How It Works

How it works:

The DV Challenge is exactly that, a challenge, but not just against your competitors, against yourself! One of the hardest things about making short films is actually getting up off your butt and doing it. This contest is designed to do just that.

It works like this:

First, log on to our host forum http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/ It is free! You will need to do this so you can access the SIGN UP thread in our forum, found at: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=100.

This allows you quick access to help from the thousands of forum members on DVinfo.net, should you need it. It will also allow you to post a thread dedicated to your movie, so that viewers can give you direct feedback about it and you can share your filming experiences. It is totally free to sign up! If you want to support The DV Challenge, click out support thread link on the left.


Once you post in the sign up thread your intention on competing on DVinfo.net, you should do a little pre-production, gather a few actors, a choice of locations, and some help.

From there all you need to do is wait for the contest theme to be announced on the starting day (usually a Thursday morning PST). Once the theme is posted, you will have until the following Sunday night, 10 days later, to write and shoot a story revolving around it. Generally, you should write your script on the Thursday, and shoot over the weekend.

From there you can take the following week to do any re-shoots, and all your editing. That is if you like doing things the easy way!

From there, upload it to http://www.youtube.com/, adding a title that says "thedvchallenge.com presents" and list it with our Youtube account (TheDVChallenge)

You are welcome to host a high quality version on your own webspace, and submit both.

Once your film is online, email the link to your movie to thedvchallenge@gmail.com before the Sunday at midnight deadline. The sooner you get it in the better. Please include your name and title in the email subject line, and the following information in the body of the email formatted exactly like this:

Your Name
"Title Of Your Movie"
http://www.theyoutubelink.here/

After all the films have been submitted, we post 4 or 5 a day the following week for all to watch.
Do not post your link anywhere else until we have screened it on the forum the following week.
After all the films have "screened" on our DVinfo.net forum, this site, and our newsletter, then the judging begins. Anyone who submits a film is a judge! Part of competing is judging. Watch all your competitors films, and email your top 3 choices, in order of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, to thedvchallenge@gmail.com before the Sunday night following the screening. The winners are usually announced Monday morning. For more Judging information, please see the link on the left.