TERMS OF SERVICE FOR FESTIVALS

The Film Sub

Effective Date: [03 Sep, 2026]
Last Updated: [29 Jun, 2026]
Website: [thefilmsub.com]
Entity Name: [The Film Sub]
Registered Office: [House No. E5, Kh No. 862, Indraprastha Apartment, Sant Nagar, Burari, Delhi 110084]
Support Email: info@thefilmsub.com
Legal Email: nitish@thefilmsub.com

1. Introduction

These Terms of Service for Festivals govern the use of The Film Sub by film festivals, screenplay contests, online festivals, awards events, organisers, curators, event managers, judging teams, authorised representatives and any other person or organisation creating or managing a festival listing on The Film Sub.

By creating a festival account, submitting a festival listing, accepting submissions, using ticketing tools, receiving payments, communicating with filmmakers, or otherwise using The Film Sub as an organiser, you agree to these Terms.

The Film Sub provides an online platform that connects festivals and organisers with filmmakers, writers, creators, audiences, and ticket buyers. Unless specifically agreed in writing, The Film Sub is not the owner, producer, curator, jury, legal operator, or financial guarantor of your festival. You remain responsible for your festival, its rules, conduct, management, promises, communications, judging process, selections, event delivery, refunds, taxes, and legal compliance.

2. Eligibility to List a Festival

To list a festival on The Film Sub, you confirm that

1. You are at least 18 years old.
2. You are legally capable of entering into a binding agreement.
3. You are authorised to act on behalf of the festival, company, trust, society, partnership, LLP, private limited company, educational institution, production house, or organisation you represent.
4. The festival or contest you list is genuine and intended to be conducted in good faith.
5. All information provided by you is accurate, current, and not misleading.
6. You will comply with applicable Indian laws and any laws applicable in the place where your festival is conducted.

The Film Sub may request verification documents, including identity proof, organisation details, festival history, official website links, social media links, bank account details, PAN, GSTIN, CIN, address proof, event permissions, or any other reasonable information before approving, continuing, or paying out a festival listing.

3. Festival Listing Responsibilities

You are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of your festival listing. Your listing must clearly disclose:

1. Festival name.
2. Festival type.
3. Event dates.
4. Submission deadlines.
5. Venue or online screening format.
6. Categories accepted.
7. Entry fees.
8. Eligibility rules.
9. Premiere requirements, if any.
10. Language and subtitle requirements.
11. Technical specifications.
12. Selection and notification dates.
13. Awards, prizes, or certificates, if offered.
14. Screening rights required from filmmakers.
15. Refund policy.
16. Contact details.
17. Any important limitations, conditions, or restrictions.

You must not exaggerate, misrepresent, or falsely claim awards, sponsors, celebrity attendance, government association, film industry affiliation, festival history, jury names, expected audience, media reach, selection benefits, IMDb status, qualification status, distribution opportunities, or prize value.

If any information changes after publication, you must update the listing promptly and notify affected submitters if the change is material.

4. Festival Rules

Each festival must publish clear rules before accepting submissions. These rules should explain who can submit, what formats are accepted, what rights are required, how judging works, whether screening is online or offline, and whether refunds are available.

You must not make hidden rules after filmmakers have already paid submission fees. You may make reasonable administrative changes, but material changes that negatively affect submitters should be communicated clearly and handled fairly.

If your festival requires permission to screen, promote, excerpt, subtitle, translate, archive, or publicly display submitted material, those rights must be clearly mentioned in your rules.

5. Relationship Between The Film Sub and Festivals

The Film Sub acts as a technology platform and service provider. We may provide tools for festival listing, submissions, payments, marketing, ticketing, communication, analytics, judging support, and dashboard management.

The Film Sub does not guarantee the following:

1. Number of submissions.
2. Quality of submissions.
3. Ticket sales.
4. Audience turnout.
5. Sponsor interest.
6. Media coverage.
7. Filmmaker participation.
8. Revenue.
9. Festival reputation.
10. Legal compliance of your event.

You are independent from The Film Sub. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, employment, agency, franchise, joint venture, or representative relationship unless separately agreed in writing.

