I. Introduction of GZDOC Pitching Sessions

 GZDOC recruits work-in-progress projects for and from the global market. Below are the three segments of GZDOC Pitching sessions:

‘China stories’ International Pitching Session: This session continues to cultivate documentary projects that best reflect China and its people, with an international storytelling and of premium production standard. This session is open to projects at all production stages.

International Pitching Session: To encourage the Sino-foreign co-production, GZDOC International Pitching Session is looking for projects focusing on the global issues, trepassing different cultures, races and social status. This session is open to projects at all production stages.

2020 Special Focus Pitch -World Amid Coronavirus Outbreak: COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest public health crisis in the human history. Facing illness and death, we see fear, panic and selfishness, but we also see love and courage. All these have inspired us to rethink the humanity .This session is open to projects at the post-production stage. Selected projects will have opportunities to be distributed in China.

The 2020 edition will invite Chinese and international buyers, broadcasters and key players from the industry as the decision makers, in the aims of developing the pre-sale, co-production and commission of documentary projects.

II. Date of Event

The documentary festival is held in Guangzhou every December.

2020 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (GZDOC) will be held from December 14th to December 17th, 2020.

III. Qualification Requirements

1. The pitching projects shall be at the stage of either pre-production, shooting or post-production before 2021. The completed films do not qualify for this session.

2.

       1) ‘China Stories’ International Pitching Session

The pitches shall have distinctive Chinese elements (Either it is shot in China or it is about China, including culture, history, social issues, technology, nature etc.).

       2) International Pitching Session

International pitches, including Sino-foreign co-productions, focuses on wider topics.

       3) 2020 Special Focus Pitch -World Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

The pitches shall have special focuses on the COVID-19 outbreak and/or its influences. *This segment is open to projects in the post-production stage only.

IV. Submission Guidance

(i) Submission Deadline

GZDOC International Pitching Session will be open for submission from March 25, 2020 (GMT+8) to September 20, 2020(GMT+8). The pitch shall be submitted online and all relevant registration materials shall be sent to the General Office of the Organizing Committee (OC) before the deadline. The overdue applications will not be accepted as qualified entries, neither as the incomplete applications.

(ii) Application process and required materials

1.Please log onto the official website www.gzdoc.cn, click "Registration - Project Submit" to complete and submit the online Entry Form.

2. After submitting the online entry form, applicants need to email the following materials to project@gzdoc.cn (please indicate the pitch title and the applicant’s name, contact information in the email)

(1) Video Clip: no more than 3 minutes, MOV format, H264, 1080P and above. Please upload the video clip to the internet (such as Baidu Cloud Disk) and submit the download link and password.

(2) 2 stills in JPG format, pixel no less than 300 DPI.

(3) Additional information about the pitch (if any): The applicant could also submit the production proposal, the shooting outline, the original ideas for the pitch, the visual style, the artistic features, the detailed budget, and the link of the main production crews’ bios and their completed works to OC by mail for further references.

[Note: All registration information and materials (except foradditional information) must be bilingual. ]

(iii) Registration fee

Free Entry

(iv) The use of information and application materials

1. Please fill in entry form correctly and completely. The information in the form will be used and published in the process of pre-selection, evaluation and final announcement. If there is any information wrong or missing, the responsibility will be borne by the applicant.

2. The sign-up account used in the official website (www.gzdoc.cn) will be used as the contact of applicant by default. The follow-up notifications related to preselection and evaluation will be delivered to this contact first. Please keep the call and the mailbox accessible.

(v) Update/Supplement of registration information and application materials

1. If the applicant wants to update information or material after submission, please send an email to project@gzdoc.cn and explain the update in details. After reviewed and approved by the OC, the update will be completed.

2. If there are follow-up materials (such as posters, stills, promotional materials, awards, etc.), please send the materials to project@gzdoc.cn, with a detailed explanation.

3. If the preview video clip is the version inthe post-production, shortlisted applicants can resubmit the final version by the deadline announced. Applicants cannot update the version during the evaluation process.

(vi) Copyright Statement

Applicants (and the applying company) shall own the copyrights or the distribution rights of the film submitted by him/her; shall ensure that there is no dispute over the copyrights of the film; guarantee that it has acquired the copyrights/authorizations from the copyright owners for the music, video, image and text contained and used in the films; ensure that the original contents in the film do not violate the copyrights or the legal rightsof any other third parties. Any disputes, damages or compensations arising out of or in relation to the copyright infringements of the film shall be borne by its applicant (and the applying company).

V. Evaluation process

The entries will be screened for the Initial Evaluation, the Semi-final Evaluation and the Final Evaluation. They will be reviewed and selected by the Selection Committee and Decision Makers. The OC is responsible for inviting professionals for the Initial Selection Committee, the Semi-final Selection Committee, and Decision Makers.

1.     The Initial Selection Committee is responsible for presenting the semi-finalist from all the submissions. The applicant who is selected for THE semi-finalist will be notified by email in early November, and the list will be released on the official website. *The date of the announcement is subject to change.

2.     The Semi-final Decision Makers are responsible for presenting the finalist from the semi-finalists. The finalist will be notified by e-mail in mid-November and released on the official website. *The date of the announcement is subject to change.

3.     The winners will be selected from the finalists by Decision Makers and will be announced during GZDOC 2020.

VI.Notice to Finalists

1. The applicant shall confirm their participatiosn into the final evaluation with the OC within five working days after receiving the notifications (via emails) from the OC. Once the applicant confirm the participation, they cannot withdraw for any reasons.

2. The finalists shall, at the request of the OC, submit all necessary information and materials for their pitching projects before the deadline specified in the OC’s notice to the finalists.

3. Once a pitch is selected, the application information and material submitted online and offline might be presented on the documentary festival brochure, official website, or for online and offline media promotion events. The OC is entitled to edit and publicly use the materials, including the entry information, posters, stills, trailers or clips of no more than 3 minutes, on the GZDOC’s official channels. Meanwhile, the OC has the right to provide application information and materials submitted to the Selection Committee and Decision Makers for the use of evaluation.

4. Each finalist team must ensure that 1-2 creative personnel shall attend the GZDOC International Pitching Session for presentation. Otherwise, it will be deemed as quitting the competition. The finalist qualification will then be given to the candidate next in line.

5. The applicant shall cooperate with the OC for the follow-up in the long run and for the later publicity.

6. After the finalist is selected, the OC will provide the GZDOC logos for Finalist or Winner. The selected pitch and the program produced accordingly must include the GZDOC logos in its all subsequent promotional materials, and it is strictly forbidden to modify the logo.

7. For the finalists, "GZDOC" or the logo of GZDOC must be included in the opening or closing credits of the completed program.

8. Finalists for the 2020 Special Focus Pitch will sign a seperate agreement with OC about re-editting, distribution, broadcast and promotion of the programs in China.

VII. Statement

1. Any changes against the regulations will be posted on the "GZDOC-Guidance-Notice " page of the official website (www.gzdoc.cn). The applicant can withdraw from the event if he/she thinks the modified clauses are unacceptable by notifying the Organizing Committee within 10 working days after the announcement is posted. Otherwise, it will be deemed that the applicant accepts all the modified clauses.

2. If there were any situations that are not specified above, the OC reserves all rights for the final explanation of the regulations.

3. The applicant signing up for the screening session of 2020 GZDOC International Pitching Session should accept all the above terms and conditions. If there is any dispute, it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of PRC.

General Office of the Organizing Committee of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival

March 25,2020

Manager of Copyright & ProjectDepartment

Ms. Zhu Jiayi

project@gzdoc.cn

020-38780150 call 807