Laboratory of Interactive Narratives – Open Call

The vnLab Laboratory of Interactive Narratives announces a competition for participation in the workshop’s artistic and research program.

We invite artists interested in creating autonomous, interactive digital photographic or film projects of documentary or artistic nature to participate.

In order to participate in the competition you must:

1. Read the REGULATIONS of the competition
2. Prepare and send to KONKURSY@szkolafilmowawlodzi.pl the documents required by the regulations:
   1. curriculum vitae with documents confirming the experience required to participate in the competition
   2. portfolio of creative achievements to date
   3. documentation of an artistic or documentary project which the candidate plans to develop in an interactive form
3. fill in the APPLICATION FORM

We invite you to participate in the competition!

Rules of the competition for participation in the artistic and research program of the vnLab Laboratory of Interactive Narratives

§ I. Organizer and goal of the contest

The organizer of the Contest for participation in the artistic and research program of the vnLab Interactive Narration Workshop for 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “the Contest”) is the Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in ?ód?, Laboratory of Visual Narration with its seat at 61/63 Targowa Street in ?ód?, 90-323 (hereinafter referred to as “the Organizer”). The goal of the Contest is to select five best photographic or film projects of documentary/artistic nature – also those using other media – to participate in the artistic and research program of the Laboratory of Interactive Narrations.

§ II. Participation in the Interactive Narrative Studio Program

The Interactive Narrative Lab is dedicated to the study and development of narrative forms that emerge through the use of digital interactive technologies in documentary film and related forms, such as reportage, documentary photography, and the film essay. The activity of the studio consists in supporting the creation of selected interactive narrative forms. In the studio 5 interactive projects will be developed annually, in the first stage of activities, from January to June, to the stage of prototypes. Each of the works will be created in the process of both creativity and research: the aspiration of the studio participants will be to find an appropriate narrative structure for the story they are telling. An important element of the programme are obligatory three-day workshops for the participants, held at least four times during the first stage of implementation, during which the participants of the studio – with the support of specialists invited by the studio and with the help of a technological consultant – are supposed to develop their ideas and support the development of other projects with their knowledge and skills. Apart from the workshops, regular consultations of projects already developed at the Studio will be held, as well as workshops on tools helpful in preparing prototypes. Of the 5 projects developed in the first half of the year, 2 will be selected by the Lab Council for implementation and publication as a final interactive work. If additional funding (either from participants or the Lab) is obtained during the course of the work, more works may be realized in final form. Copies of all prototypes will remain in the Laboratory’s archives as sample material for further research and presentation.

