GENERAL RULES and REGULATIONS
for the “GAUDÍ AWARDS”
CONFERRED BY THE CATALAN ACADEMY OF CINEMATOGRAPHIC ARTS AND SCIENCES

I.- ORGANIZATION, PURPOSE, CALENDAR

1) Organization
The Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences organizes and  holds the Gaudí Awards on an annual basis in order to give recognition to Catalan films, to the film industry professionals who have been involved in them and to the Catalan film industry professionals who have been involved in non-Catalan films.

2) Purpose
In the context of the Gaudí Awards, the members of the Academy issue an opinion concerning a public audiovisual work that has been officially released in Catalonia during the year corresponding to the Gaudí Awards. An Award is the result of the opinion of Academy members having a right to vote that is governed by these regulations. The audiovisual works participating are neither presented nor withdrawn, and the Academy freely selects the films which are subjected to its critical opinion.

3) Calendar
The Academy will issue an annual calendar of assigned dates which will govern the Awards. This calendar will be made known by September 30 each year. The dates to be assigned in the calendar will cover the following aspects:

• Release dates defining the films to be covered by the current year’s Awards.
  • The initial date will be that immediately following the final date for the previous year.
  • The final date will be agreed with a view to establishing the dates of the two rounds of voting for the Awards, subject to the date of the Gala Ceremony during which the Awards will be conferred.
• Final date for delivering promotional material.
• Initial and final dates for the first round of voting.
• Date for the announcement of the nominations.
• Final date for the second round of voting, which starts after the announcement of the nominations.
• Date of the Awards Ceremony. Usually held during the second half of January of the first half of February.

II.- ELIGIBILITY and AWARDS

A/ ELIGIBILITY

Films are eligible to be included in the first round of voting if they have been released in Catalonia during the year corresponding to the “Gaudí Awards” concerned, as certified by documentation provided by the Government of Catalonia’s Catalan Institute for the Cultural Industries (ICIC) and the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s Institute for the Audiovisual Arts and Sciences (ICAA).

Requirements:

• Catalan language films: these are eligible for all the awards except the specialized awards (i.e. for Best Short Film, Television Film or European Film) and “Best Non-Catalan Language Film”.

• Non-Catalan language films with a Catalan production or co-production team: these are eligible for all the awards except the specialized awards (i.e. for Best Short Film, Television Film or European Film) and “Best Catalan Language Film”.

For the purposes of these rules and regulations, a Catalan film is a film in which a production company registered in Catalonia has a minimum 20% stake. Among such films, however, the Academy’s Board of Governors will only accept those which have a sufficient quota of Catalan creativity. This quota is obtained in accordance with the share of Catalan talent, to qualify for which the Catalan production team will need to include Catalan film industry professionals and elements of Catalan origin so as to score 6 points on the following table:

1. Producer…....................................................................................	2 points
2. Director.........................................................................................	2 points
3. Screenwriter..................................................................................	2 points
4. Actor or actress in a leading role.................................................... (In the case of documentaries: the main participants) (In the case of animations: the main dubbing actors  and the director of animation)	1 point
5. Actor or actress in a supporting role............................................. (In the case of documentaries: interviewees, dubbing actors) (In the case of animations: the supporting dubbing actors)	1 point
6. Director of photography..................................................................	1 point
7. Artistic director…...........................................................................	1 point
8. Editing. …. ....................................................................................	1 point
9. Original music................................................................................	1 point
10. Catalan subject-matter…................................................................	1 point
11. Filmed in a Catalan-speaking area (more than 50%)…...................	1 point
12. Sound….........................................................................................	1 point
13. Special/digital effects…..................................................................	1 point
14. Hair and makeup.............................................................................	1 point
15. Casting director……………..……………….…………………………….	1 point
16. Production supervisor…….…………………………….…………………	1 point

• Films with a non-Catalan production or co-production team but with Catalan talent: the Academy’s Board of Governors may take into consideration non-Catalan films with sufficient elements of Catalan talent, if proposed by two members of the Board of Governors and if the Board gives its approval by a simple majority. In other words, both film industry professionals residing in Catalonia and Catalans who have contributed their talents and aided the success of non-Catalan films may be considered for the specific Award for their area of activity.

