Tuesday – April 9, 2024
Westin Ballroom
Doors @ 7PM | Show 8 PM – 10 PM
72-Hour Filmmaker Showdown, presented & produced by Whistler Film Festival is returning to Whistler. Teams will be put to the test as they are invited to shoot, edit and produce a 3-5 minute film in just 72 hours. Forget big budgets and exotic locations, we want to see how creative you can get by filming within 100km of Whistler using any recording device of your choosing. The grand prize of $5000 is open to all aspiring filmmakers, but it will take grassroots grit, originality, imagination and great storytelling to steal centre stage.
Prizes Up For Grabs
$5,000 for FIRST PLACE
$500 per RUNNER UP
$250 Gibbons Gift Card for PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Entry
The 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown is a captivating competition challenging teams to shoot, edit, and produce a 3-5 minute short film within an intense 72-hour timeframe. No need for
big budgets or exotic locations – we want to see your creativity shine within 100 km of Whistler, using any recording device of your choice. Open to all aspiring filmmakers, this
event demands grassroots grit, originality, imagination, and exceptional storytelling. The top films will premiere at the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown, vying for a first-place prize of
$5,000 and the coveted People’s Choice award.
big budgets or exotic locations – we want to see your creativity shine within 100 km of Whistler, using any recording device of your choice. Open to all aspiring filmmakers, this
event demands grassroots grit, originality, imagination, and exceptional storytelling. The top films will premiere at the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown, vying for a first-place prize of
$5,000 and the coveted People’s Choice award.
Following successful submission of your application you will be sent a Terms & Conditions Document to read through, sign, and return and a link to pay for the $50 entry fee.
Submit An Application
Rules and Regulations
- The contestants are asked to take into account the “spirit of this event”. The contest is about creativity within a 72-hour period, not creativity around usurping the rules and regulations.
- Entrants will have a period of 72 hours to shoot, edit and produce their work. Work done in this time period only will be accepted. Submitting work that was shot or produced earlier by the Filmmaker team or otherwise is cause for immediate disqualification. Filmmakers must keep and provide event producers access to all raw footage if requested. Failure to do so will be cause for immediate disqualification.
- All filmmakers will be required to accurately set their dates and times on their cameras before the start of filming. Filmmakers must retain all raw footage and be prepared to make this footage available at the discretion of the Event Director, at any time. Failure to date footage will be cause for immediate disqualification.
- All work must be shot within a 100 square kilometre radius of Whistler Village. Failure to do so will be cause for immediate disqualification.
- Any filming on Whistler Blackcomb property is strictly prohibited.
- All graphics and live-action visuals must be generated within the 72hrs. Some previously produced background visuals can be the exception, i.e. a television show playing in the background. Contact the event producers for clarification if required.
- There are some production elements that can be done outside of the 72 hours such as scripting, storyboarding, casting and location scouting. Please contact the show’s producer if you need to clarify anything prior to getting started.
- MANDATORY PROP or DIALOGUE: Filmmaker teams will be required to incorporate a either a MANDATORY PROP or DIALOGUE. This MANDATORY PROP or DIALOGUE will be chosen at random by the Festival Producers and revealed and handed out at the Mandatory Directors’ Meeting on Friday, March 31st, 2024 at the Mountain Club in the Westin. Please note that this MANDATORY PROP or DIALOGUE must be in frame/on screen for a minimum of 5 consecutive seconds or clearly spoken/represented! Entries that ignore this rule will be immediately disqualified.
- Filmmakers may be individuals or teams. Different individuals may shoot, edit or produce segments of the work. However, Filmmaker teams must choose a team Director to attend
meetings and act as the main contact and liaison with the event producers. - Directors MUST attend the MANDATORY DIRECTORS MEETING on Friday, March 31st, 2024 at 9 am at the Mountain Club in the Westin to review contest rules and guidelines and to retrieve the MANDATORY PROP. The contest will begin at 11 am immediately after the meeting. PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE CLOSER TO THE EVENT DATE (www.wssf.com) FOR ANY CHANGES ON THE MEETING LOCATION.
- Finished work must be submitted in person at the Mountain Club in the Westin no later than 11 am Monday, April 1st, 2024. No exceptions!
