Student Competition -- Official Rules
2015 Festival of Media Arts
The BEA Festival of Media Arts is an international exhibition of award-wining student
works chosen in the following competitions: audio, documentary, interactive multimedia,
2-year/small colleges, news, scriptwriting, sports, and video. Winners will receive recognition and exhibition of
their works during BEA's annual convention in Las Vegas, April 12-15, 2015.
Eligibility Requirements
1. Predominant Authorship and Originality: The festival invites submissions of original creative works in which the entrant
maintained predominant authorship over the project's content and aesthetics (producing, directing, writing, editing, etc.).
a. Entries under the role of executive producer are accepted ONLY if as producer the entrant was significantly involved in
the entry's design and creation.
b. Previously submitted works will not be accepted. However, a derivative of a previous work may qualify for submission if
it can be shown that substantial changes have been made to the original work assuming that the author has legal rights to
the original. In these cases the entrant must provide additional clarification.
c. Partial works or works-in-progress will not be accepted.
2. Completion Date: Only works completed after December 15, 2013 are eligible for submission.
3. BEA Members Only: The competition is open to full-time graduate and undergraduate students who are either
individual BEA members or enrolled at a university or college that is a BEA Institutional Member. Membership forms and
information are available on the BEA website at www.beaweb.org. Entrants must certify that the entry was completed
while enrolled full-time as a student at a university, college, or community/technical college. NOTE: Students enrolled at a
BEA Member Institution receive a free student membership by registering online.
4. Broadcast Requirement: Audio, News, and Sports submissions must have aired on a broadcast station or Internet site
some time during the "Completion Window" dates of Dec. 15, 2013 & Dec. 15, 2014.
5. Legal Permissions: The entrant agrees to clear all licenses, copyrights, and permissions to ensure that the submission
can legally and ethically be presented at the BEA convention and online at the BEA Festival website. If an entity other than
the entrant owns the rights to all or part of the submitted program, the entrant must attach written consent from the
owner or an authorized representative of the owner to the entry form.
6. Exhibition Rights: The Media Arts Festival includes both a site exhibition at BEA's annual convention in Las Vegas, and
an on-line exhibition at our website. By entering this festival the entrant is stating that they own the rights of exhibition
and that they grant BEA the limited rights to exhibit the work in these two forums. If these rights cannot be granted for a
legitimate reason, the entrant secondarily agrees to create a "substantial trailer" that can be exhibited and will give the
viewer a sense of why the complete work was an award-winner. BEA must receive a winning entry's trailer within 72
hours of the February announcement of winners to retain its winning status.
7. Language: Works must be in English or have English subtitles.
8. Submission Deadline: All entries must be submitted online. Online submissions will be accepted from November 15 -
December 15, 2014. Winners will be notified of the results by February 15, 2015.
Submission Requirements
1. One Entry Form for Each Entry: The entrant must complete one entire entry form for each work submitted. Each entry
has its own non-refundable entry fee.
2. Entry Stipulations / Limitations: A student may enter as many as three different creative works in BEA's Festival of
Media Arts, with the following restrictions:
a. A single work may be entered in only once in the entire Festival Competition. If the same entry is entered into more
than one competition category the Festival chair will reject duplicate entries and assign the remaining category to the
single most appropriate category for adjudication.
b. An entrant may enter a single competition category only once. Second and third entries from the same entrant must be
in different competition categories.
c. Entry fees will not be refunded for rejected or reassigned entries.2
3. Entry Fee: A non-refundable entry fee of $30.00 (U.S.) is required for each work submitted. The entry fee for radio and
television newscast entries is $40.00 (U.S.). Paying online by credit or debit card is the best way to ensure that your
payment is received on time. Check or money order payments are accepted, but must be received by December 15, 2014.
a. Choose the Appropriate Competition and Category: Entrants are responsible for submitting their work to the
appropriate competition and category. If the competition chair determines that an entry does not fit the selected
category, the entry may be reassigned or rejected. Entry fees will not be refunded for rejected or reassigned entries.
4. Submission Process: Entrants must follow the online procedures for electronically submitting video, audio,
scriptwriting, and website entries. Media submissions that fail to work or are not comprehendible for any reason will
result in the disqualification of the entry. Failure to properly complete any portion of the submission process (completing
the online entry form, submitting the media, and paying the entry fee) by the December 15, 2014 deadline will disqualify
the entry from the competition.
Judging Process
1. Evaluation Criteria: Entries are evaluated according to the following criteria: 1) professionalism; 2) the use of aesthetic
and/or creative elements; 3) sense of structure and timing; 4) production values; 5) technical merit; and 6) the overall
contribution to the discipline in both form and substance.
2. Judging: A panel comprised of media educators and/or industry professionals with expertise in the submitted category
will judge each entry. Short-form entries (less than 15 minutes) will be viewed in their entirety. For longform entries,
judges are required to watch at least 15 minutes of each entry. Judges will not be assigned to review an entry where there
is an obvious conflict of interest or in cases where the judge is institutionally affiliated with an entrant.
3. Blind Review: Every effort will be made to conduct a blind review of each submission. Wherever possible, entrants
should remove information that points to the identity of the work's author and/or co-author(s).
Award Levels and Prizes
1. Award Levels: The competition chair will review the judging evaluation forms and determine the final ranking and
award level for each winning entry as follows: Best of Festival – The top-ranked entry in the overall competition (across all
categories) is eligible to receive the BEA Best of Festival King Foundation Award. Best of Festival individual winners will
receive a $1,000 cash award from the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation. Best of Festival newscast and group
winners are not eligible to receive the $1,000 cash award. Best of Festival winners will be honored during a special
ceremony at the BEA convention. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Awards – Student competition chairs generally recognize the 1st,
2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each category within a competition. Awards are based on the individual merit of an entry.
Winners may or may not be chosen for all categories and/or award levels. The decision of the judges is final.
2. Plaques and Trophies: Each winning entrant will receive two award plaques at no charge. The first goes to the winning
entrant or team and the second to the winner's institution. Each Best of Festival winning entrant will receive one award
trophy. Additional plaques and trophies may be ordered after the convention.
3. Exhibition: Winners are expected to attend the 2015 BEA Convention in Las Vegas to exhibit their entry. Faculty
winners are responsible for all costs associated with attending the convention including airfare, housing, meals, and BEA
conference registration. If the lead author is not able to attend another member of the projects creative team should be
sent to represent the production team. Failure to send a viable representative from the entry's team may result in the
withholding of the cash award.