 

 

B/ ELIGIBILITY FOR SPECIALIZED AWARDS

• Short Films. The productions meeting the requirements listed below may be considered in the first round of voting as candidates to receive the Gaudí Short Film Award. Short films may only be considered for this Award. The requirements are as follows:

• The short film must have been classified by the ICIC during the year corresponding to the Gaudí Awards concerned;

or alternatively:

• A Catalan production company must have had it classified at another classification centre (such as the ICAA) during the same period;

or alternatively:

• The short film involves the contribution of a member of the Academy and has been classified at another classification centre during the same period. In this case, it must be accepted by the Board of Governors, which will evaluate the Academy member’s contribution to the short film concerned.

In order for the short film to compete for the Award, independently of the classification that validates it, the following procedures will be applied:

• The production company must apply in writing to the Academy for the short film to be considered for the Gaudí Short Film Award before the final date stipulated in the annual calendar by the Board of Governors.
• The Gaudí Short Film Award is conferred on its director, who receives it on behalf of the entire creative team.
• The production company must provide the Academy with:
  • a DVD or Blue Ray copy of the short film;
  • a copy of the classification certificate;
  • stills from the short film;
  • a technical card and outline of the plot;
  • written authorization of the right to use images of the short file for promotional purposes;
  • written authorization for streaming of the short film at the Filmotech by members of the Academy.

• Films for Television. The following will be eligible to compete in the first round of voting for the Gaudí Award for the Best Film for Television, but in no other category: films for television produced by Catalan production companies and broadcast in Catalonia during the year corresponding to the Gaudí Awards.

The list of competing films is compiled from information received from the television channels broadcasting in Catalonia, checked and approved by the Academy’s Board of Governors.

• European Films. The following may compete in the first round of voting for the Gaudí Award for the Best European Film, but in no other category:  non-Catalan films with a European production or co-production team and released in Catalonia during the year corresponding to the Gaudí Awards concerned.

• Honorary Gaudí Award

The Honorary Gaudí Award is conferred on prominent figures in the Catalan film industry, in recognition of their artistic achievement throughout their lifetimes. The recipient is chosen by the Board of Governors and is not subjected to any form of selection process. The choice is confirmed by a simple majority. It is an essential condition that the candidate should accept the distinction. Should he or she not accept, the Board of Governors will select another candidate.

The criteria of selection are based on the following aspects:

• Catalan film industry professionals who have distinguished themselves by their professional career over an entire lifetime.
• Their film career, artistic development, professionalism, stature in the industry, personal success.

The result of the selection process will be minuted and remain confidential, any form of public announcement being avoided. The decision will be made public following the guidelines of the specific communication strategy for the Award ceremony in question. By default, it will be made known on the day that the list of nominees is announced.

C/ AWARDS
1) The Gaudí Awards
The Awards are conferred on one or more person or persons who have exercised professionally the functions appropriate to a particular category in the production of an audiovisual work and who have been selected during the relevant voting process. The film industry professionals on whom the Awards are conferred receive a trophy called a “GAUDÍ”, which consists of a bronze statuette 35cm. in height. The “GAUDÍ” is a replica produced by the sculptress Montse Ribé of the chimneys of the Casa Milà (known as “La Pedrera”), designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí and which is situated in the Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona.

Only one copy of the statuette is conferred per category, independently of the number of people who may have participated in the winning of the Award. If more replicas of the “GAUDÍ” are requested (and only the award-winners in each category may make such a request), they must be paid for.

It is the responsibility of the award-winners to decide where to keep their statuette. If award-winners should lose their statuette and wish to replace it, they must make a request to the Academy, and the production cost of the new statuette will be payable by the person concerned.  
The precise number of statuettes required are designed and produced specifically for each annual Award Ceremony.

2) Categories

• Candidates who specifically compete for the following Awards: 
  • Best Short Film
  • Best Film for Television
  • Best European Film

may not be considered for any other Award.
Awards for the Best Short Film are conferred on the directors, who receive them on behalf of their entire creative team. Directors may receive their Award in the company of the film’s producer.  
Awards for the Best Film for Television and for the Best European Film are conferred on their producers.

• The award-winning film for the category of Best Catalan Language Film may not receive the Award for Best Non-Catalan Language Film, or for Best Short Film, Best Film for Television or Best European Film. The Award is conferred on the producer.

• The award-winning film for the category of Best Non-Catalan Language Film may not receive the Award for Best Catalan Language Film, or for Best Short Film, Best Film for Television or Best European Film. The Award is conferred on the producer.

