FAQs:

What's CineCoup?

• Do you love movies that go beyond the ordinary? Films that have a different voice. Independent films that are, personal, edgy, uncompromising, outrageous, have heart... we do too! That's why we created CineCoup: a brave new model to support bold indie filmmakers and their fans.
• CineCoup unfolds over 15 weeks, here on our web platform and across the mobile web where THIS generation creates, shares and evangelizes content. It's designed to connect filmmakers with fans to discover the best ideas, support the strongest talent and give you a stake in the films you want to see get made.
• This year, in our pilot Canadian cycle, we have 90 projects backed by 270 filmmakers who make up each team's power-trio.
• Ultimately, CineCoup will option ten projects for development and select one for up to million (CDN) in production financing and a guaranteed release in Cineplex theatres.
• When the film goes into production, you can follow-along and continue to support and demand it comes to a Cineplex screen in your town in early 2014!

What Happens? How does the Film Accelerator Work?

Filmmaker Applications
3 MONTHS: DEC - Feb. 24, 2013

• A filmmaking power trio
• 2-minute trailer for a feature film concept
• Facebook and Twitter pages for their project

Social Selection Funnel
8 WEEKS: February 28, 2013 through April 28, 2013

• Fans sign up, explore projects, watch concept trailers and weekly mission videos
• Filmmakers execute weekly missions to package their projects and build audiences
• Fans earn votes and influence to help their favourites advance
• Fans cast votes during scheduled voting periods for Top 60, Top 40, Top 15
• Filmmakers with best performance on content, promotion and votes advance

Finalist Slate
7 WEEKS: April 29, 2013 through June 12, 3013

• Top 10 projects are optioned for development and run crowdfunding campaigns
• Fans watch and weigh in on weekly filmmaker missions
• Superfans compete for an advisory seat on the final jury
• Fans, Filmmakers and CineCoup vote to decide the Top 5 Finalists
• An industry jury evaluates Top 5 project packages and team performances
• One project is selected for up to million (CDN) in production financing and guaranteed release in Cineplex theatres

Accelerated Production
6 MONTHS: mid-June through December 2013

• Script and marketing strategy development
• Pre-production
• Production
• Edit and post-production
• Publicity

Cineplex Theatrical Release
Winter 2014

• A bold, fan-endorsed indie film on Cineplex big screens...

Who can participate as a CineCoup fan?

• Everyone over the age of 18 is invited to become a fan of CineCoup and its talented slate of indie filmmakers.
• The pilot cycle of CineCoup features Canadian filmmakers, but fans across the Internet are welcome.
• Invite your friends! Share the love and support indie filmmakers.

Why should I sign up?

• Support a brave new model for indie filmmakers and their fans.
• Share feedback with filmmakers. Riff on ideas with other fans.
• Earn votes to help them advance to the finals.
• Flex your influence and compete for Superfan bragging rights-- and a seat on the final selection jury!

Are these real trailers?

• When you rate and review trailers, keep in mind that most were shot without budgets, casts or even scripts. It's simply an idea for a project that's yet to be made.
• To apply to CineCoup, filmmaking teams were asked to create a 2-minute trailer that showcased their talent, creativity and ability to build an audience for a feature film concept.
• Call it a “Faux Trailer”, “Concept Trailer”, “Pitch”, or even an audition... it serves as a first impression and gauge on the team's ability to appeal to audiences with a kickass idea. What do you think?

What are fan missions?

• Fan missions reward you for engaging with content, filmmakers and other fans on CineCoup.
• You can do all, some or none - it's up to you. The more you do, the more votes you'll earn to help your favourite projects advance.
• There is a new fan mission released every week on Tuesdays.
• Each mission is worth 1-5 votes depending on the time or commitment it takes to complete. You will earn those votes when you complete the mission's requirements and you can spend them during scheduled voting periods.
• The first few missions are designed to help fans explore trailers and teams. Some fan missions will ask fans to respond to new weekly content from filmmakers.

How do I earn votes?

• NOTE: Fans who login with Facebook have the opportunity to earn more votes
• All registered fans and filmmakers who participate in CineCoup and promote projects can earn votes. The more you do, the more votes you can earn.
• You can spend all your votes on one project or distribute them amongst different projects.
• The voting system is designed to reward fans who sign up early, participate often and spend all their votes during each voting window.
• Earned votes aggregate over time and are carried over into each social voting period.
• Fans can see their total earned votes on their personal profile: http://www.cinecoup.com/profile
• When you complete fan missions, you earn votes.
• Each mission is worth 1-5 votes, depending on its difficulty.
• Votes are awarded upon completion of a mission.
• FAQ: Fan missions
• You will earn up to 5 additional votes based on your Fan Influence ranking (see next FAQ).

