“The MMA truly celebrates what usually lacks in many big name festivals: the very spirit of indie filmmaking. ‘Indie’ has become an overused word these last years. It slowly lost value, becoming more of a fashion thing than anything else. MMA brings ‘Indie’ back to where it belongs!"
Olivier Boonjing, Writer/Producer/Director of “Somewhere Between Here and Now”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
THE SHORT ANSWER:
QUESTION: What do you accept?
ANSWER: Except for advertising and industrial work, everything from anywhere by anyone.
QUESTION: My movie has known stars, big-time production value, has screened at one of the major film festivals, and/or has recently gone into distribution. Can I still submit?
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: How do you judge submissions?
ANSWER: The right, just, and fair way.
QUESTION: How come you're an awards cooperative and not a film festival?
ANSWER: To better help moviemakers gain exposure and distribution.
QUESTION: And why no screening events?
ANSWER: So we won’t blow your premiere status for festivals that officially or unofficially require the distinction of unveiling your movie to the world.
QUESTION: Are you an online festival?
ANSWER: No, we're not a festival or screening event of any kind.
QUESTION: Are you a written screenplay or short film script competition?
ANSWER: No.
QUESTION: Do you have a documentary category?
ANSWER: Although we do have some award categories that are exclusive to docs, documentaries are (also) eligible for nearly every other awards category, including Best Picture.
QUESTION: Do you have a Student Category?
ANSWER: No, not anymore.
QUESTION: What do you accept?
ANSWER: Except for advertising and industrial work, everything from anywhere by anyone.
QUESTION: My movie has known stars, big-time production value, has screened at one of the major film festivals, and/or has recently gone into distribution. Can I still submit?
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: How do you judge submissions?
ANSWER: The right, just, and fair way.
QUESTION: How come you're an awards cooperative and not a film festival?
ANSWER: To better help moviemakers gain exposure and distribution.
QUESTION: And why no screening events?
ANSWER: So we won’t blow your premiere status for festivals that officially or unofficially require the distinction of unveiling your movie to the world.
QUESTION: Are you an online festival?
ANSWER: No, we're not a festival or screening event of any kind.
QUESTION: Are you a written screenplay or short film script competition?
ANSWER: No.
QUESTION: Do you have a documentary category?
ANSWER: Although we do have some award categories that are exclusive to docs, documentaries are (also) eligible for nearly every other awards category, including Best Picture.
QUESTION: Do you have a Student Category?
ANSWER: No, not anymore.
THE LONG ANSWER:
Q: What do you accept?
A: Everything submitted is given a fair shake because a good movie is a good movie is a good movie, regardless of how much a movie cost to make, how long it took to make, or how passionate its makers were. Any genre, style, or intent – from anyone, anywhere – that's what the MMA accepts. Documentary or narrative, experimental or commercial, music videos or video art, live action or animated, underground or independent, "IndieWood" or foreign, Bollywood or Hollywood: we've seen it all and have awarded it all.
Q: My movie has known stars, big-time production value, has screened at one of the major film festivals, and/or has recently gone into distribution. Can I still submit?
A: Yes! The MMA now accepts studio films and/or movies by major filmmakers. We only care if your movie is a good movie; we don't care where it came from, who financed it, how much it cost, or if it has screened elsewhere. Our opinion is that "good" has become a "maverick" characteristic for far too many Hollywood and "IndieWood" movies so if your big budget movie makes the grade, we consider you as maverick as any of our true independent and underground moviemakers.
Q: How do you judge submissions?
A: Unlike any other competition or film festival, which is to say, the right, just, and fair way. Our credentials? The Maverick Movie Awards’ founders and judges are all entertainment industry insiders and outsiders (not mere academics, critics, fans, or dabblers) with backgrounds as varied as our work. In fact, everyone involved in the judging process has been a collaborator on a theatrically-released movie, a television or video release, or a top-ten film fest official selection. The process: A multi-viewer system kicks qualifying submissions up to the final selections process where these pictures are rated from 1-to-10 in every applicable awards category. From there it’s mostly a matter of tallies and then the cooperative’s primaries make the concluding awards decisions. Dare we suggest that it's as fair and impartial as anything like this ever can be? Yup, we dare.
Q: How come you're an awards cooperative and not a film festival?