• The Award for Best Animated Film may only be received for animated films. For the purposes of these Rules and Regulations, a film is considered to be an Animated Film if its producer considers it to be so and the Board of Governors accepts his opinion. Films competing in this category may not be considered for the Awards for Best Short Film, Best Film for Television or Best European Film. The Award is conferred on the producer.

• The Award for Best Documentary Film may only be received for documentary films. For the purposes of these Rules and Regulations, a film is considered to be a Documentary Film if its producer considers it to be so and the Board of Governors accepts his opinion. Films competing in this category may not be considered for the Awards for Best Short Film, Best Film for Television or Best European Film. The Award is conferred on the producers, who may receive their Award in the company of the film’s director.

• The Awards for:
• Best Director.
• Best Screenplay.
• Best Cinematography.
• Best Editing.
• Best Original Score.
• Best Actor in a Leading Role.
• Best Actress in a Leading Role.
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
• Best Art Direction.
• Best Special / Digital Effects.
• Best Hair and Makeup.
• Best Costume Design.
• Best Sound Edition.
• Best Production Supervision.

may be competed for by all films except those that are already competing for the Awards for Best Short Film, Best European Film or Best Film for Television.   
The Award is conferred on the film industry professional concerned.

 

 

III.- VOTING

1) What members vote for.
Members vote for the film industry professionals who have participated in the competing films.

2) Who has the right to vote.
In general, the members of the Academy have the right to vote for the current year’s “Awards”. In accordance with the General Rules and Regulations approved by the Academy’s Board of Governors, members are grouped into the following categories according to their voting rights: Permanent Members and Honorary Members, who have the right to vote. Associate Members do not have the right to vote.

Whether members belong to one category or another depends on a series of conditions governed by the General Rules and Regulations of the Catalan Film Academy.

Bearing the above in mind, we can specify that those who have the right to vote are the Permanent Members, the Honorary Members and all those who have received the Honorary Gaudí Award of the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.

3) Voting procedure.

There are two rounds of voting. The first round is to select the nominees for the Gaudí Awards from among all those competing. The second round is to select the award winners.
4) How voting takes place.
Voting takes place essentially by Internet. Academy members with the right to vote must access the website www.academiadelcinema.cat . The vote is secret.

There are two rounds of voting. The first is to select the nominees (also referred to as the candidates or finalists), and the second is to select the award winners.

In order to be able to vote, members with the right to vote will need to register on the specific website reserved for voting. The voting system generates a code and a password for each Academy member, who may use them at any time up to the last minute before voting closes.

Voting is exercised through a website with a safe SSL (https) connection, and is registered on a database. This database automatically generates an e-mail message which is sent to two different addresses (to ensure that the vote is received). The two addresses are both accessed by the Notary designated to count the votes and to take note of the Academy’s minutes concerning the Awards. The e-mail message contains a file in Text format which gives the details of the vote.

The Notary processes the votes in accordance with currently in force Notaries’ regulations concerning Draws. Once the final deadline for voting has passed, the voting facility is closed and the Notary begins to count the votes.

Members have four votes in each category in the first round. They have, however, the option of issuing a blank vote in any or all of the four cases.

The final deadlines for voting, for both the first and second rounds, are established according to the calendar designated by the Board of Governors.

5) Counting the votes
Once the deadline for voting has passed, the Notary will count the votes and the film industry professional who has obtained most votes in each category will be selected.

6) Tie-breakers
Should the vote-count result in a tie, the following procedures will be applied:

First round

• If two or more films have the same number of votes in any given category, a tie-breaker will be applied, with the film that has obtained most votes in all categories put together being nominated.
• If the tie continues, the film that has most nominations will win.
• If the tie still continues, the film that wins will be the one in which most Academy members are involved.

Second round

• The votes from the first and second rounds are added together.
• If the tie continues, the film that has obtained most votes in all categories put together will win.
• If the tie continues, the film that has most nominations will win.
• If the tie still continues, the film that wins will be the one in which most Academy members are involved.

7) Public announcement of the nominations for the “Gaudí Awards”
Once voting has finished in the first round, the Notary will at the appropriate time proceed to count the votes which will decide the nominations for the current “Gaudí Awards”.

