BIAFF Fees

A forum for sharing views on the art of film, video and AV sequence making as well as on competitions, judging and festivals.
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Ned C

BIAFF Fees

Post by Ned C »

I have downloaded the entry forms for the 2007 BIAFF and took a look at the
charges and have a couple of suggestions,
only return the films if the film makers ask for return, my DVD entries have
been returned to the USA at considerable cost to the IAC, much more than
they cost me to make, last year I wrote "Do not return" on the form and it
came back. Return mailing costs must eat up a chunk of the income. How about
a discount for members of the IAC? My form lists a handling charge to non-members
of GBP2 but it is preprinted into the total column.

Ned C
Willy van der Linden

Re: BIAFF Fees

Post by Willy van der Linden »

"Ned C" <forums@theiac.org.uk> wrote:
I have downloaded the entry forms for the 2007 BIAFF and took a look at
the
charges and have a couple of suggestions,
only return the films if the film makers ask for return, my DVD entries
have
been returned to the USA at considerable cost to the IAC, much more than
they cost me to make, last year I wrote "Do not return" on the form and
it
came back. Return mailing costs must eat up a chunk of the income. How about
a discount for members of the IAC? My form lists a handling charge to non-members
of GBP2 but it is preprinted into the total column.

These are good suggestions, Ned. In Belgium filmmakers can only get back
their cassettes and DVD entries if they attend the ceremony. Some weeks ago
there were about 350 people at the proclamation ceremony of the national
competition in the festivity hall of Dilbeek near Brussels.

I think that the organizers took that decision some years ago because too
many filmmakers were absent at the ceremony. I remember that the president
was very disappointed. Now we're more or less obliged to attend the proclamation
ceremony.

It seems to me that in Belgium quite a lot of money is spent on hiring festivity
halls. I have seen prices in (confidential ?) documents. I couldn't believe
mly eyes. In Willebroek - the place of my filmclub - a "Gala" is organized
every year. Once we had more than 300 spectators. We never have to pay anything
for the festivity hall of our town because we are a cultural organisation.
Hopefully the organizers of British festivals don't have to spend so much
money on hiring locations (rooms in hotels, etc...). If my ideas on this
forum excite feelings of peevishness then I will be more careful next time.
I feel some "liberty" on this forum. In my country ...

Willy
Dave Watterson

Re: BIAFF Fees

Post by Dave Watterson »

"Ned C" <forums@theiac.org.uk> wrote:
I have downloaded the entry forms for the 2007 BIAFF and took a look at
the
charges and have a couple of suggestions,
only return the films if the film makers ask for return, my DVD entries
have
been returned to the USA at considerable cost to the IAC, much more than
they cost me to make, last year I wrote "Do not return" on the form and
it
came back. Return mailing costs must eat up a chunk of the income. How about
a discount for members of the IAC? My form lists a handling charge to non-members
of GBP2 but it is preprinted into the total column.
Don't worry about the £2.00 fee - I typed up the version of the entry form
on the website and probably should not have put the figure into the total
column. I'm on lunchbreak at work now but will check when I get home. IAC
members do, therefore, get their movies into the festival for £2 less than
non-members.

I agree about the issue of returning video copies - I reckon it should be
assumed that they will not be returned. After all a cassette is pretty cheap
these days and DVDs are very cheap. If anyone specially wants their tape
returned they should send an additional fee large enough to cover return
postage. It seems to me that this provision is a hang over from cine days
when camera originals were often sent to competitions.

This would not only save some money but also save the festival manager a
lot of work.

Dave
Dave Watterson

Re: BIAFF Fees

Post by Dave Watterson »

I ought to have said in the previous message "save the competition manager
a lot of work" - sorry.

I'm surprised that Belgian moviemakers can be persuaded to pay for travel
to their festival - and presumably also to pay for food and drink at "tourist"
prices - just to get back a few Euros worth of cassettes or discs. Not that
I mind it if that helps encourage people to attend the festival.

As for venues ... oh, yes Willy, we do have to pay for them. They are VERY
expensive. Maybe some clubs get local support in the way of free or cheap
venues for local screenings, but I do not know of any. The national organisation
does not enjoy such benefits.