6. Use of Submitted Films and Materials

Filmmakers retain ownership of their submitted films, scripts, images, trailers, posters, stills, music, documents, and related materials.

When a filmmaker submits to your festival, you may access the submitted materials only for legitimate festival purposes, such as eligibility review, judging, selection, communication, and festival administration.

You must not:

1. Download submitted films for unrelated use.
2. Share private screener links outside your authorised team.
3. Publish films without permission.
4. Screen films publicly unless the filmmaker has granted screening permission.
5. Upload submitted works to social media without consent.
6. Sell, license or distribute submitted works.
7. Use submitted works for training, AI processing, commercial exploitation, or unrelated marketing without clear permission.
8. Share passwords, private links, or unpublished scripts with unauthorised persons.

If your festival wants to use excerpts, trailers, stills, or posters for promotion, you must ensure that your rules disclose this and that the filmmaker has agreed.

7. Communication With Filmmakers

You must communicate professionally and respectfully with filmmakers. You should respond to reasonable questions about rules, deadlines, selections, refunds, screening requirements, and delivery instructions.

You must not harass, threaten, abuse, mislead, spam, or discriminate against users. You must not use filmmaker contact details for unrelated promotions, third-party advertising, political messaging, data sales, or unsolicited marketing outside the festival purpose.

8. Judging and Selection

You are responsible for your judging process. Your process should be fair, transparent, and consistent with your published rules.

The Film Sub does not control festival selections, awards, rejections, jury opinions, or programming decisions unless a separate written agreement states otherwise.

If you publish jury names, advisory board names, or celebrity associations, those claims must be true and authorised.

9. Payments, Fees and Commission

The Film Sub may collect submission fees, ticket fees, marketing fees, subscription fees, or other service charges through approved payment systems.

For paid submissions, The Film Sub may deduct platform commission, payment gateway charges, taxes, refunds, chargebacks, adjustments, promotional discounts, or other applicable charges before payout.

The applicable commission, ticketing fee, GST, or service charge will be shown on the pricing page, checkout page, dashboard, or relevant service agreement.

You are responsible for understanding the pricing structure before enabling paid submissions or ticketing.

10. Taxes and GST

You are responsible for your tax compliance, including GST, income tax, TDS, invoicing, accounting, and statutory reporting where applicable.

The Film Sub may collect GST or other taxes on its own platform fees where legally required. If you are GST-registered, you must provide accurate GSTIN and billing details.

The Film Sub is not responsible for your tax filings, festival income reporting, prize taxation, sponsor taxation, or regulatory obligations.

11. Payouts

Payouts may be made to the bank account provided by you after verification and after deducting applicable platform fees, taxes, refunds, chargebacks, payment processing charges, and reserves.

The Film Sub may delay, hold, or suspend payouts if:

1. Your KYC is incomplete.
2. Your bank details are incorrect.
3. There are refund requests.
4. There are chargebacks.
5. There are fraud concerns.
6. Your festival is under review.
7. Your listing appears misleading.
8. Your event is cancelled or not conducted.
9. Required legal or tax details are missing.
10. Payment partner rules require a hold.

Payouts for new festivals may be subject to additional verification or release after event completion.

12. Refunds

You must publish a clear refund policy for your festival. Your refund policy should state whether submission fees are refundable, non-refundable, partially refundable, or refundable only in specific cases.

Unless your festival policy provides better rights to the filmmaker, refunds should generally be considered in the following cases:

1. Duplicate payment.
2. Technical billing error.
3. Festival cancellation.
4. Failure to conduct the event.
5. Major change in event format that substantially affects the submitter.
6. Category cancellation.
7. Incorrect fee charged.
8. Legal or compliance requirement.

Refunds may not normally be available if:

1. A filmmaker withdraws after successful submission.
2. A film is not selected.
3. A filmmaker missed the deadline.
4. A filmmaker submitted to the wrong category.
5. The film does not meet eligibility rules.
6. Judging has already started.
7. The festival rules clearly state that fees are non-refundable.

The Film Sub may process or require refunds where needed to protect users, correct technical errors, comply with law, address fraud, resolve payment disputes, or protect platform integrity.