The Academy will announce the four nominations for the Awards in each category, which will be listed in a document issued previously by the Notary and delivered to the Academy one (1) hour before the scheduled time for the public announcement. In the Notary’s document only the nominations will be listed, with no reference to the number of votes received for each candidacy.   
Academy members and the media will be invited to the public announcement of the nominations for the current year’s “Gaudí Awards”, so as to obtain the maximum publicity possible.

The date of the announcement of the final nominees will be included in the calendar of dates prepared annually by the Academy’s Board of Governors.

8) Second round of voting
After the public announcement of the nominations, the second round of voting begins, which will determine the final winners in each category.

9) Secret final result

Once the final result has been obtained for each category, the Notary will keep the results and the number of votes obtained by the winners secret, even from the members of the Academy and its Board of Governors.

In the same way, computer and other technicians who have access to the information may not read it except to carry out the necessary checks required to complete their work, and will be required to ignore the content concerned. They will be informed of the confidentiality required by this regulation.

The Notary will record the winners of each of the categories, without indicating the number of votes, and will deliver the information, in an envelope with a wax seal, to the director of the Awards Ceremony and to the press attaché. He will also prepare one envelope for each Award. Each envelope will be opened in the presence of the audience during the Award Ceremony at the time when the Award is to be conferred. After the awards have been conferred, the Notary will give an envelope to the Director of the Academy to be kept on file.

If required, the director of the Awards Ceremony and the press attaché may gain prior access to the results so as to carry out any necessary preparations with the appropriate assistants in the spirit of strictest confidentiality required at each year’s ceremony.

If it is considered necessary for other departmental heads to have access to the Notary’s document, this will be made available to them under the same conditions of confidentiality.

All those persons who have access to these results prior to their announcement during the course of the Awards Ceremony must keep them totally secret. If any of the results should be disclosed, the Board of Governors reserves the right to take the punitive measures that it considers appropriate.

IV.- AWARD-GIVING CEREMONY

On the date indicated in the Awards calendar approved by the Academy’s Board of Governors, a public event will be held (the Awards Ceremony) during the course of which awards will be conferred on the film industry professionals who receive most votes in each of the categories of the current year’s “Gaudí Awards”.

The persons nominated will be duly informed of the time and place at which is to be held the Awards Ceremony during which the final winners of the current year’s “Gaudí Awards” will be announced. The persons nominated are invited to attend this Awards Ceremony, and they should confirm their attendance to the Academy with a minimum of seven days’ notice.

Those persons who are unable to attend may name another person to represent  them and, if appropriate, to accept an Award on their behalf if one of the persons concerned should win. The person who receives the statuette will be responsible for it, and any incident arising after the award is given will be considered as the responsibility of the person who has accepted the award on behalf of and in representation of the award-winner.

If nobody collects the Award, the organization will keep it until such time as the person concerned collects it from the Academy, within a maximum time period of six months.

 

V.- INADMISSIBILITY OF THE RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL

By virtue of these General Rules and Regulations, the owners of the intellectual rights of the competing audiovisual works may not withdraw them from participation in the Awards process. Voting for films by the members of the Academy forms a part of the exercising of their freedom of expression and, as such, the organization and holding of the “Gaudí Awards” ceremony is nothing more than the manifestation of a right inherent to the correct functioning of the democratic system. It should be pointed out that the critical opinion expressed by Academy members in the form of their vote is comparable to the comments and descriptions expressed in the press and in other media of communication.
Their vote is a personally reflected opinion and positive critical appraisal made with the aim of praising the best participants, for which reason they are public presented with an award and the recognition of the majority of the Academy members.
The final selection of a cinematographic work as deserving the Award for a given category is the result of an organized and impartial vote.
Within this legal basis, the withdrawal of a film that is being considered for one of these Awards in a given category is inadmissible, as is any refusal to be considered for an Award, since such participation is not the choice of the competing candidate.

VI.- GRANTING OF RIGHTS OF EXPLOITATION. USE OF AUDIOVISUAL WORKS AND IMAGE OF THE CANDITATES/AWARD-WINNERS CONCERNED

By virtue of these General Rules and Regulations, participation in the “Gaudí Awards” involves the use on the part of the Academy of the participating audiovisual work. The Academy will only use the audiovisual works concerned for promotional and non-profit making purposes, involving the use of images, extracts, fragments and/or stills of the audiovisual work concerned, or other manifestations of them, either in the form of the full audiovisual work and/or its soundtrack. The Academy will also have the right to use the image of the candidates/award-winners, for the sole purpose of the selection procedure for these Awards and of the promotional and award-giving procedures concerned.

