Make a PSA in 7 Days and help a

Non-Profit Organization

A FLICKERS Creative Impulse Award Competition

Boston Application Deadline is April 7th

• Connect to the Facebook Site for the competition

• Download 2017 Application Form

• Download Rules and Regulations

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival's exciting National Filmmaking Competition.

The 7DAYPSA Competition was conceived by Duncan B. Putney, an Emmy winning writer and the creative producer of Original Concept & Development Associates (www.OCDA.biz).  This national competition has been created for and by the non-profit Flickers Arts Collaborative as part of the Creative Impulse Award programming.

The purpose of this competition is to challenge local filmmakers to use their skills and energy to meet a major need of local non-profit organizations, giving the filmmakers not only a great experience and a good feeling, but also a broadcast credit for their resumes. It is designed to build professional bridges, spurring networking and opening professional doors for the participants. Helping filmmakers be proactive about their careers and their karma.

It is about people in the arts using their skills to help out the non-profit world.

In an economic climate when deserving non-profit organizations continue to struggle for resources to operate, they do not have the funds to produce a broadcast quality public service announcement to raise awareness of their organization. It is this lack of public awareness that impacts both their ability to raise funds and to make the public aware of their services. Media outlets that had once been able to both produce and air public service announcements for free, no longer have the available production resources or personnel to produce those PSA’s. But there is a resource that is going untapped. Local independent filmmakers have the skills to produce original and imaginative short films and are looking to garner professional credits for their resumes.

The 7DAYPSA Competition brings filmmakers and not-for-profits together to provide these deserving organizations with broadcast quality PSAs and also a commitment from our local media sponsor to air the spots. This is a real feel good competition.

Since the competition’s beginning with competitions in Rhode Island, Boston and Northern New England, our talented agency team’s creatively conceived and produced PSAs have received four New England Emmy Award nominations (Public service Announcement Single Spot) and one Emmy Award statue, as well as a Best PSA at the New Media Film Festival.

To date our competing agency teams have produced wonderful PSAs for: Big Sisters of Rhode Island (RI), The Sensational Child (RI), Planet Dog Foundation (ME), The Elderly Living at Home Project (MA), North Charles (MA), Birthday Wishes (MA), The Education Exchange (RI), Al's Moving Minds (RI), My Body My Choice (MA), The Maine Woman's Fund (ME).

Award Categories:

• Grand Prize: Best 7DAYPSA Rhode Island/Boston/Maine/NH

• 2nd Place 7DAYPSA Rhode Island/Bosyon/Maine/NH

• 3rd Place 7DAYPSA Rhode Island/Bosyon/Maine/NH
• Official Client Selection (for any PSA selected by a client organization and may be used a professional credit)

• Best Writing

• Best Editing

• Best Director

• Best Cinematography

• Best Animation

• Best Actor/Actress

• Best Voice Over

Be a Part of Our Upcoming Events

We've taken a little time off to learn from our initial events and make some improvements, so please like us on Facebook and check back here to join us for our upcoming competitions.

The 7DAYPSA is a week long competition, where teams (called “Agencies”) beat the clock to produce three broadcast quality versions (20, 30 & 60 seconds) of a single public service announcement for the deserving local not-for-profit organization (called “Clients”) that the Agency teams have randomly drawn at the start of the competition. Multiple “Clients” will have PSA’s produced and several “Agency” teams will be producing for the same “Client” organization. Each “Agency” will have seven days to go from concept to completion.

For the Agency teams, this is a writing challenge, a shooting challenge, and an editing challenge. The object is to get as many completed professional broadcast quality public service announcements for the clients to choose from as possible. The seven day period allows for this, as well as for the opportunity for media and marketing classes to use the competition as a teaching tool during the school week.

We are expanding the competition beyond the initial New England events in Providence, Boston, and Portland, and are seeking host organizations in other filmmaking communities across the country. Winning PSA’s will be eligible, after broadcast, for submission by the 7DAYPSA for nomination for regional Emmy Awards and Telly Awards. Each “Local Best 7DAYPSA” from the local competitions will compete for a “National Best 7DAYPSA” award.

