7in7 film competition

Important Dates:

Online Kickoff: May 28, 2025 at 7PM, via a Google Meet link to be sent to participants. 

You may start creating as soon as you have your required elements!

Official Filmmaking Week: May 28 - June 4 (Wednesday to Wednesday) You and your team have an entire 7 days to create your film! 

Use your time wisely!

Online Dropoff: Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 8PM. You must submit your completed film by 8PM Central Time. 

You will receive a reply email when your film has been successfully received.

Premiere Screening and Awards Ceremony: June 8, at 7pm at the 30byNinety Theater in Mandeville. 

Required Elements:

During the Online Kickoff, the 7 in 7 producers will announce the three required elements for the competition. 

The required elements MUST be used in your film itself. Elements used in end credits of your film do NOT count.

These three elements MUST be included in your film to be eligible for any awards. 

All teams will receive the same Prop and Line of Dialogue. 

The Location will be unique to each team.

● Location:

Each filmmaking team will be given an individual location, city, or landmark within St. Tammany Parish that must be included in your film. 

For example: Covington, The Abita Springs Pavilion, Bayou Lacombe, etc.

● Prop:

The required prop (object) MUST be seen in your film on screen, and should be used in your film in a way that makes it a true part of your film. 

The prop should not simply be seen in a shot.

● Line of Dialogue:

The required line MUST be spoken, sung or written VERBATIM. It may be divided between two actors, as long as both parts 

follow each other without added words in between. It may be in a foreign language, but then must be subtitle in English.

Filmmaking Rules:

Here are the rules applicable to the actual filmmaking process. Please  read them thoroughly as failure to comply to the rules 

will disqualify your film. The rules are here to ensure fair competition and eligibility. 

The Abita Springs International Film Festival and the 7 in 7 Project Organizers may add to or amend 

these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the Online Kickoff and the Filmmaking Week.

● Times:

The 7 in 7 competition will occur between Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 7pm and the following Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 8pm Central Time. 

This is the Official Time Period. The participating group/team must complete its film/video work 

and have it completely and successfully submitted no later than Wednesday 8pm. 

Please allow sufficient time for uploading.

Only films that meet the deadline will be officially part of the competition and eligible for awards. 

All films received, both on-time and late, will be screened.

● Creative Process:

All creativity must take place during the Official Time Period. Any creative work in advance of the competition week 

is strictly prohibited and will cause your film to be disqualified. Creative work includes, but is not limited to:

○ Writing the script

○ Casting of roles

○ Rehearsing

○ Costume/Set Design

○ Shooting

○ Editing

○ Sound Design

○ Rendering

○ Outputting to USB drive or other media

● Preparation:

The only work permitted to begin prior to the Official Time Period is:

○ Securing/Organizing Crew

○ Securing Potential Cast

○ Securing Equipment

○ Scouting/Securing Locations

● Footage:

Every frame of your film MUST contain footage shot or created in the Official Time Period (May 28 - June 8).

This is "core footage.” "Supporting footage," or footage shot or created BEFORE the Official Time Period 

(including stock footage that is part of a special effect) may be placed over or under the core footage, 

as long as every frame of your film contains some amount of core footage and 

the assembling of the core footage with the supporting footage occurs during the Official Time Period.

Animation, titles, and special effects can be considered core footage if it is created during the Official Time Period.

Still photos are permitted as core footage. The still photos do not need to be created during the Official Time Period. 

Note: Still photos created outside of the Official Time Period being used in a sequence to create the illusion 

of motion are not acceptable as core footage, but are acceptable as supporting footage.

You must have rights to any footage or photos used in your film.

● Online Kickoff:

Each participating team must have a representative logged into the Online Kickoff event to receive the Required Elements. 

Each group will receive their randomly assigned location at the Online Kickoff event.

● Required Elements:

Each participating group will be assigned required elements that must appear in its film, 

which will be a location, a prop and a line of dialogue.

○ The required location must be used prominently in your film. The entire film does not have to occur in that location, 

but must be used in some capacity.

○ The required Prop must be seen on-screen. A picture of the required prop is also allowed.

○ The required Line of Dialogue must be used verbatim. It may be spoken, sung and/or written. 