The use of the audiovisual works and of the image of the nominees/award-winners described above may be carried out using any medium, support and/or method of exploitation, including rights of reproduction, distribution, public communication, and of making them available to the public (always within the framework of what was established in the above previsions of these General Rules and Regulations), and does not involve any form of obligation and/or remuneration either in cash or in kind on the part of the Academy in favor of the owners of the audiovisual works, apart from that corresponding to winning an Award in a given category in which they have participated.

VII.- PRESENTATION OF MATERIAL

The owners of the audiovisual works nominated will be asked to provide promotional material for the competing film, and they may, on a voluntary basis, send this to the organizers of the “Gaudí Awards” before the established deadline.
Material concerned:

• A copy of the film in DVD format
• Promotional graphic material (posters, trailers, “making of” material) in digital format.

The above material must be delivered before the deadline indicated in the Awards calendar for the current year, to the following address:

Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences
Passeig de Colom, no. 6, office 5
Barcelona, 08002
(Ref: Gaudí Awards)

The copies of the films and the relevant documentation will be included in the Academy’s Film and Documentary Archive, and the Academy may not use them for profit-making purposes.

VIII.- POST-AWARD OBLIGATIONS

Once the activities relating to the corresponding year’s Awards have finished, the persons who have received Awards may be required to attend subsequent promotional events. For this purpose the persons concerned will need to make themselves available to the Academy in order to attend certain promotional events related to the Awards and the Academy. Under no circumstances will such obligations cause any impediment to their professional duties, and they will always be duly notified sufficiently in advance so that they may combine such events with their existing commitments.

IX.- PROTECTION OF DATA

For the purposes of the annual “Gaudí Awards Ceremony”, the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences collects data of a personal nature which will be processed in a computerized database of personal data belonging to it, with the exclusive aim of administering the Awards. Participation in the Awards inevitably means that participants’ personal data will be processed in this database. These personal data will not be transmitted to third parties, and they will be treated with the maximum confidentiality and used exclusively for the aim described above. The operation undertaken by the Notary responsible for publicly announcing the results of the voting is exclusively in his capacity as manager for the treatment of personal data. Under no circumstances will the Notary make use of these personal data for other purposes.

The personal data of the participants are in any case data of a public nature, given the professional characteristics of the participants. The personal data processed by the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences are:
Full name, telephone number, e-mail and postal address, for which reason the Academy is not subjected to the obligations put in place by Law No. 15/1999 dated December 13, 1999, concerning the Protection of Data of a Personal Nature (LOPD), and by Royal Decree No. 1720/2007, dated December 21, 2007, by which the Regulations for the Development of the LOPD are approved. Without prejudice to the above, these personal data will not be transmitted to third parties and they will continue to be treated with a maximum spirit of confidentiality.

X.- SPIRIT OF ACCOUNTABILITY

The Board of Governors of the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences is the body responsible for organizing, holding and providing information to the public about the “Gaudí Awards”. At all times the Board of Governors will ensure that the procedures relating to the “Gaudí Awards” are conducted in a maximum spirit of accountability with regard to the voting system and that the principle of the secret vote is respected.

In this sense the Notary, to whom the safekeeping of these General Rules and Regulations is entrusted, is the independent public authority who will record all the results of the voting and will maintain in maximum conditions of confidentiality the details of the votes obtained by the different participants in the corresponding year’s “Gaudí Awards”.

XI.- SAFEKEEPING OF RULES AND REGULATIONS

These General Rules and Regulation for the “Gaudí Awards” have been formalized before the Notary Sr. José Ángel Ruiz Prado and may be consulted by prior appointment at the head office of the Catalan Film Academy. They are nevertheless available on the website www.academiadelcinema.cat

XII.- ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND POSSIBLE CONTROVERSIES

Participation in the “Gaudí Awards” involves the acceptance of these General Rules and Regulations in their entirety. Should any controversy arise in relation to them, the Board of Governors of the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences will be the body responsible for proceeding to interpret them with a view to arriving at a solution. The decision of the Board of Governors may not be reconsidered and will be definitive.

Issued in Barcelona, October 1st 2010
Board of Governors of the Catalan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Science