We’re looking for members of our creative community to tell us -- and everybody in Tongal-land, the story of your success with Tongal.
Whether you’ve succeeded as an idea person, a filmmaker, or a member of the cast or crew on a Tongal production, we want to hear from you. We’re interested in lots of different stories and perspectives: because we know the experiences of our Tongal community members are as diverse as the community itself.
And you don’t need to be a top filmmaker or money winner – if you’ve benefited from participating with Tongal: whether from big-time earnings, working in your pajamas, honing your craft, making new connections, starting a business, making your first big-time video production, or submitting a big idea of your very own for the first time since you were on the 7th grade Student Council – hey, it’s ALL GOOD. We’re after a broad range of stories, as well as depth and substance.
Make sense? Great – we’ll have more on the story structure, and other items of interest…in the Project Objectives.
Using text, images and video: Pitch us your Tongal story.
Sure, we expect that a few of our Tongal filmmakers will go crazy and do CGI recreations of the party they threw at The Viper Room when they won their first big Tongal challenge. But we also want to hear candid accounts from our idea-people, cast-members, and crew. So if you’ve been a successful idea-person, cast member, or crew, and you can tell your story on camera, we’d be thrilled to have you Pitch your success story.
Please note, if you have not created a winning Tongal video in the past, you will be required to submit a Pitch VIDEO along with your text Pitch. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it should look “PRO” and be as well lit and good-sounding as you can make it. The combination of your story, your personality, and a nice clean look for the VIDEO can put you in the winner’s circle.
--Key Features: For EVERYONE submitting to this challenge, we want you consider the following elements when creating your story:
• WHO ARE YOU? We need you to tell us who you are. And “you” can be yourself or your production company. Don’t be afraid to get personal. We don’t need to know that you were born in a log-cabin or who your great great grandpa felled in a duel back in the 18th century, but we do want to know a little bit about who you are, and…
• WHAT YOU DO: Are you a filmmaker? An idea person? A camera person? A make-up person? If you’ve played lots of roles, that’s great, let us know, but also let us know which role you play primarily.
• WHAT HAS TONGAL MEANT TO YOU? This is key: we want to get at the core of it, and we’re looking for substance and variety and good juicy stuff here. Be specific, but also feel free to philosophize and enlarge a little on this topic. (And don’t be afraid to make viewers laugh or cry!)
•WHAT HAS YOUR TONGAL JOURNEY BEEN? How did you start? What have been your personal highlights (or stumbling points)? What have you learned? What are you doing today that you didn’t do before? This doesn’t need to be a whole separate soliloquy – it’s okay if it’s woven into the rest of the story you tell – but we do want some sense of your path…of growth, enlightenment, and all that good stuff.
• GOT ANY ADVICE? You’ve been a success with Tongal. Have you any words of advice for the young ballplayers watching at home? Let’s hear it!
This project will consist of two phases and be worth a total of $12,500. Pitch winners will be required to deliver their Videos in the second phase of the competition.
PITCH: Pitch us your Tongal success story using Text, Images and Video (see below for more detail). Your complete Success Story should be no longer than Two minutes in length so please keep that in mind as you design your PITCH. Five winning PITCHES will each receive a $500 payment.
• TEXT (Required): Who are you? What do you do? What has Tongal meant to you? What has your Tongal journey been? Got any advice?
• IMAGE (Optional): A complete storyboard and/or script for your Success Story.
• VIDEO (Pitch Videos are required for anyone who has not created a winning Tongal Video): A video sample or rough cut of your Success Story – if you submit a Video Sample it must be at least 60 seconds in length. If you have never done a VIDEO for Tongal before you must use this option for your PITCH.
VIDEO PHASE: Winning PITCHES will be required to submit a finished VIDEO, 30-120 seconds in length and all other creators are invited to enter a “Wild Card” (What Is a Wildcard?) submission that is not based on any winning material from the previous phases. The Judges will score all Wild Card Videos and the ONE (1) highest scoring Wild Card Video and the FIVE (5) winning Videos submitted by Pitch winners will be scored to determine the standings for the Video Phase. Remember, the FIVE Pitch winners, along with ONE non-Pitch Video creator, will receive prizes. Note that one round of post-production edits will be included in the VIDEO production. Each of the five winning video creators will receive $2,000.
--Previous Tongal Video Work: Non-winning Tongal video content and video content that is not currently publicly viewable on Tongal may not be used as part of your final video. You may, however, use any publicly viewable winning content that was submitted to a Tongal competition. If you have submitted an Idea that led to a winning video you did not create, you can use that video as part of your submission. Simply request the video from us by contacting pat@tongal.com.
--Music: Killer Tracks is a leading provider of production music for use in film, television, advertising and interactive media. Killer Tracks’ music will be available to registered Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into official Submissions to this Project. No other use is permitted. You may only use up to THREE Killer Tracks maximum as part of your video Submission.
To use the Killer Tracks site, click HERE (killertracks.com) or on the "Killer Tracks" button on the right hand side of this page. On their homepage, click the red login tab in the upper right-hand corner and enter the following credentials:
Username: TongalMusicKT@tongal.com
Password: duchess
Click login. We encourage you to use the “Themed Playlist” tab for exploring the catalog as it provides pre-curated song choices based on several popular themes. Alternately, use the "Search" tab to enter your own criteria. To watch a quick tutorial video on how to use the website, click HERE: (http://killertracks.com/tutorial/).
Once you’ve identified the song(s) you want to use, click the down arrow under the Actions column to the right of the song title/description. This will open a Download Manager window, allowing you to save the file to the location of your choice. Keep track of the CD#, Track #, Track Title and Composer(s) of the songs you end up using in the video, as you will need to provide that info once you turn in the final edit. Getting the right track can really help sell your video, so make it killer!
1. Videos MUST NOT exceed 120 seconds in length. Preferred format for upload to the Tongal website is HD 720p 16x9. Acceptable file formats are .mov, .avi, .mp4, .wmv. Acceptable codecs are H.264 (MP4), MPEG-4, H.263, MPGV, WMV, DivX.
2. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
3. In addition to the judging criteria stated in the Official Rules, pitches will also be evaluated on that member's ability to execute the Video based on their prior work and experience.
4. In the event you utilize any third party materials, such as music provided by a third-party music provider, you must obtain full written license and consent from the owner of such third party materials and provide such license and consent forms to Tongal.
5. Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Tongal.
6. You will be judged on how well you satisfy the factors contained in the Project Objectives pages, in the judges' sole discretion.
7. Submissions must not portray Tongal in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Tongal.
8. Videos must be in the English language.
9. Limit 5 submission(s) per member.
10. You must be at least thirteen (13) years old to enter.
11. Sponsor will be entitled to one reasonable round of revisions on the finished video without providing additional compensation. Remember it's easier to re-edit than re-shoot so try to get as much coverage as possible.
12. BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES SOLELY THE PROPERTY OF TONGAL – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEB SITE OR HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
13. In addition to the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment, winning video creators MUST also provide Talent, Location, and Music Releases for all assets appearing in the video as well as the project files, editing sequence and an uncompressed quicktime .mov file in either Animation or ProRes 422 codecs at 1920x1080 to claim their prize.
14. In addition to the judging criteria stated in the Official Rules, pitches will also be evaluated on that member's ability to execute the final video based on their prior work and experience as a filmmaker.
15. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.