One of the problems for IAC Regions hosting BIAFF is to find a venue where
there is suitable projection space. Most modern hotels have flat conference
rooms with insufficient headroom to have the screen clearly visible from
the back - an important point where films may be subtitled. They have to
find such venues in places which can be reasonably easily reached ... and
they have to negotiate the hiring charges.

Usually the host Region pays for the mini-cinema rooms for Saturday, a main
large cinema for Friday night's AV show, Saturday night's dinner and all
day Sunday for the gala show. They also pay for an organiser's room where
movies and equipment can be stored safely. In the past some of those facilities
might be given freely by the hotel in recognition of the extra business they
get from delegates, but not now.

That's part of the reason for the ticket prices.

Dave
Willy Van der Linden

Re: BIAFF Fees

Post by Willy Van der Linden »

"Dave Watterson" <david.filmsocs@virgin.net> wrote:
I ought to have said in the previous message "save the competition manager
a lot of work" - sorry.

I'm surprised that Belgian moviemakers can be persuaded to pay for travel
to their festival - and presumably also to pay for food and drink at "tourist"
prices - just to get back a few Euros worth of cassettes or discs. Not that
I mind it if that helps encourage people to attend the festival.

You're right, Dave. A DVD is not expensive, but 4-5 years ago there were
not DVD's, only mini-DV-cassettes and at that time they were rather expensive.
Time passes very quickly and so does technology. An other thing : at the
national competition in Belgium you are obliged to give the operator(s) mini-DV-cassettes.
DVD's are not accepted. That's one of the rules. Reason : they fear to have
difficulties with DVD's. Not all DVD-players accept all types of discs. I've
just had such a problem at home. My player accepts DVD's-R, but no DVD's
+R, though it's a rather expensive player. Perhaps I've done something wrong
while copying my film. I always burn my DVD's in my casablanca prestige.
At BIAFF there is no problem. It's a selection system. The films are not
screened only once in a festivity hall for an audience. The judges take the
films home. If they have technical problems behind closed doors they can
try to fix the problems without any agitation. As you know in Belgium more
than 12O are screened in public one after an other and the organizers don't
want to lose time and to take any risks.

On Tuesday I attended a regional meeting. Again all presidents asked to change
the system, but it was to no purpose. I referred to the BIAFF, Guernsey and
Cotswolds systems. The "Board of Directors" at our regional level don't have
the energy anymore to fight for it on our national level. They admitted it
at the meeting. Urbain Appeltans is the only regional chairman who dares,
but he's called a rebel ! Today I received "Film and Video Maker". Introduction
: "The Chairman's Chat". This time it's Linda Gough's turn, but I also remember
Reg Lancaster, John Gibbs, Eric Granshaw and others. In Belgium : once you
are a chairman you are a chairman for life and nowadays it's even difficult
to get rid of that job ! Some years ago I was asked to become a new regional
chairman, but I refused, thank God ! But to be honest it's not their fault.
It's not fair to level all charges at our regional and national chairmen.
Some years ago our new Minister of Cultural Affairs had a bright idea. He
created some new and well-paid jobs. These people run the co-ordinating institute
for all filmclubs and photoclubs now. Let's say the Belgian IAC. Our filmleaders
of the past can hardly take new decisions. Sorry, that I'm saying these things
now. The theme of this discussion is "BIAFF fees". I forgot.
Willy
Competition Manager

Re: BIAFF Fees

Post by Competition Manager »

"Ned C" <forums@theiac.org.uk> wrote:
I have downloaded the entry forms for the 2007 BIAFF and took a look at
the
charges and have a couple of suggestions,
Sorry Ned, your film was returned by mistake, probably due to the pressures
at the time! Usually if entrants to BIAFF say they don't want their films
back - and there are very few - the films are passed to the library. If films
are not returned what do we do with them?
Incidently, Willy has been misinformed: Judges at BIAFF DO NOT take the films
home to view them. A combined judging session takes place at a single location,
over a weekend, when all 18 judges work in teams of three - alternating after
each session. Each team of three produces critiques and a grading.
DVD entries are on the increase at the expense of VHS & SVHS, but they also
cause the greatest problems (as recorded elsewhere on this site!) experience
has shown that tape is the most reliable although if shot on DV Cam there
are compatibility problems.
BIAFF is one of the few - if not the only - major competitions in the world
which tries to accommodate every format and any length of movie. Naturally
this tends to be making a rod for our own backs but keep sending in your
entries!
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