MECAS GUIDE TO APPLY WITH A FILM TO BE MADE (PROJECT IN DEVELOPMENT)

MECAS is a meeting place for independent filmmakers and producers making fiction, non-fiction, narrative and non-narrative or experimental films, films with a strong personal vision. 

MECAS is committed to talent and to the creation of a cinema that is born without a commercial vocation, proposals that move away from labels, trends and conventionalisms, stories with their own identity, that move the viewer. 

If you think your next film would fit in with MECAS, we invite you to participate in MECAS FILMS TO BE MADE.

You can also take a look at the selection of projects from our past editions. 

TO PARTICIPATE IN MECAS FILMS TO BE MADE (PLEASE READ BEFORE SENDING YOUR PROPOSAL) 

  • Your project can be in the writing and/or financing stage.
  • It must have a minimum duration of 60 minutes.
  • It can be fiction, non-fiction or anything in between.
  • Projects from Europe and Latin America can be submitted.
  • Applicants do not need to have a producer or secured funding.
  • If the project already has an associated producer, it is preferable that it does not yet have a co-producer, as MECAS is a space to find allied producers.
  • All applicants must complete the form for Film Projects in Progress ENTRY FILMS TO BE MADE
  • All those who wish to participate must send a dossier with the following information.

It is IMPORTANT to comply with the information requested, applications that do not comply with the maximum length required will be excluded: 

  • MECAS form, Films in Progress, which you can download here.
  • Biography of the director.
  • Director’s statement of intent.
  • Summary of total budget (1 page). This budget should be an estimate if your film is still in the writing stage, we understand that it is not a definitive version.
  • Estimated financing plan.
  • Estimated distribution and sales plan (approx. 1/2 page).
  • Long synopsis (max. 4 pages) or a summary of the script or treatment (max. 8 pages). Do not send a script, nor a complete treatment.
  • Add links to previous work to the dossier, if you have any, and a teaser trailer of the project if available.
  • Add images of visual references or a link to a mood board to the dossier. We like to receive dossiers with images.
  • If you have a production company, add a brief note of intention from the producer and a brief profile of the production company.
  • Participants must present a spending plan for the MECAS prize value of €5,000 (including taxes) and add it to the dossier of the project submitted.
  • The selection will be made on the basis of the dossier, which should include a long synopsis (maximum 4 pages) or a short treatment (maximum 8 pages)

ABOUT THE SELECTION 

  • The MECAS team may request meetings with the projects after the final selection has been made, as well as requesting additional material.
  • A maximum of 8 projects will be selected.
  • In this 8th edition of MECAS Cine por Hacer dos uno of the participating projects have already been invited through the collaboration of MECAS and Cinema Pendent of L’Alternativa Film Festival 2024
  • One of the selected projects will be directed by a Canarian filmmaker or produced by a Canarian production company.
  • One of the selected projects will be eligible to be filmed in the Canary Islands or will have the potential to be co-produced by a Canarian production company. ● MECAS reserves the right to invite projects it considers of interest for this edition of MECAS Cine por Hacer.

HOW IT WORKS ONCE THE PROJECT HAS BEEN SELECTED INFORMATION ON PARTICIPATION

Once the project has been selected and prior to the event, the MECAS team and the team from each project will hold a meeting via videoconference to clarify any doubts and explain how their participation in MECAS will work. This meeting will serve to detail the following points:

  • MECAS will cover the accommodation costs for a maximum of three (3) nights in a hotel and per diem expenses for one (1) representative from each project, preferably the director or the producer. However, we suggest that each project send more than one person from the team to accompany them to MECAS.
  • For LATAM participants, the organization may offer assistance for air travel, but cannot cover the entire cost of travel. Each case will be studied individually.
  • All participants will present their project to the MECAS experts, who will be: representatives of international festivals, markets and laboratories, curators, production and distribution companies, sales agencies and representatives of film funds.
  • The language of presentation of the projects will be English. MECAS provides a translator for participants who require one.
  • The presentations will take the form of a conversation in front of a professional audience (MECAS experts), this conversation will be between the team of each project and a MECAS moderator.
  • Each participant must send an introductory video of their project lasting no more than two minutes, which will be shown before the conversation with the expert audience.
  • Each team will have the same amount of time for the introduction of their work, conversation and possible questions from the audience, 17 minutes in total.
  • MECAS will prepare a schedule of meetings. Each participant will have the opportunity to meet with the experts who can best support their project.
  • The representatives of the selected projects must attend the activities organized by MECAS.

ABOUT THE MECAS AWARDS 

A jury made up of experts will award the following prizes: 

  • MECAS FILMS TO BE MADE a cash prize of 5,000 euros (taxes included) that can be used in the process of completing the work.
  • Isla MECAS Award: For the internationalization of a Canarian project, a cash prize of 1,000 Euros (taxes included).