13. Ticketing

If you use The Film Sub ticketing tools, you are responsible for event entry rules, venue capacity, ticket categories, pricing, seating, attendee management, age restrictions, cancellation rules, local permissions, taxes, and refund policy.

The Film Sub may charge a ticketing service fee, payment processing fee, or other disclosed charge for paid tickets. Free events may be listed without service charges where stated.

If an event is cancelled, postponed, materially changed, or not delivered, you are responsible for communicating with ticket buyers and handling refunds in accordance with your policy and applicable law.

14. Festival Marketing and Promotions

The Film Sub may offer paid marketing services such as email campaigns, homepage placement, highlighted listings, social media promotion, newsletter features, sponsored search visibility, or festival badges.

Marketing services do not guarantee submissions, ticket sales, selections, revenue, followers, media attention, or conversions.

You must ensure that all promotional content supplied by you is lawful, accurate, and does not infringe on third-party rights.

15. Prohibited Conduct

You must not:

1. Create a fake festival.
2. Collect fees for an event you do not intend to conduct.
3. Misrepresent your festival history.
4. Use false awards, fake sponsors, or fake venue details.
5. Publish misleading claims.
6. Use stolen images, logos, or copyrighted content.
7. Misuse filmmaker data.
8. Share private submissions without consent.
9. Harass users.
10. Discriminate unlawfully.
11. Manipulate reviews or ratings.
12. Evade platform fees.
13. Use the platform for spam.
14. Upload malware or harmful files.
15. Violate Indian law or third-party rights.

16. Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of your festival name, logo, images, descriptions, and other content you upload, provided you own or are authorised to use them.

By uploading festival content, you grant The Film Sub a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, format, promote, and distribute that content for platform-related purposes.

You must not upload content that infringes copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or contractual rights.

17. Data Protection and Privacy

You must handle filmmaker and attendee data responsibly and only for legitimate festival purposes.

You must not sell, rent, disclose, scrape, misuse, or export user data without a lawful basis and proper consent where required.

You must follow The Film Sub Privacy Policy and any applicable data protection laws.

If you experience a data breach involving filmmaker data received through The Film Sub, you must notify us immediately.

18. Suspension and Deactivation

The Film Sub may suspend, restrict, hide, deactivate, or remove your festival listing if:

1. Your listing is false or misleading.
2. You fail verification.
3. You misuse submissions.
4. You misuse user data.
5. You fail to conduct your event.
6. You receive repeated serious complaints.
7. You violate refund obligations.
8. You engage in fraud.
9. You violate the law.
10. You violate platform policies.

Further details are provided in The Film Sub Festival Deactivation Policy.

19. Disclaimer

The Film Sub provides the platform on an “as available” basis. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access, error-free operation, specific submissions, revenue, ticket sales, awards, press coverage, or festival success.

20. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, The Film Sub shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profit, reputation, opportunity, data, or business.

Our aggregate liability shall not exceed the platform fees paid by you to The Film Sub in the twelve months preceding the claim or INR 10,000, whichever is higher, except where liability cannot be limited under law.

21. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify The Film Sub against claims, losses, damages, penalties, legal costs, and expenses arising from your festival, your content, your breach of these Terms, your misuse of user data, your violation of law, or your infringement of third-party rights.

22. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of India.

Disputes shall first be attempted to be resolved through good-faith discussion. If unresolved within 30 days, disputes may be referred to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The seat and venue shall be [Insert City, India]. The language shall be English.

Subject to arbitration, courts at [Insert City, India] shall have jurisdiction.

23. Updates to These Terms

The Film Sub may update these Terms from time to time. The latest version will be posted on the website. Continued use of the platform after updates means acceptance of the revised Terms.

24. Contact

For legal queries, contact: legal@thefilmsub.com
For support, contact support@thefilmsub.com.

 

 

 

TERMS OF SERVICE FOR FILMMAKERS

The Film Sub

Effective Date: [3 September 2026]
Last Updated: [29 Jun 2026]
Website: [thefilmsub.com]
Entity Name: [The Film Sub]
Support Email: info@thefilmsub.com
Legal Email: nitish@thefilmsub.com

1. Introduction

These Terms of Service for Filmmakers apply to filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, directors, students, production houses, rights holders, submitters, representatives, and users who submit films, scripts, screeners, project materials, tickets, or related content through The Film Sub.