Current 2017 Competitions Cities:

• BOSTON 7DAYPSA

(exclusive media sponsor: WCVB-TV5)

Application deadline April 7th and Competition April 10th to 24th

Hosted by WCVB 5 and OCD Associates

 

• RHODE ISLAND 7DAYPSA

(media sponsors: ABC-6, Cox Communications, WJAR-10, The CW-28, WSBE-RI PBS)

Hosted by WSBE-RI PBS, Flickers & the RI Film and Television Office

 

• NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND 7DAYPSA

(media sponsors: WCHS-6 and FOX 23)

New Host Organization Pending

Some Frequently Asked Questions about the 7DayPSA Program

Q: Why 7 Days?
A: We wanted to allow enough time to get as many broadcast quality public service announcements finished as possible. If a team has a wonderfully creative concept, but is unable to bring that concept to completion, then the non-profit client organizations have fewer choices for getting out their message. In the end, it is all about servicing those non-profit client organizations. The seven day period makes the competition available to educational institutions to us as a teaching tool during the school week. We also liked the sound of it.

Q: Why do I have to transfer the rights to my entry to the 7DAYPSA?
A: It is easier for the 7DAYPSA to hold the broadcast, internet and exhibition rights for the entries and then transfer those rights the non-profit client organizations than for us to orchestrate and monitor many separate contracts between all the agency teams and the clients. The client organizations want to have control over their message and need those rights. However, the agency teams do retain the right to use the PSA on their demo reels.

Q: Is the 7DAYPSA a professional credit for my resume?
A: If your entry is chosen by the client organization for broadcast, internet use or exhibition, then the answer is YES, because your agency team has created a public service campaign for an actual client.  

Q: Can the teams include union (AFTRA or SAG) talent?
A: No. Because the finished PSA entries are going to be broadcast, at this point in time the teams can only use non-union actors and voice over artists. But keep checking in and we’ll let you know if that changes.

Q: Is the 7DAYPSA selling our entries?
A: The answer is NO.  The 7DAYPSA transfers the broadcast, internet, and exhibition rights for the public service announcements to the client organizations free of charge.  In addition, the 7DAYPSA secures air time from our media sponsors to broadcast the public service announcements at no cost to the client organizations.

Q: So, my entry can be considered for other awards, such as an Emmy?
A: That’s a big Yes.  After an entry is chosen by a client and subsequently broadcast on the air, used on the client’s web site, or exhibited by the client, then the 7DAYPSA will consider submitting that public service announcement for nomination for industry awards.  Applications for industry awards will be based on merit and the 7DAYPSA will submit the application with all the end credits included and pay any fee associated with the application.

Q: Why is there a $70.00 entry fee?
A: The 7DAYPSA entry fee fairly standard among filmmaking challenge competitions and our fee is less than some of the the well known time-limited productions that you may be familiar with. The entry fee has two purposes. Firstly, it encourages entrants to complete their project since they have an investment in doing so. Secondly, although we rely on volunteers, the fee helps the 7DAYPSAcover expenses that are not covered by sponsors, such as the cost of awards, the screening night venue, office expenses (phone, postage, supplies, printing, web hosting, etc.), and the fees that the 7DAYPSA must pay when submitting our winning public service announcements for consideration for industry awards such as Emmy Awards ($85.00 & $65.00 per name per entry), Telly Awards ($65.00 per entry) and others.

Please remember that the entry fee is per agency team (producer, writer, director, crew persons, actors, editor, etc.). So, a team consisting of seven people breaks down to only $10.00 each.

OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

Please open, print and fill out the following forms:

• OFFICIAL RULES • click here

 

• RELEASE FORM • click here

 

• AGENCY PRODUCER FORM (2017 ENTRY FORM) • click here

 

• AGENCY PSA COMPLETION FORM • click here

 

• CHECK LIST • click here

 

• AGENCY CAST & CREW LIST • click here

• ABOUT THE CREATIVE IMPULSE AWARDS • click here

THIS YEAR'S PRIZE SPONSORS:

• Rule Boston Camera

• Imagine Magazine

• New England Actor

• The New Media Film Festival

• Slate Casting

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival™

Mailing: P.O. Box 162, Newport, Rhode Island 02840 (United States)
Street Address: 36 Rhode Island Avenue, Newport, RI 02840

Office: 83 Park Street, Suite 5, Providence, RI 02903
Tel/Fax: (401) 861-4445 / 490-6735
info@film-festival.org or 7daypsa@film-festival.org

Event Sponsors:

and special thanks to Debra Gagnon for her event photography!

 

2017 Flickers®. All Rights Reserved.