Frequently Asked Questions (Links in this doc will be updated when we launch the app)
Q. I’m confused. I’m new to the website. How do I participate exactly?
A. Welcome! On our homepage, you may click “signup/login”. Once you do, you will have full access to our platform to review projects, vote on projects, or upload your own projects to apply for financing rewards or general peer review. You can purchase FILMCredits to submit your work, or you can review others’ projects and start making and saving enough FILMCredits to submit your own work.
Q. Do I have to answer the personal questions during the signup process?
A. Great question! Yes, every user is required to go through this KYC (know your customer) process to validate his/her identity. This is due to various regulatory bodies. This is a good thing, because you can be sure that every community member is a real person and that his/her vote is legitimate. Furthermore, if you feel comfortable answering some of our additional get-to-know-you and demographic questions, you will be able to access certain competitions for your demographics, as well as provide valuable data for our community members.
Q. Wait, what are Filmcredits?
A. FILMCredits are fuel for the platform. Users can stake them on their favorite projects, use them to pay others to review their own submissions (as a bounty), or simply purchase entry vouchers to pay for application fees for various creative financing rewards.
Q. So what is staking?
A. For example, if you really enjoyed Dean’s submission for a documentary film, you can put some of your own FILMCredits on your review of his project. These credits are not at risk of being lost or stolen. They are simply locked during the review period of the project they are staked to, like a placeholder that adds weight to your vote. Once the review period is over, you get them back! The staked FILMCredits cannot be used elsewhere until the review period is over.
Q. Okay, so what is a bounty?
A. We know you have an incredible story. Others have their stories, too. To garner more interest or reviews of your own submission, the submission fee creates a bounty to reward others in FILMCredits for reviewing your project. You can increase this bounty to add additional incentive for the community to review it. However, more visibility doesn’t mean a better score, it merely means more data to calculate the score.
Q. Can I submit my film idea and get it funded?
A. Absolutely. That is why DCP exists! Our goal is to give opportunities to those who deserve them. So prove to the community that your story is compelling and needs to be told. You can check here for the various categories we are funding at any given time. If your genre of choice isn’t available now, don’t fret. We intend to offer financing rewards for all the wonderful film genres. Stay tuned and refine your material so you’re ready when your genre calls for submissions. You can, of course, get general peer review at any time, with the general review submission type.
Q. How much do winners get?
A. Each category has a posted range amount. These will change, too, especially as our community grows. Whether we have a five thousand USD student thesis film financing reward, or a several million USD live action reward, you can see each financing reward range in each category.
Q. What else do winners get?
A. DCP supports winners both financially and strategically, essentially shepherding them through the filmmaking process. DCP suggests various production companies and subcontractors to take on physical production. This is in an effort to strengthen the ecosystem with all facets of physical, post-production, distribution, and marketing. DCP engages only seasoned partners for all aspects of production and distribution.
Q. Can I have all my friends and family vote for me?
A. Of course you can. That’s what friends and family are for, right? Remember, a person can only create one account. Ever. After all, there is only one unique you in this world! All users will be required to perform KYC (know your customer) verification. This is due to various regulatory considerations. Over time, one’s user reputation will change depending on their platform participation. This helps our community let true talent shine; the most popular user may not have the most brilliant movie idea.
Q. What do you mean having accurate reviews determines my user reputation?
A. Inevitably, some movie ideas will be better than others. If, hypothetically, Johnny had a mediocre film idea with many friends to vote for his idea, and Fatima had a brilliant film idea and won, those who voted and staked with confidence for Fatima would have increased user reputation because they accurately upvoted or staked FILMCredits on reviews of her project.
Q. I paid a submission fee for my project, but I didn’t win. Where does the submission fee go?
A. We’re glad you asked. Submission fees are what incentivize our community to read, rate, and review your project! The submission fee will be divvied up amongst the reviewers based on accuracy, stake, reputation, and timing of the review. For more details on how this works, please check out our explanatory paper(COMING SOON).
Q. After a winner has their movie made, where doES the revenue go?
A. In an industry standard fashion, film revenues are divided into various pools. In our case, DCP acts as the financier and all the net revenue recouped in this pool will go back to the film fund for future artists and financing rewards. We support our community and want to keep growing the pool of funds, thus give out more and more financing rewards. As for the winner, depending on whether he/she is a producer of the film and contracts for a share of this pool, he/she may share in the producers’ pool.
Q. I didn’t win, but I was really close. now what?
A. First of all, congratulations! You must have a really great idea and pitch. Individuals who come very close but don’t ultimately win financing will be contacted. We have a great group of in-network partners. We’ll do our best to get your foot in the door with those companies that seem like a good fit. Our goal is to give access to those who may not otherwise have it. You may get your project picked up, or even representation. While, of course, there is no obligation for partners in our network, they have all agreed to review finalists that show promise within the community. Having made it through the rigorous community review process, your idea will have a wealth of data associated with it, and this is valuable to production companies, talent agencies, and management companies as they pitch to others like you did. We hope DCP will be an invaluable stepping stone to those who garner support from the community through their submitted projects. After all, our goal is to provide support to artists and projects to which the world responds.
Q. COULD YOU GIVE ME A CURRENT LIST OF AUTHORIZED CRYPTOCURRENCY?
A. Yes of course! We accept Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and USD Coin.
Q. How do I become a moderator?
A. Anyone in the top 75th percentile of user reputation can become a moderator, as long as they lock/stake a certain amount of FILM Credit value. This is to ensure that users act responsibly and in the best interest of the community, as malicious activity as a moderator will result in the loss of credits and/or potentially getting banned from the community. In the worst case scenario, we may ask the community to weigh in on the course of action in regards to malicious activity.
q. what if a moderator denies my submission and I don’t agree?
A. Don’t worry! If a submission is denied by a moderator, you will receive a list of fixes to get your project back in consideration. You can also appeal it to another moderator. Moderator decisions - either for or against a project - can be appealed by anyone for a fee - which is forfeited if the appeal is lost. Top-level moderators make appeals decisions to prevent manipulation. If a moderator loses an appeal, he loses reputation score and FILMCredits in the amount staked by the appellant.
Q. What is the list of categories evaluators rate?
A. Evaluators rate the following categories: Commercial viability, social impact, characters, storyline, creativity and entertainment value.
Q. If my submission did not win in one competition, could i submit it to another competition on your platform?
A. Yes, you may submit your project to as many competitions as you like, as long as it fits the genre and/or guidelines. In fact, we encourage you to take the community’s feedback and improve your project accordingly for the next competition!
Q. What is a creative query?
A. Got a question to ask our creative community? For example, which trailer makes you want to watch the film more? Which actor is better suited for a particular role? Which one liner makes you laugh more? Etc. We recommend that you add a decent bounty to your query to incentivize our community to respond to it. You may also target specific demographics. It’s like you have your own focus group!
Didn’t see your question answered? Contact us.