By creating an account, uploading a project, submitting to a festival, buying a ticket, using paid services, or otherwise using The Film Sub, you agree to these Terms.

The Film Sub is an online platform that helps filmmakers discover festivals, submit projects, manage submissions, purchase tickets, and access promotional services. The Film Sub does not guarantee selection, screening, awards, festival response, distribution, sales, representation, employment, or career results.

2. Eligibility

You may use The Film Sub if:

1. You are legally capable of entering into a contract.
2. You provide accurate account information.
3. You are authorised to submit the work.
4. You own or control the necessary rights.
5. Your use of the platform complies with applicable law.

If you are submitting on behalf of a company, producer, director, school, studio, or rights holder, you confirm that you have authority to do so.

3. Account Registration

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You must not share your password or allow unauthorized use of your account.

You agree to provide accurate information, including name, email, contact details, project details, billing details, and any other required information.

The Film Sub may suspend or restrict your account if information appears false, incomplete, misleading, fraudulent, or unlawful.

4. Project Profiles

You may create project profiles for films, scripts, web series, music videos, documentaries, or other eligible works.

Your project profile may include:

1. Title.
2. Synopsis.
3. Director details.
4. Producer details.
5. Cast and crew.
6. Runtime.
7. Completion date.
8. Country and language.
9. Genre and category.
10. Poster, stills, and trailer.
11. Screener link or uploaded file.
12. Subtitles.
13. Premiere status.
14. Awards or prior selections.
15. Rights and permission details.

You must ensure that all information is accurate and does not mislead festivals.

5. Ownership of Your Work

You retain ownership of your film, script, poster, stills, trailer, screenplay, music, artwork, and all other creative materials submitted through The Film Sub.

Submitting a work through The Film Sub does not transfer copyright ownership to The Film Sub or to any festival.

6. Licence Granted to The Film Sub

By uploading or submitting content, you grant The Film Sub a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, transmit, display, format, process, and deliver your content only for platform-related purposes.

These purposes include:

1. Creating your project profile.
2. Delivering your submission to selected festivals.
3. Providing secure screener access.
4. Generating thumbnails or previews.
5. Processing payments.
6. Providing support.
7. Maintaining security and audit records.
8. Enabling promotional features selected by you.

This license does not allow The Film Sub to sell, distribute, publicly screen, or commercially exploit your film outside the platform purpose without your permission.

7. Submission to Festivals

Before submitting to any festival, you must read that festival’s rules, eligibility conditions, deadlines, fees, categories, premiere requirements, screening rights, and refund policy.

By submitting, you authorize The Film Sub to provide your project information and materials to the selected festival.

Each festival makes its own decisions regarding eligibility, selection, judging, awards, and screenings. The Film Sub does not control festival decisions unless specifically stated for a program operated directly by The Film Sub.

8. Your Rights and Permissions

You confirm that:

1. You own or control the submitted work.
2. You have obtained permissions from all rights holders.
3. You have music rights where required.
4. You have performer, location, archival, stock footage, and artwork permissions where required.
5. Your submission does not infringe copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or contractual rights.
6. Your submission does not contain unlawful material.
7. Your details are true and not misleading.

If a dispute arises regarding ownership or permissions, you are responsible for resolving it.

9. Screeners and Private Links

You may submit films through uploaded files or third-party links such as Vimeo, YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, or other accepted platforms.

You are responsible for ensuring that:

1. The link works.
2. Passwords are correct.
3. Files remain available during the judging period.
4. The video quality is adequate.
5. Subtitles are included where required.
6. The festival can access the material.

The Film Sub is not responsible if a festival cannot review your submission because of broken links, expired passwords, restricted access, removed files, or incorrect settings.

10. Submission Fees

Submission fees are set by festivals unless otherwise stated. Fees may vary by category, deadline, country, discount code, membership status, or promotional offer.

The final payable amount will be displayed before payment. You are responsible for reviewing the amount before completing the transaction.

11. Refunds for Submissions

Refunds depend on the festival’s refund policy and platform rules.

