filmmakers.studioCompetition

Competition terms

Last updated 11 October 2026.

Draft. These terms are being reviewed and may change before entries close. If they change, we will email everyone who has entered.

1. Who runs the competition

The filmmakers.studio short-film competition is run by Intelligence Limited, a company registered in New Zealand (NZBN 9429053571564), 85 Pooles Road, Greerton, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand (“we”, “us”). Questions go to identity@filmmakers.studio.

By entering, you agree to these terms.

2. Who can enter

  • Indian citizens, whether you live in India or abroad.
  • If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must enter with you. They give their name and their consent on the entry form, accept these terms on your behalf, and receive the prize if you win. We may ask for proof that they are your parent or guardian.
  • Employees of Intelligence Limited, the judges, and their immediate families cannot enter.

3. Your entry

  • Entering is free, and you do not have to buy anything to enter.
  • You enter on the entry form, signed in with your filmmakers.studio account. One entry per account.
  • A team enters through one person, the account holder. That person receives the prize and is responsible for anything agreed within the team.
  • You can change your entry until entries close on Friday 29 January 2027, 11:59 pm IST. Entries, changes and links received after that are not accepted.
  • The information you give must be true. We contact you at the email address on your account.

4. Your film

  • 15 to 40 minutes long, including credits.
  • Made with at least one of these six tools: ScriptDraft, Script Analysis, Kalezio, Provelio, IdeaRail and CutPrint. Several can be used for free, and using any one of them is enough. You agree that we may check your account’s activity in the tools you name on the form.
  • Made after the competition opened on 9 October 2026, and not released commercially or in cinemas before entries close.
  • Any language, with English subtitles if it is not in English.
  • You may use AI tools, including the ones above, as long as you hold the rights to what you use.
  • It must not break Indian law, and must not be defamatory, obscene or hateful, or invade anyone’s privacy.

5. Submitting your film

  • Upload the finished film to BoxSeat Studio and add its link (it starts https://boxseat.app/title/) to your entry before entries close.
  • Set your film to Free to watch on BoxSeat. BoxSeat makes new films paid rentals by default; an entry that viewers have to pay for will not be judged.
  • BoxSeat reviews every upload before it goes live, and its link does not work until then. Upload early to leave time for review.
  • BoxSeat uploads do not resume if they are interrupted. We recommend a 1080p H.264 MP4 under 8 GB, uploaded on a steady connection with the page left open until it finishes.
  • Every entry is public on BoxSeat: anyone with a free filmmakers.studio account can watch it, including the other entrants. That is deliberate: the competition is open, and you can see what you are up against.
  • Once you add your link, your film’s title, team name, logline, the tools you used and the link appear in “Watch the entries” on the competition page. Nothing else from your entry is shown. We may remove a listing that breaks these terms.
  • Because your film is public as soon as you upload it, we recommend timestamping your script and cut with Provelio first, so you can prove what was yours and when.
  • BoxSeat is a separate service with its own terms, which apply to your upload. Some film festivals do not accept films that are already public, so check the rules of any festival you plan to enter.
  • Upload well before the deadline. We are not responsible for an upload or entry that fails or arrives late.

6. Rights in your film

  • You keep ownership of your film and everything in it.
  • You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence, for two years from the day entries close, to show your film to the judges, to screen it at competition events, and to use its title, clips of up to 60 seconds, stills and your name to promote the competition and filmmakers.studio.
  • You confirm that the film is your original work and that you have all the rights and permissions it needs: music, footage, artwork, and written releases from cast, crew and locations. We may ask for copies if you are shortlisted.
  • If a claim is made against us because your film breaks someone’s rights, you are responsible for it.

7. Judging

  • A panel of film-industry veterans watches every eligible entry and chooses one winner. We will name the judges, and publish how entries are scored, before entries close.
  • Views, likes, comments and shares on BoxSeat or anywhere else play no part in judging. Buying or faking them is grounds for disqualification.
  • A judge who knows an entrant personally does not score that entrant’s film.
  • The panel’s decision is final.
  • We will announce the winner within 60 days of entries closing.

8. The prize

  • One prize of ₹5,00,000, for one winner.
  • The prize includes tax. Any tax that has to be deducted under Indian law comes out of the prize, so the amount paid to you will be less than ₹5,00,000. You are responsible for any further tax where you live.
  • Before we pay, the winner gives us proof of identity and Indian citizenship, their PAN, and bank details in their name (their guardian’s, if they are under 18).
  • We pay by bank transfer within 30 days of receiving those details. The prize cannot be transferred or exchanged.
  • If the winner cannot be contacted within 30 days, does not provide those details, or is disqualified, the panel may choose another winner.

9. Disqualification

We may disqualify an entry that breaks these terms, copies someone else’s work (including another entry), gives false information, or tries to influence the judges.

10. Publicity

If you win, you agree that we may use your name, photo, city and film to announce the result and promote the competition.

11. Your information

  • We collect what the entry form asks for, to run the competition, contact entrants and pay the prize.
  • Only the people running the competition and the judges see it. We do not sell it or use it for advertising.
  • We keep non-winners’ entry details for 6 months after the winner is announced, then delete them. Deleting your filmmakers.studio account deletes your entry straight away.
  • To see, correct or delete your information, email identity@filmmakers.studio.

12. Changes and cancellation

We may extend the deadline. We will change these terms or cancel the competition only if something outside our control makes it necessary, and we will email entrants if we do.

13. Liability

We are not liable for any loss from entering the competition, except where the law does not allow us to limit our liability.

14. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of India.