What is a fan influence ranking?

• Your influence ranking is published in your personal fan profile: http://www.cinecoup.com/profile
• Activity that contributes to your Fan Influence ranking include:
• Sign up / Login
• Participate in fan missions
• Promote your favourite projects across social networks
• NOTE: To take advantage of this scoring element, you must connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts to CineCoup. Toggle to My Settings and complete the social requirements.
• Watch videos / view new content weekly
• Rate trailers
• Review projects
• Comment on filmmaker missions. They will be published weekly, beginning Monday, March 11.
• Participate in weekly CineCoup polls, published every Thursday on your fan homepage.
• You will earn additional votes based on your Fan Influence ranking.
• Influence votes are awarded when a voting period opens.
• “Microfans” are in the bottom 25th percentile = 1 votes
• “Megafans” are in 25 - 50th percentile = 2 votes
• “Hyperfans” are in 50 - 75th percentile = 4 votes
• “Superfans” are in 75 - 100th percentile = 5 votes

When can I vote?

There are four scheduled social voting periods during the CineCoup Film Accelerator when you can cast votes to help your favourite projects advance.

Top 60 / Social Vote 1
BEGIN: Thursday, March 21, 2013 @ 12:00:01am EST
END: Sunday, March 24, 2013 @ 11:59:59pm EST
REVEAL: Monday, March 25, 2013 @ 9:00:00pm EST

Top 40 / Social Vote 2
BEGIN: Thursday, April 4, 2013 @ 12:00:01am EST
END: Sunday, April 7, 2013 @ 11:59:59pm EST
REVEAL: Monday, April 8, 2013 @ 9:00:00pm EST

Top 15 / Social Vote 3
BEGIN: Thursday, April 25, 2013 @ 12:00:01am EST
END: Sunday, April 28, 2013 @ 11:59:59pm EST
REVEAL: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 @ 9:30:00pm EST

Top 10 / CineCoup
*There is no social voting for the Top 10. CineCoup will select the Top 10 projects from the Top 15 teams.
REVEAL: Monday, May 13, 2013 @ 9:00:00pm EST

Top 5 / Social Vote 4
BEGIN: Thursday, May 30, 2013 @ 12:00:01am EST
END: Sunday, June 2, 2013 @ 11:59:59pm EST
REVEAL: Monday, June 3, 2013 @ 9:00:00pm EST

Finalist Panel / CineCoup Jury
The Top 5 Teams and a selected CineCoup Superfan will travel to the finalist event at the expense of CineCoup. The final event will take place on Monday, June 10, 2013 at the Banff World Media Festival in Banff, Alberta.

What are Superfans?

• Superfans are the most active fans on CineCoup and they earn the most votes.
• At the beginning of each social voting period, Superfans are awarded 5 additional earned votes based on their influence ranking.
• FAQ: fan influence ranking
• The most active Superfans may be recognized on Superfan Leaderboards (see next section).
• One Superfan will be selected to attend the Top 5 finalist event at the Banff World Media Festival (see next section).

What is the Superfan Leaderboard?

• The Superfan Leaderboards recognize the most active Canadian CineCoup fans on any given day.
• Top 60 Superfan Leaderboard revealed Thursday, April 4
• Top 40 Superfan Leaderboard revealed Thursday, April 18
• Top 15 Superfan Leaderboard revealed Thursday, May 9
• Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard revealed Thursday, May 16
• NOTE: CineCoup Filmmakers cannot appear on Superfan Leaderboards.
• The Top 60 and Top 40 Superfan Leaderboards are updated daily. All Canadian CineCoup fans can enter or exit the leaderboards based on their influence ranking relative to all other fans.
• To be eligible for the Top 15 Superfan Leaderboard, users will have to agree to Rules & Regulations for Superfans to verify eligibility and agree to terms and conditions for further participation in Superfan Leaderboards. CineCoup will contact all users in contention of the Top 15 Superfan Leaderboard directly via email by Monday, May 6 to provide them an opportunity to appear on the Top 15 Leaderboard.
• The Top 15 and Top 10 Leaderboards are updated daily. Only Superfans on the leaderboards can move up or down based on their ranking relative to the other Superfans on the leaderboard.
• One Canadian Superfan will be selected by CineCoup from the Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard to attend the Top 5 finalist event at the Banff World Media Festival. The event will take place on Monday, June 10, 2013. The Superfan will have an advisory seat on the final selection jury.
• Top Superfan revealed Thursday, May 30

What's a Watchlist?