§ III. Rules of participation in the Contest

1. The Competition is open to individuals (including teams of authors) with experience in creating documentary or artistic projects based on the media of photography or film, which have been presented at individual or group exhibitions in renowned artistic centers or during major festivals or, in the case of films, which have had a theatrical distribution or have been screened at an International Film Festival.
2. In order to participate in the Competition, an application must be submitted to the Organizer which includes
   1. a completed and submitted entry form available HERE, and containing:
      1. title, short description and emblem of the project
      2. name and surname or name of the candidate for the Contest,
      3. address of residence or registered office of candidate for the Contest,
      4. telephone number and email address,
      5. declaration: “I agree to participate in the 2020 vnLab Interactive Narrative Studio Program Competition and accept its rules and regulations.”
   2. curriculum vitae with documents confirming the experience mentioned in paragraph 1 above.
   3. A portfolio of creative achievements to date, confirming the experience referred to in paragraph 1 above. The portfolio may include links to films and other multimedia content.
      documentation of an artistic or documentary project together with a programme text, which the candidate plans to develop in an interactive form (hereinafter referred to as “Project”).
   4. The documentation may include links to film or multimedia content. The Project should have been started with funding secured and a specific plan for completion, or be nearing completion, which should also be described and documented. The studio does not have funds for the development of the project itself, but only for the development of its interactive form. It should be taken into account that during the development of the prototype it may be necessary to take additional photographs or shots for the interactive form of the project. The dossier should include a justification – in any form, including a preliminary artistic concept – for why the candidate would like to realize their project in interactive form. If the justification is not in writing, the documentation may include a link to relevant materials.
   5. Information about funding for the project. If the candidate has also secured funding for the production of a digital or interactive form, it may be possible for the Lab to realize the project as a co-production, governed by a separate agreement. All documents listed above, prepared in PDF format, and labeled [project emblem]-[“experience” or “portfolio” or “project”]-2019.pdf, should be addressed to KONKURSY@szkolafilmowawlodzi.pl, putting the project emblem in the email title.
3. The project should meet the following requirements together:
   1. it constitutes the exclusive creation of the person (or team) making the application and its exclusive property, also in terms of the copyright of the creator, or at the time of submission of the project, the necessary rights enabling the implementation of the experiment have already been acquired. In the latter case, it is necessary to enclose documents confirming the acquisition of rights
   2. has not been previously used in whole or in part in another interactive or multimedia project
4. The deadline for submission of applications is 31 October 2019. Upon receipt of a complete entry, the Organizer will confirm acceptance of the entry to the Competition to the email address provided on the form.
5. In order for the application to be considered successfully sent, the submitted files must be able to be read correctly.
6. Each candidate for the Contest may submit only one entry to the Contest. The application may include a maximum of two Projects.
7. Submitting an invalid entry may result in exclusion from the Competition of the Concept contained therein.
8. Submitting an entry is voluntary and means in particular:
   1. acceptance and full acceptance of the provisions of these Regulations,
   2. consent to processing the applicant’s personal data for purposes related to the conduct, documentation and promotion of the Competition. Clauses concerning processing of personal data constitute Appendix No. … to these Regulations.
   3. to grant the Organizer, free of charge, a non-exclusive right, unlimited as to time and territory, to use and dispose of the submitted documentation of the Projects in all fields of exploitation, which especially includes the production of copies of the documentation by any technique and on any medium, marketing, public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and rebroadcasting, as well as making the work available to the public in such a way that everyone can access it in a place and at a time individually chosen by them, including making it available via a computer network (especially Internet). The Organizer obtains these rights upon receiving the documentation for the Projects. These rights can only be used for documentation purposes, as well as for promotion and advertising of the Contest, as well as in information about the Contest and reporting of its progress.

§ IV. Settlement of the Competition

1. The Competition is a one-stage event.
2. The Jury evaluates Projects submitted by Contestants, taking into consideration in particular
   1. artistic or documentary value of the Project,
   2. artistic or documentary potential of the Project in an interactive form,
   3. creator’s justification why he/she would like to realize the Project in an interactive form (awareness of the medium),
   4. previous achievements of the designer.
   5. The compatibility of the Project with the artistic and research goals of the Interactive Narrative Workshop, in particular its contribution to the development of autonomous interactive narratives.
3. The Jury will select 5 Projects that will participate in the artistic and research program of the vnLab Interactive Narrative Studio for 2020.
4. The results of the Competition will be announced on the Organizer’s website by 10.11.2019. The Organizer will notify the winners of the results of the Contest by email, to the email address indicated in the application form.

§ V. Clarifications to the statutory requirements

1. In the course of the Contest, individuals and entities, including author teams, who intend to participate in the Contest, or who have made a successful application to the Contest, may contact the Organizer with questions related to the requirements of the Project, according to the rules set forth in this paragraph.
2. Questions referred to in paragraph 1 above should be directed by email to: KONKURSY@szkolafilmowawlodzi.pl and include the first and last name of the inquirer.
3. Questions related to the Project requirements should be sent no later than October 9, 2019. These questions will be answered by the Organizer no later than October 20, 2019.
4. The Organizer’s answers referred to in paragraph 3 above will be provided by publishing them on the Contest website.
5. The published answers referred to in paragraph 4 above will be treated equally to the provisions of these Regulations in terms of the requirements for the Project.
6. Questions sent after the deadline provided for in paragraph 3 above will not be answered.

§ VI. Jury

1. The Jury members are appointed and dismissed by the Organizer’s Artistic Council.
2. The Jury will evaluate the Projects on the basis of their artistic merit and originality and other requirements included in these Rules and Regulations, as well as the answers provided by the Organizer referred to in § IV item 4 of the Rules and Regulations.
3. Decisions of the Jury are taken by a simple majority of votes in the presence of the majority of the Jury members.
4. Decisions of the Jury cannot be appealed.

