1. Acceptance of the Terms & Conditions

Zinemaldia Startup Challenge is a European competition promoted by the San Sebastian Film Festival in collaboration with the Basque Government Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, and the SPRI-Business Development Agency of the Basque Government.

As part of the activity ‘Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech’ -a project that is under the umbrella of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP) to strengthen Spain’s role as a European audiovisual hub and is promoted by the Ministry of Culture, through the the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), and the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, trhough ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones-, a specific competition for Spanish entrepreneurs and startups will be held.

The following Terms & Conditions establish the rules of participation in both competitions and the participation in the call for submissions implies the acceptance of these terms & conditions, with neither exceptions nor conditioning factors, and of any decisions potentially made in this respect.

Projects submitted to the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge, whether European or Spanish, must meet the following conditions:

2. Competitions' objectives

Both competitions seek to foster and recognise new business projects in the field of innovative technology applied to the audiovisual sector. The initiative therefore has the following objectives:

1. To foster new entrepreneurial projects in the audiovisual field.
2. To support the development in the Basque Country of new initiatives by means of providing economic resources and services of expert advice on how to create and manage a business.
3. To promote modernisation of the audiovisual sector by means of incorporating new technologies.

Said objectives are in line with the strategies to foster entrepreneurship promoted by the Basque Government Department of Economic Development, Sostenibility and Environment and, also, with the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) in place in the Basque Country.

3. Participants

Both competitions are mainly intended for:

• Entrepreneurs
  Entrepreneurs must:
  • Be older than 18 years on 31/12/2023.
  • Have their legal residence in a European country.
  • Consider developing and setting their project in motion in the Basque Autonomous Community.
• Startups proposing the use of new technologies applied to the audiovisual field
  Startups must:
  • Have been constituted after 31/12/2018 in a European country.
  • Consider developing and setting their project in motion in the Basque Autonomous Community.

4. Subject matter of the business proposals

The Zinemaldia Startup Challenge seeks to recognise the best business project proposals in the field of innovative technology applied to the audiovisual sector, understanding as such projects intending to either create a new company or to develop a recently created company.

The proposals can be:

• Business projects presented by individuals on the application of new technologies to one of the links in the value chain of the audiovisual industry.
• Business projects presented by startups on the application of new technologies to one of the links in the value chain of the audiovisual industry.

Proposals involving the production of audiovisual content (e.g. proposals for short films, screenplays, documentaries, etc.) will not be accepted.

Selected projects in earlier editions of the competition will not be accepted.

5. Project submissions

To submit a project:

1. Complete the form with the information requested.
2. Attach a brief video explaining the idea. The video must be hosted by an online platform (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and you must indicate the link in the corresponding field of the form.
3. Submit any additional documentation giving better understanding of your proposal (such as infographics, presentations, diagrams, prototypes...) Max. 20 MB.
4. Once the complete documentation has been received, and upon revision, an email will be sent validating the registration to participate in the competition.

The projects can be presented individually or as a team, and in Spanish, Basque or English.

If the project is being presented as a team, each team must appoint a representative, who will be the person to complete the form and with whom the competition coordination team will exchange official communications.

Participants should note that:

• Each team/startup can submit a maximum of 3 projects.
• Each individual can submit a maximum of 3 projects.

Project submission period

The period for receiving ideas will run from 16 April 2024 to 31 May 2024 at 23:59 horas (Central European Time).
 

6. Project evaluation procedure

The submitted projects will be evaluated by an expert committee of professionals from the Basque BIC-Business Innovation Centres, Tecnalia and Vicomtech, which will pre-select a maximum of 10 finalist projects: 5 projects will compete at the European competition and 5 at the Spanish one.

The submissions rejected for the next stage will be informed of the decision by means of the email address provided on the application.

The 10 finalist projects will be evaluated by a jury, depending on the level in which they compete, made up of professionals of recognised prestige in the audiovisual, technological and business fields during a pitching session.

The presentations will take place as part of the event Zinemaldia & Technology. The projects can be presented in Spanish, Basque or English.

7. Awards

The winning business projects in the European competition will receive an award of 10,000 euros gross.

Likewise, the winning business projects in the Spanish competition will receive an award of 10,000 euros gross.

In addition, a special mention of 3,000 euros gross, recognising the entrepreneurial values of one of the ten selected projects will be awarded.

Furthermore, the 10 finalist projects will receive the following:

• Access to the Festival events and activities.
• Accommodation for 3 nights plus travel costs for one representative per project.
• Possibility of free access to an incubation space during the first year of their visit, at one of the BICS belonging to the Basque Technology Park Network.
• Possibility of access to funding of up to 500,000 euros to develop their project (up to €60,000 non-recoverable) thanks to subsidies managed by the Basque BIC Network, and articulated by the Basque Government Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, through the SPRI, and the Provincial Councils.(*)

(*) Some programmes providing funding support and backing require proof of registered residence in the Basque Autonomous Community and/or of having a registered company address in the Basque Autonomous Community.

The awards will be subject to tax under currently existing tax regulations; said tax will be paid by the winners.

8. Presentation of awards

The winning projects will be announced at the Zinemaldia & Technology event.

The representatives of the award-winning projects shall include, if possible, the following mention in the award-winning project website: Zinemaldia Startup Challenge Award - San Sebastian International Film Festival.

9. Contents

The participants undertake to accept and obey the competition Terms & Conditions. Submitting a business project implies the express and formal acceptance of the requirements and obligations expressed herein.

The intellectual and material property of the projects or ideas developed belong to the promoters of the project; the same applies to their industrial exploitation.

The participating startups and participants agree, as a general rule, to the sharing of the basic company data and contact details with a view to disseminating, immersing and connecting the startup with companies and agencies in the Basque Country.

The participants guarantee that the works and their contents voluntarily submitted to the competition (including the different summaries or presentations) do not violate the rights of third parties, or have, where appropriate, all of the authorisations necessary to participate in the competition. Also, that they are not offensive or insulting, that they do not incite violence or racism or violate the fundamental rights or public freedoms recognised by applicable laws, or the laws on the protection of children and youths, and that they neither constitute nor imply interference in the personal or family privacy of individuals or violate the right to honour of third parties or the duty to secrecy of communications or contravene existing regulations.

The participating startups/people authorise the institutions promoting the competition to use their name and image in advertising material related to the competition, including on the Internet, with no right to any payment whatsoever in exchange.

10. Communications and complaints

All notifications related to the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge competition, including the list of finalist projects and the winning projects, will be published on the Festival's website.

Any doubts arising from the interpretation of these regulations will be solved by the San Sebastian Festival Management.