A: The MMA was a thriving film festival until we realized that we were not serving the needs of moviemakers. After five years of holding successful screening events, we had built a loyal following; however, seeing mostly the same faces every year, we concluded that we were preaching to the choir. Getting caught up in the warm fuzzies we helped to create by coordinating an event for so many talented auteurs to interface directly with receptive audiences, it was easy to miss that we weren't really helping moviemakers gain wider exposure or commercial distribution. By axing the festival, we are no longer constrained by the time limitations imposed by venues and screening schedules that forced us to choose one deserving movie over another. By reinventing ourselves as the Maverick Movie Awards we have significantly increased the number of movies and moviemakers we can honor with an award or nomination; hence, finally achieving our primary objective: to help moviemakers garner accolades, increase awareness, and gain exposure. Whether it is for artistic validation, market recognition, or a distribution deal, the value of a Maverick Award can be measured best by the achievements of our winners and nominees.
Q: And why no screening events?
A: Since we no longer host movie screenings, we cannot and will not blow your premier status for the festivals that either officially or unofficially require the distinction of "breaking your movie." The fact is, many festivals will not select your movie if they cannot be the first to screen it. Not all festivals have an official rule that mandates a worldwide, national, or regional premiere requirement but many actually do. And the festivals that claim they don't factor premier status into their decision to select someone else's movie over yours are lying. Heck, we even did it when we were a festival so, to be fair, we can't vilify all film festivals with this written or unwritten policy. Many fests have to do it for the same reasons we did: if it was a choice between a movie that had not screened anywhere and an alternate contender that had already screened at another fest, chances are we'd pick the former over the latter in order to help a talented moviemaker whose work deserved to be seen. Sadly, many of the more high-profile film festivals demand your premiere simply for bragging rights. Makes you wonder who these festivals exist to serve, doesn't it...the moviemakers or the festival founders and directors? Don't wonder! They're doing it to serve their needs, not yours. The other reason why we decided to shed our screening events is because the ridiculous amount of time spent coordinating staff, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, concessions, equipment, venues, as well as promoting the screenings locally to increase attendance is time that we deemed to be better spent in pursuit of promoting your movies and growing this cooperative.
Q: Are you an online festival?
A: No, we're not a festival of any kind. Repeat: we are NOT a film festival or screening event of any kind.
Q: Are you a written screenplay or short film script competition?
A: No, but we do give awards for screenwriting in both the Features and Shorts categories to screenwriters whose work we can watch.
Q: Do you have a documentary category?
A: Yes and no. Although our Best Chronicle and Best Performance awards are [generally] exclusive to documentaries, documentaries are eligible for nearly every other awards category. In fact, documentaries have won Best Picture, Best Cinematography and, well, most of the other more coveted award categories, too. No, not "Best Documentary Picture" or "Best Documentary Cinematography" ...just plain old Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Animated, underground, and experimental movies have also snagged top awards at the MMA. In case we haven't belabored the point enough, it's a level playing field here. The Maverick Movie Awards vows to continue to rise above unfair genre segregations that advocate unnecessary and unrealistic differentiations. And so, this FAQ ends where it began by coming full circle: a good movie is a good movie is a good movie, regardless of...
Q: Do you have a Student Category?
A: No. The industry no longer grades on a curve and neither do we. MMA is all about recognizing work on a level field and the segregation of the "Student" category from everyone else no longer made any
sense to us. Besides it seems wholly unfair that "student" filmmakers have the tools and the training to take their veteran counterparts to task and NOT recognize them for it as such.
Q: What do you accept?
A: Everything submitted is given a fair shake because a good movie is a good movie is a good movie, regardless of how much a movie cost to make, how long it took to make, or how passionate its makers were. Any genre, style, or intent – from anyone, anywhere – that's what the MMA accepts. Documentary or narrative, experimental or commercial, music videos or video art, live action or animated, underground or independent, "IndieWood" or foreign, Bollywood or Hollywood: we've seen it all and have awarded it all.
Q: My movie has known stars, big-time production value, has screened at one of the major film festivals, and/or has recently gone into distribution. Can I still submit?
A: Yes! The MMA now accepts studio films and/or movies by major filmmakers. We only care if your movie is a good movie; we don't care where it came from, who financed it, how much it cost, or if it has screened elsewhere. Our opinion is that "good" has become a "maverick" characteristic for far too many Hollywood and "IndieWood" movies so if your big budget movie makes the grade, we consider you as maverick as any of our true independent and underground moviemakers.