§ VII. Copyright

1. The winner is the participant of the Contest, who, based on the Jury’s decision, was included in the artistic and research program of the vnLab Interactive Narration Studio for the year 2020. The provisions of this paragraph concern the Winner’s Concept, and the “Concept” referred to in this paragraph should be understood as the Winner’s Concept.
2. All rights to the Design remain with the Winner.
3. The Winner grants the Organizer the non-exclusive and territorially unlimited right, both temporally and territorially, to use the prototype of the interactive work developed within the artistic and research program of the vnLab Interactive Narration Studio and to dispose of it in all fields of exploitation, which especially includes the production of copies of the fixation using any technique and on any medium, marketing, public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and rebroadcasting, as well as making the work available to the public in such a way that everyone can have access to it in a place and at a time individually chosen by them, including making it available through a computer network (including in particular the Internet). The Organizer obtains these rights as soon as the work on the prototype begins. These rights can be used solely for documentation purposes, as well as to promote and advertise the activities of the Interactive Narrative Studio, and in information about the activities of vnLab.
4. In case of any use of the prototype of an interactive work developed within the artistic and research program of the vnLab Interactive Narrative Studio, and in particular in case of realization of its final version outside the vnLab, the Winner is obliged to inform about the genesis of the work each time, e.g. by placing a note in the information accompanying the work. The Winner is obliged to inform about the genesis of the work each time it is published, among others, by placing the following sentence in the information accompanying the publication of the prototype or the colophon of the final work: “The work has been created as part of the artistic and research program of the Laboratory of Interactive Narratives of the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in ?ód?”, using the logotypes of the Laboratory and the Organizer.
5. If the Winner’s prototype is selected for implementation within the Laboratory’s program, the ownership of the final interactive work will be transferred to the Organizer. The establishment and transfer of all rights to the final interactive work developed at the vnLab Interactive Narration Lab will take place under a separate agreement signed with the Winner, under which the Organizer acquires all proprietary copyrights to the final interactive work, covering all fields of exploitation known at the moment, in particular
   1. production by any technique of copies (including printing, reprography, magnetic recording and digital technique, in any system or format; on any media, uploading, downloading), digitalization,
   2. marketing, lending or leasing of the original or copies,
   3. public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction and broadcast (wireless or wire, by terrestrial station or by satellite) and rebroadcast, in any system, technique or format, as well as making the work available to the public in such a way that everyone can access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, making available as video-on-demand, webcasting, simulcasting, as well as making available through the use of streaming technology, high definition technology (HD), three-dimensional technology (3D) and VR technology, as well as within the framework of any telecommunication services with the use of any systems and devices (among others. including but not limited to cell phones, fixed and/or mobile computers, as well as transmissions using any available technologies e.g. GSM, UMTS etc, by means of telecommunication data transmission networks),
   4. use in a multimedia work,
   5. entering into the memory of a computer or other device, making available through a computer network (including in particular the Internet, multimedia networks and IPTV), as well as making available the possibility of reproduction through a computer network.
6. The winner transfers to the Organizer the exclusive right, unlimited in terms of time and territory, to authorize the execution of derivative copyrights to the final interactive work created at the vnLab Interactive Narration Studio, in the fields of exploitation listed in point 5 , in particular to authorize the disposal and use of their development. The Winner also undertakes not to undertake any actions limiting this right in the future.
7. The winner authorizes the Organizer to exercise his or her moral rights to the final interactive work created at the vnLab Interactive Narration Studio, and undertakes not to exercise his or her moral rights in a way that would limit the Organizer in exercising its rights to the said works. The preceding sentence refers in particular to the decision to make the works available to recipients (the public).
8. The Organizer undertakes to make the final work available to the public in an open access format as part of the vnLab digital publishing series at the Library and Film Information Centre of the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz.

§ VIII. Final Provisions

1. In matters not reserved for the Jury’s decision, decisions are made by the Organiser. The Organiser will resolve any doubts concerning the interpretation of the present Rules and Regulations.
2. The present Rules and Regulations have been prepared in Polish and English language versions. In case of any doubt the Polish version shall prevail.
3. In case of any disputes the competent court is the common court according to the seat of the Organizer.