Anime Expo 2016 AMV Competition - FINALISTS POSTED!

[Kyci]

:O!

[reigngoddess]

Congrats to all the finalists!!!

[kutiekittykandykorn]

Wow!! I actually got in?! This is amazing, my first year as a finalist in Anime Expo!! Thank you all so much and congrats to everyone else!!

[Rider4Z]

UPDATE ON EDITORS' DINNER

I reserved a place for us at Tom's Urban at LA Live on Thursday Day 0 at 7pm. If you plan to come I need your RSVP on the dinner thread here - http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/v ... 8&t=125612

[kutiekittykandykorn]

Just a quick little question, hope you don't mind!
The actual AMV contest is on the first day, day 1 of the con, correct?

[XStylus]

Just a quick little question, hope you don't mind!
The actual AMV contest is on the first day, day 1 of the con, correct?

Yup, that's correct. It will be at 9pm on Friday, day 1.

[XStylus]

It wouldn't be a proper AX without a little bit of drama, so...

Spoiler :

...let me go ahead and get out in front of this before it becomes a thing.

As some of you are aware, we have a freshness rule that invalidates entries that had a public debut prior to 10-1-2015. This date, by design, excludes entries that debut at AWA.

That's certainly not because we have beef with AWA or anything (we luv AWA!). AWA is often the con for AMV debuts, and has earned that status. However, it's very far from AX date-wise, so by the time we get an AWA vid, it has been everywhere. Plus, AX gets a crushing number of entries each year, which sounds like a good problem to have, but it's tediously brutal on ourselves and our judging team. On the flip side, we also get a substantial number of debuts ourselves as well, which we deeply appreciate and hope to encourage. So, with those points in mind, the 10-1 freshness date came to be.

And for those who are curious, it didn't really affect much. In 2014 we had 273 submissions, so we tightened the freshness rule. In 2015 we had 272 submissions, so we tightened it further. This year we had 260. You guys are awesome. You're killing us, but you're awesome.

Now then, a concern has been brought forth from several editors that a vid that was submitted to AWA may have made the AX finals. Those editors know this because AWA is judged by the entrants themselves, so they're all aware of what vids were submitted.

I can confirm that their suspicion is correct, and yet the vid in question still complies with the rules. The reason is because the vid in question did not actually play at the AWA finals, and this was confirmed to us by the AWA coordinator.

Since it's very difficult for us to track non-finalist entries that don't actually play in the competition they're first sent to since almost no cons publish their non-finalist roster, we do not count it as a proper debut insofar as the freshness rule is concerned. In our view, the video in question therefore did not technically debut until it was posted online in early October.

I view this as a loophole, though the editor was honest and forthright with us about the matter, so let it be clear that there is no dishonorable shenanigans on their part. On that basis, we decided to permit it to advance, and that we would see about addressing the loophole for 2017. Our team is already in deep discussion regarding the proper way to do so, as we do not wish to do so in a way that adds confusion or complexity. In fact, we're debating whether the rules are due for another diet.

So, I open the floor to whatever debate people wish to have about the matter, if any, though the decision stands.

I welcome any questions or comments anybody might have.

[Tigrin]

Uhhh... I don't know what the video is or who is complaining... but my thoughts are that "premiered" is either in a contest or online... if it was submitted to a con and didn't make the finalists, it doesn't really count... I can see why people might consider it premiered if it played in a non-finalists or overflow screening, but that still seems like a technicality if that's the only place it played until it premiered online.

If the concern is more that videos are making it to the finalists that have had a long time to play in cons and win awards, maybe there needs to be a contest trolling rule. But I'm not sure if that's the concern here or not since I don't know the video in question... and I'm not sure I'd want to see a trolling rule for AX, anyway. It's part of what makes the contest so competitive, I think... you're competing against the best. At least that's been my impression for a while.

[Rider4Z]

Was this AWA Pro specifically? If it was sent to peers for judging, but didn't play in front of an audience then it's not a public premiere.

I prefer an award limit over premiere date. It's more difficult to regulate and relies a lot on the honor system, but anyone caught can be publicly ostracized But I mean come on, editors know when a video has earned its fair share of air time and awards.

[XStylus]

The editors who brought this to my attention weren't upset or being onry about it or anything, rather it was more along the lines of just wanting some clarity since they themselves had AWA videos that were not eligible to participate in AX.