- Late entries will be reviewed by the panel of industry professionals but will not be shown as a finalist or qualify for prizing. However, the producer of the Filmmaker Showdown may choose to screen a late entry at the Gala if they so choose.
- Entries may be in the form of narrative, documentary, action or experimental work. The subject matter is up to each individual team.
- Technical quality may factor into the judges’ decisions therefore we suggest that filmmaker teams use the best equipment available to them. Please refer to the Tech Specs sheet for further details.
- Finished work must not be longer than 5 MINUTES, including credits. No exceptions. The minimum length of the film must be no less than 3 minutes. If filmmaker teams do not adhere to these rules they will be disqualified.
- A team considering the use of a drone must follow Canadian Aviation Regulations and any additional regulations as applicable in BC, and in accordance with property owners’ rights. Teams must adhere to and follow the necessary steps (certification, insurance and approval from property owners, i.e. Whistler Blackcomb, Resort Municipality of Whistler, etc.) or will face disqualification from the competition. WSSF and WFF neither encourage nor discourage the use of drones, but any drone use must be used in such a way that the public, operator, and crew safety is the priority. Learn more about Whistler’s drone policies.
- Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.
- Content must be in accordance with commonly accepted Broadcast Guidelines as work may be shown on television and Jumbotron during and after the WSSF. Festival organizers reserve the right to determine what is acceptable.
- Music and narration are acceptable. Music does not have to be produced within the 72hrs; however, narration must adhere to the 72hr rules. It is the responsibility of the filmmaker to secure music clearance as intended for national television broadcasts. Festival organizers will not be held responsible for any films shown that did not get the necessary music rights. ALL MUSIC RIGHTS MUST BE SECURED PRIOR TO THE FILMMAKER’S SHOWDOWN. A Music Release Form must accompany your entry. Regretfully, no film will be considered for the final Showdown if music rights have not been cleared.
- Films must be free of sponsorship titles and billboards wherever possible.
- TICKETS: Each participating team that fulfills the project will receive 2 tickets to the Showdown on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024. Please note: Teams will only be issued tickets if they have submitted a film that adheres to the rules and regulations. Those tickets will be sent digitally on April 8th. The Filmmaker Showdown is one of the most popular events at the WSSF therefore if tickets are not picked up by noon they will be sold to the public.
- Each FINALIST team will receive 2 additional tickets to the 72hr Filmmaker Showdown produced and presented by Whistler Film Festival on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024. Teams will have these tickets sent to them digitally.
- An independent review committee made up of industry professionals will review all entries and choose a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 films to be screened at the Filmmaker Showdown Gala. The review committee will flag films that they believe to be shot outside the 72-hour period and will contact the filmmaker in question to review raw footage.
- The review process is the only opportunity for a film to be disqualified prior to the Filmmaker Showdown. If after the Filmmaker Showdown, another finalist feels that rules or regulations have been broken, they must submit a formal protest form. The producers will not protect the identity of the accuser if such a protest form is filed. If the accusation is to be found true decided at the sole discretion of event producers, the winner will forfeit prizing which will then be directed to a charity of the Event Producer’s choosing.
- Filmmakers must agree to not show their film publicly prior to the screening on Tuesday, April 9th and understand that failure to comply with this rule will result in disqualification.
Finalists At The Showdown
- The Event Director reserves the right to determine the number of films shown during the Filmmaker Showdown. The final number will be based on the recommendation of the Film Review Panel. The finalists, whose works are chosen to be screened at the Showdown, will be notified no later than the morning of April 8th. Directors or a team designate must be in attendance to present their work on April 9th. It is the responsibility of each filmmaker team to ensure that the Event Producers have appropriate contact information for this notification. All participants are encouraged to attend the Filmmaker Showdown evening on April 9th.
- There will be a short break between films for set-up and show introductions.
- The order of presenting filmmakers is determined by a random draw held at the Directors Meeting. If a director cannot be present at the Directors Meeting before the event then the producer will pick for them. Filmmakers may not trade positions once the order has been determined.
- The Director or team designate will have use of a microphone and have no more than 20 seconds prior to the start of the presentation to introduce their work.