It may be in any language, though if it is unclear that it is the required Line, there must be a translation.

○ To qualify as an Official Entry, each group's film must contain all required elements.

● Volunteers:

All cast and crew must be volunteers.

● Animal Safety and Firearms:

Animal safety, like cast and crew safety, is an important part of 48 Hour Filmmaking. Films that result in the death or 

mutilation of an animal are strictly prohibited and will be disqualified.

Real firearms are strictly prohibited on set. 

Only prop weapons and licensed blank-firing guns may be used in accordance with local laws and safety regulations.

If your production plans to use blank-firing weapons, you must notify the 7in7 Producers and local authorities 

in advance to prevent public concern and ensure proper safety measures are in place.

Failure to comply with these rules may result in legal action and production shutdown. 

Safety is the top priority—always follow proper firearm handling protocols.

● Cameras:

Any type of video or film camera may be used. There is no limit to the number of cameras.

● Music Rights:

It is permissible for a participating group to use pre-recorded music; however, the participating group 

must have the rights to any music used in its film and must provide releases for all music used. 

As with music, pre-recorded sound effects are allowed, but you must have rights to use them.

Note: Song parodies (i.e., use of identifiable pre-existing compositions with new or altered lyrics or music) may not be 

included in the film without a signed release from the composition's rights holder. This rule applies without regard to 

whether the song parody arguably constitutes fair use under US or international copyright law.

● Total Running Time:

This is the 7 in 7 Film Competition! You have 7 days to create a 7 minute film! A team’s finished film must be a 

minimum of 5 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 7 minutes in duration—not including end credits. 

In other words, the official running time begins after the required 7 in 7 slates and ends prior to the end credits. 

The required slates and the end credits do not count towards the minimum time of 5 minutes. The film story may not be 

longer than 7 minutes. The 7 in 7 producers reserve the right to shorten any film 

that exceeds the maximum length for screening purposes.

● Credits:

Pre-film Required Slates: Before the finished film begins, the media should have:

○ 5 seconds of black

○ 5 seconds of a title card with: This film was made for the 7 in 7 Film Competition 2025.

○ 5 seconds of a title card with: team name, film title, assigned location, and date○ 2 seconds of black.

Your film follows this.

● End Credits:

Credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds and must include the words: 

This film was made for the 7 in 7 Film Competition 2025. 

The 60 seconds is considered additional to the length of the film. 

(That is, the film is 7 minutes long, with an additional 60 seconds of credits, for a total running time of 8 minutes.) 

The 7 in 7 producers reserve the right to shorten any end credits that exceed the maximum length for screening purposes.

● Required Media Formats:

Films should be delivered in Full HD (1080x1920) as an MP4 or MOV file. 

We will accept a 4K file but we reserve the right to reduce the resolution for screening purposes.

Maximum File Size: 2GB.

○ We recommend that you make sound levels relatively even throughout your film.

(If your film has uneven sound or sound that peaks, it may be modified to protect the playback equipment.)

○ All films received on the evening of the deadline (on-time and late) will be screened, presuming they meet the eligibility requirements.

● Eligibility:

To be eligible for the Project, Entries must be the original work of the Entrant; 

must not infringe third-party's rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); 

must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements 

about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade 

privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; 

may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any 

copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Entrant and/or the 7 in 7 Competition/ASIFF).

Entries containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by the 7 in 7 Competition, in its sole discretion, 

to be inappropriate will be disqualified. The 7 in 7 Competition reserves the right to make the final determination 

as to which Entries are eligible. The 7 in 7 Competition reserves the right to refuse to screen a film or 

to make an announcement at the screening regarding the content of the film. 

The 7 in 7 Competition reserves the right to alter a film in order to remove or delete offensive or defamatory content.

● No Pre-Screening Distribution:

The Entrant should not distribute their entry/video in any way prior to it receiving its official premiere screening. 

This includes uploading the video to any website or screening the film for groups of anyone other than the team. 

The Entrant is encouraged to make a trailer of their film and distribute that instead. 

This trailer should be no longer than 45 seconds.

● Official Winner:

The Official Winner of the Competition will be screened at the Abita Springs International Film Festival on January 17-18, 2026.