Following the publication of the Goya Awards rules, I have been asked several times this week about the submission process. Although it involves several steps, it is not complicated if we have all the materials ready.
First, we must review the rules to see if we meet the necessary conditions. You can see last week’s post with the updated rules. And of course, we must have the classification license and nationality certificate issued by the ICAA, dated between January 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016. Only short films up to 30 min. in length can be submitted.
The process begins once we are sure we comply with the rules:
- We start by calling the Film Academy to register as a production company in their database. Once our details are taken, we will receive an email with a username and password to access the online form. I always advise that this process be handled by the production companies themselves, not by distribution agencies.
- Fill out the online form. Please note that this form does not allow copying and pasting from another document, so all data must be entered directly.
–Update 7/5/2016-The 2016 form has changed, and now it does allow copying and pasting. Additionally, the form can be saved as a draft to make changes before confirming it. - Once completed and confirmed, you can download the Official Credits Form in PDF, to sign and stamp it.
- Along with this document, you must attach the rest of the documentation:
- Complete credit titles, this is a document we must have, as the ICAA also requests it for the classification license.
- The poster in digital format and the synopsis in a separate document.
- Copy of the nationality certificate (they do not currently request the classification license, but the ICAA provides it to us jointly).
- Two copies of the short film on DVD or Blu-ray.
- USB drive or hard drive with the technical sheet, poster, credit titles, synopsis, trailer, and video clips of the short film.
- All this material must be submitted to the Film Academy offices at c/ Zurbano, 3 in Madrid before 2:00 PM on September 30. This year the deadline has been brought forward; last year it was in October.
With all these steps, our short film will be submitted to the Goya Awards. Just keep in mind that if we pass the first cut by the Commission, they will also ask for a DCP or a Blu-ray.
Good luck and best wishes!