PRODUCTION
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The following terms and conditions govern the submission and application of projects for funding by the Red Sea Fund (the “Submission Terms”). These Submission Terms along with the corresponding online application for the Red Sea Fund are integrated as a whole unified document. The Red Sea Fund is an initiative created by the Red Sea International Film Festival Foundation (the “Red Sea”, “we”, “us”, and “our”). The Red Sea is the owner and organizer of the Red Sea International Film Festival (the “Festival”). By submitting an application to the Red Sea Fund, the applicant shall be deemed as having consented to these Submission Terms and to be bound by them for all relevant times and purposes hereafter. It is the responsibility of the applicant to review the Submission Terms and to ensure its full compliance.
The following criteria will be applied.[1]
Feature-film, documentary, or animation film, which must be a minimum length of sixty (60) minutes.
*For Saudi Projects Only: Short-films, documentary or animation films that do not exceed fifty-nine (59) minutes will be eligible for submission.
Scripted episodic series which must be a minimum length of twenty-five (25) minutes but no more than fifty-nine (59) minutes per episode.
Director(s) must be of African nationality or Arab nationality/origin.[2]
Production company profile, registration documents and passport of authorized signatory as well as an official document proving the legal authorization and capacity of the signatory to sign on behalf of the company for the purpose of entering into the Red Sea Fund Agreement for feature and series projects (if project is selected).
The following documents must be submitted in English, excluding the Script for Saudi projects which can be submitted in Arabic:
MANDATORY
- Logline (minimum 30 words, maximum 80 words)
- Synopsis (minimum 300 words, maximum 500 words)
- Film’s Chain of Titles.
- English script for non-Documentary projects.
- Writer’s treatment for Feature Documentaries and Episodic Documentaries.
- English script and writer’s treatment for (Fiction, Animation).
- Pilot episode script and treatment in English for (Fiction Episodic).
- Director’s Statement/vision.
- Director’s motivation in video (English subtitles included).
- Links to the previous work of the director.
- Copy of the director’s passport
- Producer’s note.
- Director(s) and producer(s) biographies
- Mood board
- Concept Art for Animation projects.
- Potential list of cast and crew with biographies.
- Complete project budget breakdown (covering all stages: development, production, and post-production)
- Financial plan: full details of any other funding applications made and/or already received (i.e., equity, debt, any other financial grants) this applies to both in-cash or in-kind contributions of any kind, including product placements/commercial tie-ins)
- How the grant money will be utilized during the production stage, should the project be selected
- Detailed timelines and expected date of completion.
- Distribution and distribution strategy.
- Company profile of the applicant/production company (if project is selected).
- Company registration documents (if project is selected).
- Passport of an authorized representative of the production company as well as an official document proving legal authorization and capacity of the representative to enter into and sign on behalf of the production company for any subsequent Red Sea Fund Agreement (if project is selected).
[1] African or Arab countries are: Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Arab region shall mean one or more of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
- Applications must be completed in strict accordance with the Submission Terms in order to be reviewed and considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered under any circumstances.
- Applicants with completed applications will receive a written decision from the Red Sea Fund Committee approximately twelve (12) weeks after closing the Red Sea Fund’s application window. The Red Sea Fund Committee will not provide any justification for decisions it makes regarding applications. All decisions issued by the Red Sea Fund Committee are final and not appealable.
- The applicants that are selected by the Red Sea Fund Committee will receive written decisions which provide details of the amount of the financial support they will receive for their project as well as the requisite steps the applicant must complete in order to receive the Red Sea Fund’s financial support. The selected applicant must expressly state in writing whether they accept or decline the Red Sea Fund’s financial support within seven (7) days from the date in which their written decision is received, with any such acceptance always being subject to applicant completing all subsequent acts required by the Red Sea Fund (including, but not limited to, entering into a Red Sea Fund Agreement).
- Applicants who accept the Red Sea Fund’s financial support must enter into the Red Sea Fund Agreement which contains the standard terms and conditions under which their funding will be provided (the “Red Sea Fund Agreement”). Applicants must enter into the Red Sea Fund Agreement no later than four (4) weeks from the date in which they received their written decision.