• All fans who sign up are encouraged to create a personal Watchlist.
• Adding projects to your Watchlist is the easiest way to track their progress on CineCoup. It works like the subscribe function on YouTube. When you add projects to your personal Watchlist, you will be notified about new content from those projects on your fan homepage on cinecoup.com.
• To Watchlist a project, navigate to its project page on CineCoup and click the pink +Watchlist button located top right and again in the mid-page sidebar. That project will now appear on your personal Homepage and also on your /profile/watchlist tab
• To remove a project from your Watchlist, navigate to My Profile (along the top navigation) and click on the Watchlist tab. When you hover over each project image tile, there is an “X”. Click the “X” to remove the project from your Watchlist.
• To complete the Watchlist fan mission, you need to add 5 projects to your Watchlist. You will earn 2 votes for completing this fan mission. Navigate to explore projects, watch trailers and add your favourites to your Watchlist.

What are Favourites?

• Just like it sounds, favourites are things you really like on CineCoup. It gives filmmakers positive feedback on their work.
• When you tag images and videos to your favourites, they will appear in your personal Favourites gallery.
• You cannot favourite trailers (Rate them instead), but you can favourite content from filmmaker missions.
• The first batch of filmmaker missions will be ready to watch (and love) on Monday, March 11 @ 9PM EST. New videos and images are released every week on Monday nights.

Are these real trailers?

• When you rate and review trailers, keep in mind that most were shot without budgets, casts or even scripts. It's simply an idea for a project that's yet to be made.
• To apply to CineCoup, filmmaking teams were asked to create a 2-minute trailer that showcased their talent, creativity and ability to build an audience for a feature film concept.
• Call it a “Faux Trailer”, “Concept Trailer”, “Pitch”, or even an audition... it serves as a first impression and gauge on the team's ability to appeal to audiences with a kickass idea. What do you think?

How do projects advance? What are the criteria?

Teams will advance based on the strength of their project package, their marketing efforts and their audience engagement and support.

• Specifically, teams with the highest combined performance indicators on filmmaking missions, social marketing and voting results will advance through the funnel.
• To prevent attempts at gaming the process, CineCoup is unable to publish specific data, algorithms and weight allocations for any given criteria.
• While audience support is a key element to success, CineCoup is not a popularity contest. Our performance analytics are designed to reward qualitative engagement over quantitative values by measuring factors such as sentiment, trends, reach and retention achieved across the social web.

What are wildcards? How do they work?

At advancement gateways for the Top 60, Top 40 and Top 15, CineCoup reserves the right to advance a specified number of projects at its sole discretion, regardless of a project's performance indicators and social voting results. These projects are considered “wildcards”.

CineCoup's wildcard allotments are as follows:

• The Top 60 is made up of the Top 50 projects (as determined by performance indicators + social votes) + up to 10 wildcard projects (at CineCoup's discretion).
• The Top 40 is made up of the Top 30 projects (as determined by performance indicators + social votes) + up to 10 wildcard projects (at CineCoup's discretion).
• The Top 15 is made up of the Top 10 (as determined by performance indicators + social votes) + up to 5 wildcard projects (at CineCoup's discretion).


• If CineCoup elects not to use all or any portion of its wildcard allotments, the positions are determined by a project's ranking (performance indicators + social votes) relative to other projects.
• If a project misses the advancement cut at the Top 60, the team has the option to continue participating in weekly missions to build their project package and fan base. Fans cannot vote on these projects during the Top 40 voting period, but the projects are eligible for wildcard advancement at CineCoup's sole discretion. CineCoup reviews their performance indicators and evaluates their mission content independently to decide if they should advance to the Top 40. If a project advances as a wildcard into the Top 40, fans will be able to vote for them again in the Top 15 voting round.
• If a project misses the Top 40 cut, the team has the option to continue participating in weekly missions to build their project package and fan base. Fans cannot vote on these projects during the Top 15 voting period, but the projects are eligible for wildcard advancement at CineCoup's sole discretion. CineCoup reviews their performance indicators and evaluates their mission content independently to decide if they should advance to the Top 15.