Q: How do you judge submissions?
A: Unlike any other competition or film festival, which is to say, the right, just, and fair way. Our credentials? The Maverick Movie Awards’ founders and judges are all entertainment industry insiders and outsiders (not mere academics, critics, fans, or dabblers) with backgrounds as varied as our work. In fact, everyone involved in the judging process has been a collaborator on a theatrically-released movie, a television or video release, or a top-ten film fest official selection. The process: A multi-viewer system kicks qualifying submissions up to the final selections process where these pictures are rated from 1-to-10 in every applicable awards category. From there it’s mostly a matter of tallies and then the cooperative’s primaries make the concluding awards decisions. Dare we suggest that it's as fair and impartial as anything like this ever can be? Yup, we dare.
Q: How come you're an awards cooperative and not a film festival?
A: The MMA was a thriving film festival until we realized that we were not serving the needs of moviemakers. After five years of holding successful screening events, we had built a loyal following; however, seeing mostly the same faces every year, we concluded that we were preaching to the choir. Getting caught up in the warm fuzzies we helped to create by coordinating an event for so many talented auteurs to interface directly with receptive audiences, it was easy to miss that we weren't really helping moviemakers gain wider exposure or commercial distribution. By axing the festival, we are no longer constrained by the time limitations imposed by venues and screening schedules that forced us to choose one deserving movie over another. By reinventing ourselves as the Maverick Movie Awards we have significantly increased the number of movies and moviemakers we can honor with an award or nomination; hence, finally achieving our primary objective: to help moviemakers garner accolades, increase awareness, and gain exposure. Whether it is for artistic validation, market recognition, or a distribution deal, the value of a Maverick Award can be measured best by the achievements of our winners and nominees.
Q: And why no screening events?
A: Since we no longer host movie screenings, we cannot and will not blow your premier status for the festivals that either officially or unofficially require the distinction of "breaking your movie." The fact is, many festivals will not select your movie if they cannot be the first to screen it. Not all festivals have an official rule that mandates a worldwide, national, or regional premiere requirement but many actually do. And the festivals that claim they don't factor premier status into their decision to select someone else's movie over yours are lying. Heck, we even did it when we were a festival so, to be fair, we can't vilify all film festivals with this written or unwritten policy. Many fests have to do it for the same reasons we did: if it was a choice between a movie that had not screened anywhere and an alternate contender that had already screened at another fest, chances are we'd pick the former over the latter in order to help a talented moviemaker whose work deserved to be seen. Sadly, many of the more high-profile film festivals demand your premiere simply for bragging rights. Makes you wonder who these festivals exist to serve, doesn't it...the moviemakers or the festival founders and directors? Don't wonder! They're doing it to serve their needs, not yours. The other reason why we decided to shed our screening events is because the ridiculous amount of time spent coordinating staff, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, concessions, equipment, venues, as well as promoting the screenings locally to increase attendance is time that we deemed to be better spent in pursuit of promoting your movies and growing this cooperative.
Q: Are you an online festival?
A: No, we're not a festival of any kind. Repeat: we are NOT a film festival or screening event of any kind.
Q: Are you a written screenplay or short film script competition?
A: No, but we do give awards for screenwriting in both the Features and Shorts categories to screenwriters whose work we can watch.
Q: Do you have a documentary category?
A: Yes and no. Although our Best Chronicle and Best Performance awards are [generally] exclusive to documentaries, documentaries are eligible for nearly every other awards category. In fact, documentaries have won Best Picture, Best Cinematography and, well, most of the other more coveted award categories, too. No, not "Best Documentary Picture" or "Best Documentary Cinematography" ...just plain old Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Animated, underground, and experimental movies have also snagged top awards at the MMA. In case we haven't belabored the point enough, it's a level playing field here. The Maverick Movie Awards vows to continue to rise above unfair genre segregations that advocate unnecessary and unrealistic differentiations. And so, this FAQ ends where it began by coming full circle: a good movie is a good movie is a good movie, regardless of...
Q: Do you have a Student Category?
A: No. The industry no longer grades on a curve and neither do we. MMA is all about recognizing work on a level field and the segregation of the "Student" category from everyone else no longer made any
sense to us. Besides it seems wholly unfair that "student" filmmakers have the tools and the training to take their veteran counterparts to task and NOT recognize them for it as such.
