Judge Code of Conduct

Who this code is for

This code applies to everyone who judges on FilmScorecard: paid and volunteer judges, creative and technical reviewers, for every festival they judge for. You accept it when you accept an invitation, apply to an open call or accept a festival's counter offer, and again whenever a new version is published.

It sits alongside the Terms of Use, which also apply to you.

Judge blind and independently

Judging is blind. Score each submission without seeing other judges' scores or feedback, and do not discuss a submission with other judges before your scorecard is filed. The platform keeps other judges' work from you; keeping your own judgment independent is up to you.

Keep what you see confidential

Everything you see in the course of judging is confidential: the submissions, their screener links and passwords, the scores and the feedback. Do not share any of it outside the platform, and do not copy or download a work unless the festival allows it.

Do not contact a submitter about their submission. If a festival wants you to speak to a submitter, the festival arranges it.

Declare conflicts of interest

Tell the festival about any conflict of interest with a submission before you score it, and do not score a submission you made or have an interest in. If you find a conflict after you have started, stop and decline the film through the platform so it goes to another judge.

Write your own scores and feedback

Every score and every word of feedback you file is yours. Do not use an automated system to score or to write feedback, and do not present automated output as your judgment.

Write feedback that is honest, specific and respectful of the person who made the work.

Keep your commitments

If you accept an assignment, complete it within the window the festival sets. If you cannot, pause or step back through the platform so the festival can give the work to someone else rather than wait for it.

Pay is between you and the festival

A festival that pays its judges pays them itself. The festival alone is responsible for paying you what it agreed; FilmScorecard keeps your statements and invoices but does not pay judges and does not hold, send or guarantee judge pay.

Invoice only for work you did.

If this code is broken

A festival may remove a judge who breaks this code from its seasons, and the scorecards involved may be voided. FilmScorecard may suspend or end the account of a judge who breaks it, as the Terms of Use describe.

Changes to this code

When this code changes in a way that matters, its effective date changes and you are asked to accept the new version before you take or file another film. Corrections that do not change its meaning do not change the date.

Questions about this code can be sent through the contact form or to [email protected].