- *Applicable to some select projects only: Funding provided by the Red Sea will be recouped from the project’s receipts. Repayment of the Red Sea Fund is pro rata pari passu on an annual basis (at the same time and at a proportionate rate) alongside other investors in the project. This condition is non-negotiable for those select projects in which this is applicable to.
- The applicant must provide for Red Sea Fund approval, proof of any financing for the project from other sources, whether in cash or in kind, that would generate credits or acknowledgment.
- Red Sea Fund shall be credited as “Co-producer” of the project.
- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall be credited as a country of production for the project.
- The Red Sea shall have the first right of refusal to hold the “World Premiere” of the submitted project at the edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival immediately following the project’s delivery to the Red Sea.
- The film must be completed at the latest within twelve (12) months of signing the Red Sea Fund Agreement. In the event that the film will not be completed within this twelve (12) months period, the applicant must notify the Red Sea Fund in writing of such delay providing details and demonstrating reasons for the delay and expected completion date. At its sole discretion, the Red Sea Fund holds the right to grant an extension to the applicant or cancel its participation in the project and receive reimbursement of the funding in its entirety.
- Payment breakdown for any funding may take the following:
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- The first payment of twenty-five percent (25%) of the Grant will be paid to the applicant’s nominated bank account upon execution of the Red Sea Fund Agreement in accordance with its terms and conditions.
- The second payment of fifty percent (50%) of the Grant will be paid upon the project’s commencement of principal photography in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Red Sea Fund Agreement.
- The third and final payment of twenty-five percent (25%) will be issued upon delivery of all materials specified within the Fund Agreement, including, but not limited to, the following:
- The final delivered version of the project.
- A final cost report (Audited).
- Projects that have been completed and reviewed but not selected by the Red Sea Fund Committee in its initial application shall be eligible for resubmission at the next application cycle/window; with an exception for Post-Production applications which may not, provided however, that the applicant can demonstrate substantive changes since the initial application.
- The Red Sea Fund Committee may invite a rejected project to be resubmitted for a later deadline. This decision is made solely at the discretion of the Red Sea Fund Committee, which will notify the applicant as the case may be.
By submitting an application to the Red Sea Fund, the applicant represents and warrants to the Red Sea the following:
- The project submitted in the application does not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any rights of any other person or entity.
- The project submitted in the application does not contain any obscene, defamatory, or libelous content.
- The project submitted in the application is not encumbered in any manner whatsoever.
- The applicant holds all rights, consents, and authorizations necessary for the submission of the project in their application.
- The applicant shall not hold the Red Sea liable under any circumstances whatsoever for any loss or damage in connection with their submitted project.
- The applicant shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Red Sea against all liabilities, claims, demands, actions, costs, damages, or losses arising out of the submission, acceptance, and/or funding of the project.
The applicant acknowledges that they are submitting the project voluntarily, on an unsolicited basis, and not in confidence, and that no confidential, fiduciary, or any other relationship whatsoever is intended or created between the applicant and the Red Sea by virtue of submission. Applicant shall remain at all times solely responsible for protecting its rights in the submitted project, including, without limitation, filing or registering the project with any relevant authorities applicable to Copyright or Trademark. The applicant further acknowledges that the laws governing these Submission Terms are that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and no other jurisdictional laws or regulations shall apply to the Submission Terms or to any funding (including, without limitation, any potential Red Sea Fund Agreement). The applicant acknowledges that submission of an application (whether in full compliance with these Submission Terms or otherwise) shall in no way create any obligation of any kind upon the Red Sea, and the applicant fully and forever releases the Red Sea from any liability and waives any claims that it has or may in the future have against the Red Sea in connection with the submission of their project.
- The Red Sea reserves the right, at any time, in its sole and absolute discretion to amend any part of these Submission Terms or to revoke any decision or offer of funding made to an applicant without justification or cause.