At the end of MECAS, the winning projects must present all the administrative documentation to receive the payment plus an Expense Plan for the cash prize.

The following prizes will be awarded by collaborating companies or laboratories: ● Very Good Script Prize: This consists of script advice from the professional Anna Ciennik. 

  • Cinema Pendent de l’Alternativa PRO Prize: This consists of the dissemination of a project, materialised in the participation of that same project in the 2025 edition of Cinema Pendent. This award considers both the projects selected in Almost-Finished Films and Films in Progress.
  • SEMILLERU Lab Award: Consisting of the dissemination of a project, materialized in the participation of that same project in the edition of SEMILLERU 2025. This award considers both the projects selected in Almost-Finished Films and Films in Progress.

OTHER SPECIFICATIONS ABOUT THE AWARDS

  • There will be no special mentions or ex aequo awards.

TAX WITHHOLDINGS ON THE PRIZES 

  • The cash prizes will be paid upon presentation of an invoice dated in the year of the market edition and submitted within the calendar year of the market edition. These prizes will be subject to withholding taxes in accordance with Spanish law. A deduction certificate may be issued upon request of the interested party.
  • In cases where these payments are made to foreign individuals or companies resident in a country with a double taxation treaty with Spain that would allow the declaration of monetary prize payments with the corresponding deduction in the recipient’s country, the foreign individuals or companies must submit, together with the invoice, a certificate of tax residence in that country. In cases where the country of tax residence of the winning individual or company does not have a double taxation treaty covering this type of payment, the provisions of Spanish legislation on withholding taxes shall apply.

PHYSICAL PRIZES 

  • All prizes include the presentation of a plaque or diploma, as appropriate, to the director of the winning project or a representative.

COMMITMENT TO PARTICIPATE

BY ACCEPTING THE INVITATION TO MECAS 

  • The data and information to be included in the Infobook MECAS 2025, available to experts and market participants, will be those collected on the registration form, which has been completed by each participant. The veracity, accuracy and correctness of the data provided in Spanish and English are the responsibility of the participants.
  • The teams of the selected projects undertake to provide MECAS with the supplementary information within the deadlines required for the production of the Infobook.
  • The name and logo of MECAS, Mercado del Cine Casi Hecho / Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival must be included in the credits of all selected projects, once completed, and if your project is a winner, it must be included in the opening credits of the finished film.
  • MECAS reserves the right to use the photographs and promotional materials of the projects and filmmakers sent by the person submitting the project to MECAS for promotion, web and social media advertising, both of MECAS, the Las Palmas International Film Festival and other collaborating entities. They may also use the images taken during the event for promotion, communication and making-of purposes.
  • In order to maintain contact and follow-up on each project and to share the successes/achievements that each one accumulates, the participants agree to maintain communication with the MECAS team when news arises about selections at festivals and other awards obtained. In this way, we will be able to support and publicize the journey of the works that have passed through MECAS on our social networks.
  • Registration implies acceptance of these rules.

PLEASE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE FOLLOWING 

  • The deadline for submitting projects to this call for entries is February 20, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. UTC+1.
  • The MECAS team may make a pre-selection and request meetings with the projects prior to final selection, as well as request additional material.
  • The MECAS team is very small and we cannot communicate with all the registered projects, therefore we will send the official notification only to those selected projects.
  • If by March 31st you have not received a communication from us, it means that your project has NOT been selected.

PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

Participants declare under their own responsibility the veracity of the data provided in the registration process, and declare that they comply with the requirements established in the rules. The provision of false data will result in the rejection of the registration application.

Applicants give their consent for the processing of the data provided in the registration process to MECAS Cine Por Hacer, which will be used for the sole and exclusive purpose of managing their participation in the initiative.

The personal data collected will not be communicated to third parties, except where legally obliged to do so and except for the data necessary to manage their participation in the initiative.

Applicants give their consent to receive communications from the organization by subscribing to its newsletter.

Likewise, registration and, consequently, acceptance of these rules allow Promoción de la Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria S.A. to capture, reproduce and disseminate images and/or videos of the participant taken during the MECAS event and their subsequent reproduction and/or dissemination through any means of communication of MECAS, the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival and Promoción de la Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria S.A. , for all the uses it may have and for any application.

JURISDICTION

In the event that an amicable resolution cannot be reached between the parties to any dispute that may arise, the parties shall submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts and Tribunals of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, expressly waiving their own jurisdiction.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES

Registration implies the express and complete acceptance of these rules, with the organization being responsible for resolving any incident or conflict that arises and is not covered in these rules, which are final.

Promoción de la Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria S.A., the organizing body of MECAS, reserves the right to make modifications to these rules or to add successive annexes, which will be duly communicated during the period of the current call for entries.

If you have any questions, please write to us at mecas@lpafilmfestival.com / mecas3@lpafilmfestival.com