- A state-of-the-art sound system will be used at the Filmmaker Showdown. Due to the high-quality sound system, filmmakers are encouraged to consider the quality of their music production. Please note that MP3 files, due to their high compression, are not appropriate quality to be used. (A list of Filmmaker Technical Dos & Don’ts will be posted on the Festival website to help filmmakers make their films the best they can be.)
Judging and Awards
- A panel of 3 judges will be selected by Filmmaker Showdown Event Producers and the Festival team to choose the Best of Show. The final judging criteria are based on the judges’ overall impression of each film and their professional opinion.
- Judges will take no notes during the presentations but can take notes during the breaks. Judges are precluded by agreements to discuss presentations or reasons for decisions of themselves or others on the panel.
- At the conclusion of the final presentation, judges will cast a single vote for Best of Show using only their best opinion. There are no pre-determined criteria for casting votes. The judges will render their decision based on the overall impression of the film.
- Judges will write their choice for Best of Show on a ballot and a count will be made. The count and each judge’s voting record will be kept confidential among the judges.
- The filmmaker with the most amount of votes will be awarded first place.
- In the event of any unforeseen circumstances or anything not covered by the rules, the judges will decide by majority vote. Their decision(s) are final and may not be appealed.
- An Audience Choice Award will be awarded on the night of the contest. This will be chosen by the audience after all films have been shown. Votes will be counted by a WSSF member and announced before the Judges choices on the night.
- The World Ski & Snowboard Festival reserves the right to show all entries in post-event television shows & media.
- In the event of any dispute or question around awards, disqualifications or qualifications, rules or any other aspect regarding the event that could impact the outcome, the WSSF Event Director shall be the sole arbitrator of any such dispute and any such ruling that comes from the process is final with no opportunity for appeal.
Last Year’s Films
Meet The Judges
Mike Douglas
Known as the ‘Godfather Of Freeskiing’, Mike Douglas is consistently listed by media outlets as one of the most influential skiers of all time. He began his career as a mogul skier on the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team in the early 1990s. In 1997, he developed the first high-perfor-mance twin-tip ski, the Salomon Teneighty, and his freeskiing career was launched. Dubbed the New Canadian Air Force, Mike and his crew of Canadians revolutionized the sport with their tricks at ski resorts across the globe. He even has a signature tick – the D Spin. Mike has ap-peared in more than 50 ski films, was named Powder Magazine’s ‘Male Skier Of The Year’ in 2003, and was the voice of skiing at the X Games for 14 years. In 2004, Mike founded Switchback Entertainment – a video production company specializing in outdoor adventure films and commercials. He launched the groundbreaking web series, Sa-lomon TV, in 2007 and has produced/directed more than a dozen award-winning films including The Freedom Chair, Tempting Fear, Eclipse, Snowman, Guilt Trip and Fountain Of Youth
Will Binamé
Originally from Montreal, QC, William Binamé moved to Whistler to pursue his fondness for the mountains. A decade later, he has carved himself a career as a director and cinematographer by combining his passion for nature and his refined visual storytelling ability. This has led him to work on commercials, documentaries and branded content films all across the world. His career has brought him to work alongside some of the most talented and hard working professionals around. When he isn’t out on a shoot, you can find him pedalling up single track looking for the newest trail in Squamish with his dog Bowie by his side.
Jen Randall
Jen Randall is an editor and director who aims to empower, entertain and challenge viewers with emotive narratives and a quiet sense of fun. She’s been championing female voices in the adventure film arena for well over a decade where, for her, outdoor adventure provides a stellar backdrop for very human stories.
The Evening Will Be Hosted By
Feet Banks
Feet Banks is a writer, editor, and (shitty) filmmaker from the west coast of Canada who appreciates large open spaces, vinyl records, books, naps, people who try new things, pumpkin pie, and sitting around a campfire with his son. As a founding editor with Mountain Life magazine, through an 18-year weekly movie column run with Pique Newsmagazine, and with his most recent project Pie Quarterly, Feet has been chipping away at the hidden truths, greater goods, and the seedy underbellies of life since the late 1990s… and he’s still not entirely convinced Western Civilization isn’t on the verge of collapse. Act accordingly.