased tracks are both acceptable. Sound quality is very important and will be judged harshly.
 No samples may be used unless you have permission in writing to use them. Songs must be less than 5 minutes long.
 


J: Your music video MUST be submitted in the following format: 


QUICKTIME
APPLE PRORES 422 (LT) file
AUDIO PEAKING at -10dB

All projects need to be NTSC and preferably HD, if you’ll be shooting in SD, alert us 
BEFOREHAND.
 
The music video should be on a hard drive, a thumb drive or a data DVD (if your project fits).
 
The files should be completely stand-alone. We will not accept excerpts, FCP projects, or Avid
 Projects. Everything MUST be nested and completely stand-alone.
 
We ask you have the following specs as you submit:
 
2 seconds of black
The Music Video
2 seconds of black
 
All this should be contained as a stand-alone file.
 
We will compile a final reel and because of the limited time we need these specs to adhered to fully. We appreciate your cooperation. Write film@musicvideorace.com with any questions.

 

L: Each team must secure releases for talent, crew, and locations (and any other applicable releases), which must be turned in to the project organizers with the finished film/video. (Standard release forms will be posted at the bottom of this rules page) The film/video will not be screened unless MVR receives the signed releases.
 EVERY CAST AND CREW MEMBER MUST SIGN A PARTICIPANT WAIVER. 

 
M: To be eligible for the Project, Entries must be the original work of the Entrant(s); must not infringe third-party’s rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Entrant and/or MVR). Entries containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by the MVR, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate will be disqualified. MVR reserves the right to make the final determination as to which Entries are eligible. MVR also reserves the right to refuse to screen a film or to make an announcement at the screening regarding the content of the film.
 


 
N: The Entrant may not upload their film anywhere until two weeks after the Premiere Screening in the city you participated in. Entrant may embed MVR’s upload of the video in the meantime. After two weeks, entrants may upload the video, provided it includes the “Made for MVR” slate at the beginning. Email film@musicvideorace.com for a copy of this slate.
 
O: To be certified as an “Official MVR video”, each participating group’s film/video production must follow all rules herein. The MVR organizers reserve the right to screen only certified “Official MVR videos.”
 

P: Entries (media or documents) will not be returned.

 
Q: MVR and Project Parties may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Entries deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

 
R: The Music Video Race organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the “Music Video Race Time Period”, and it is the entrants responsibility to check for any changes before the kick-off event.
 


 
 

Band Leader’s Agreement
Filmmaker’s Agreement
Location Release
Release for All Cast and Crew