The Big C Game Competition 17
Thanks to Slamdance for its submission. Coming up at The Slamdance Film festival in Park City, Utah - Jan. 21 to 28 2005, programmers can compete in The Big C Independent Game Competition. "The Big C is calling for entries of all new games from emerging talent. Selected games will compete and be judged by festival attendees, with a Jury Award and Audience Award that include cash and prizes presented at the end of the festival. Game submissions should have an early-postmarked deadline of Oct. 1, 2004 and a final postmarked deadline of Nov. 14, 2004. Entrants may submit games on disk or provide a URL for judges to download." The event has an entry on the Gamasutra Calendar, for additional info.
Platform? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:How to make money in games fast!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
I made a short film a few years back and went through the process of entering it in all the major fests-- Sundance, Slamdance, SXWS, and about fifteen to twenty more. Each one had an entry fee of $25-$65. Each one sent me back a polite rejection letter, usually not even signed by a human. I had no guarantee that anyone even watched the damn thing, especially anyone in a position to decide to put it in the program (from what I understand, screening the submissions is usually an unpaid intern's job-- so if you don't appeal to the taste of a random 22-year old film student, good luck making it out of the pile.)
I eventually hooked up with a friend-of-a-friend who worked for the New York Underground Film Festival. I showed it to her directly, she liked it and put it in the program. No fees paid. The screening was attended by programmers from other festivals, and a few of them asked to show it too. Since then it's played around the country and in Europe and Asia-- each festival usually leading to another, and no submission forms or fees paid each time.
That's why I think the system is pretty screwed-- it's completely arbitrary, and I'm convinced the programmers rarely draws from the submissions piles. I'm glad festivals exist, but I don't think its right for the lesser ones to charge entry fees. At least the major film fests are attended by the "right" people, and getting your work in there is great exposure. They also have massive staffs and production costs, and the fee is a good way to limit the submissions. On the other hand it's almost criminal for these no-name festivals and contests to operate the way they do-- charging entry fees on the promise of fame and exposure that they really can't provide. It's kind of like those "we set your poetry to music" ads in the back of Parade magazine.