Refunds may be considered in cases such as:

1. Duplicate payment.
2. Payment error.
3. Festival cancellation.
4. Category cancellation.
5. Technical platform error.
6. Incorrect charge.
7. Failure of submission delivery caused by The Film Sub.

Refunds are usually not available when:

1. Your film is not selected.
2. You change your mind after submission.
3. You submit to the wrong category.
4. Your film does not meet festival rules.
5. You miss a deadline.
6. You withdraw after submission.
7. The festival has already reviewed or judged the work.
8. The festival policy clearly states fees are non-refundable.

Payment gateway charges and platform service charges may be non-refundable unless required by law or caused by platform error.

12. Tickets and Event Passes

You may purchase tickets or passes for festivals and events through The Film Sub, where ticketing is enabled.

Ticket availability, pricing, entry rules, seating, age restrictions, venue rules, refund policy, and event conduct are controlled by the organiser.

If an event is cancelled or materially changed, refund handling will depend on the organiser’s policy, The Film Sub ticketing rules, and applicable law.

13. Promotional Services

The Film Sub may offer paid promotional services for filmmakers, including project promotion, profile highlights, email campaigns, social media features, or homepage visibility.

Promotional services do not guarantee festival selection, ticket sales, distribution, sponsorship, awards, followers, publicity, or industry response.

You are responsible for ensuring promotional materials you provide are lawful and rights-cleared.

14. The Film Sub Gold or Premium Membership

If you purchase a Gold or Premium membership, additional membership terms apply. Membership benefits may include discounted submission fees, reduced platform charges, special badges, promotional benefits, saved filters, or other benefits described on the pricing page.

Membership does not guarantee selection or preferential judging.

15. Prohibited Conduct

You must not:

1. Submit works you do not own or control.
2. Provide false credits.
3. Misrepresent awards or selections.
4. Upload malware.
5. Harass organisers or other users.
6. Use abusive, hateful, or discriminatory language.
7. Use stolen posters, music, footage, or artwork.
8. Attempt to bypass payment.
9. Scrape festival data.
10. Create fake accounts.
11. Manipulate reviews or ratings.
12. Use the platform for spam.
13. Violate Indian law or third-party rights.

16. Reviews, Ratings and Public Comments

If The Film Sub allows reviews, ratings, or comments, you must ensure that your statements are truthful, respectful, and based on genuine experience.

You must not post defamatory, abusive, threatening, fake, paid, manipulated, or misleading reviews.

The Film Sub may moderate or remove reviews that violate policy or law.

17. Data Sharing With Festivals

When you submit to a festival, your project information, contact details, and submission materials may be shared with that festival.

Festivals are responsible for using your data only for festival-related purposes. However, you should review each festival’s rules and privacy practices before submitting.

18. No Guarantee

The Film Sub does not guarantee the following:

1. Festival acceptance.
2. Selection.
3. Screening.
4. Awards.
5. Reviews.
6. Distribution.
7. Sales.
8. Career opportunity.
9. Jury feedback.
10. Response from organisers.
11. Festival quality.
12. Commercial outcome.

19. Account Suspension

The Film Sub may suspend or terminate your account if you breach these Terms, submit infringing content, misuse the platform, engage in fraud, abuse users, violate law, or create risk for the platform.

20. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, The Film Sub is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential losses, including loss of opportunity, reputation, income, awards, selection, festival access, or data.

Our total liability shall not exceed the platform fees paid by you to The Film Sub in the twelve months before the claim, or INR 10,000, whichever is higher, except where liability cannot be limited by law.

21. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify The Film Sub against claims, losses, damages, costs, and expenses arising from your submissions, your content, your breach of these Terms, your infringement of rights, or your violation of law.

22. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of India.

Disputes will first be attempted to be resolved through written discussion. If unresolved within 30 days, disputes may be referred to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The seat and venue shall be [Insert City, India]. Courts at [Insert City, India] shall have jurisdiction, subject to arbitration.

23. Updates

The Film Sub may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the platform after updates means acceptance of the revised Terms.

24. Contact

Support: info@thefilmsub.com
Legal: nitish@thefilmsub.com
Privacy: Aman@thefilmsub.com