APRA | AMCOS Bringing music creators & consumers together

A. THE AWARDS

1. Thirteen Awards are conferred.

1. Best Music for an Advertisement
2. Best Music for a Documentary
3. Best Music for a Short Film
4. Best Original Song Composed for a Feature Film, Telemovie, TV Series or Mini-Series
5. Best Soundtrack Album
6. Best Music for Children's Television
7. Best Music for a Television Series or Serial
8. Best Television Theme
9. Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie
10. Feature Film Score of the Year
11. Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia
12. Most Performed Screen Composer - Overseas

A special Award is given at the discretion of the APRA Board of Directors

1. International Achievement Award

2. The Award is in the form of a trophy suitably inscribed.

B. ELIGIBILITY

1. For Nominations in Categories excluding International Achievement Award, Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer - Overseas

1. The work must have been written by an Australian Citizen or Resident composer.
2. The work must be an original score.
3. The work must have at least a 50% composer interest by an APRA Member or AGSC Member
4. The work must have been for a production which has received its first public screening, broadcast or release in the relevant 12 month period (1st July - 30th June in any given year) for which the award is made
5. The eligibility period for Feature Film Score of the Year, requires that the production must have received its first public screening, broadcast or commercial release in the relevant 15 month period (1st July - 30th September) for which the award is made.
6. The jury reserves the right to nominate any entry into another category if it deems that category more suitable. Not every category will necessarily be awarded if, for example, there is no suitable entry in a category.

2. For Nominations in Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia (no submissions for nominations will be accepted in this category)

1. The work must have been written by an Australian Citizen or Resident composer.
2. The work must be an original score.
3. The work must have at least a 50% composer interest by an APRA Member.
4. The work must have its first commercial release or broadcast in Australia in the relevant 12 month period (1st July - 30th June in any given year) for which the award is made.

3. For Nominations in Most Performed Screen Composer - Overseas (no submissions for nominations will be accepted in this category)

1. The work must have been written by an Australian Citizen or Resident composer.
2. The work must be an original score.
3. The work must have at least a 50% composer interest by an APRA Member.

C. NOMINATIONS PROCEDURE

1. Nominations can be entered by the composer, their employer, the production company or a third party i.e. Director or Publisher.
2.  Nominations are available online via www.apra-amcos.com.au/broadcast/downloads/ScreenAwards_CallForEntries_2012.pdf
3. Nominations in the visual categories must be submitted on DVD and accompanied by a complete music performance cue sheet of the program, as well as a music cue sheet of timing information relating to the location of music cues within the program. Exceptions to this ruling are for the Soundtrack Album and the Advertising categories, where it is not necessary to provide cue sheets.
4. DVDs must be clearly marked so that our judging panel can easily recognise and identify the relevant material.
5. Nominations for the Soundtrack Album category must be accompanied by a CD along with the album jacket indicating titles and composer credits. Each nomination in the visual categories must be on a separate DVD clearly marked with the title of program, episode number and category it is entered into. Each nomination in the Soundtrack Album category must be on CD clearly marked with the category it is entered into.
6. In the case of television series, composers are to choose one episode only from the program title for submission into any one category.
7. Entries must be accompanied by the APRA-AGSC official Entry Form. DO NOT include multiple entries on the same form.
8. All DVDs and CDs provided must not carry the composers name. All composer details to be outlined in accompanying material.
9. There is a maximum of three entries permitted in any one category. However, any individual composer can only receive a maximum of two nominations in any one category.
10. Nominations within the categories of Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer- Overseas are determined by performance activity only.
11. Nominations material can be collected from the office of APRA at a designated time after the awards.
12. All Short Films submitted should be limited to 45 minutes duration.
13. The category for Original Song does not include advertisements, jingles, promos or station IDs. All songs submitted in this category MUST have lyrics.
14. All nominations for Documentary must be submitted in the Best Music for Documentary Category. These will not be accepted in Feature Film Score of the Year.
15. Categories can include both factual and fiction entries.

D. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1. Nominations will be assessed based on their compositional craft, creativity, originality and excellence.
2. Nominations within the categories of Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer- Overseas will be assessed based on performance activity as reflected by earnings, according to APRA's records.

E. DECISION MAKING PROCEDURES

1. Awards will be decided by judging panels from nominations submitted
2. Judges must be financial members of the AGSC or APRA members
3. A judging panel may not include any member who is a subject of a nomination. Should such a situation arise, either the nomination must be withdrawn or the member must be replaced.
4. There will be six (6) to eight (8) judges per category. Judges will receive material to review individually before making final decisions via a conference call.
5. Judging panels will consist of composers across Australia and each will be appointed a chairperson.
6. Decisions reached by the judging panels are final and no discussion regarding the result shall be entered into once the process is complete. If the panel is unable to reach a final decision the chairperson will have a second casting vote.
7. Judging panels may reserve the right not to make an award in a category where there is not an outstanding achievement.
8. Judging panels may reserve the right to alter the category for which a nomination has been received, if another category is deemed more appropriate.
9. For the categories of Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer- Overseas no judging panel is required as APRA collates its rankings, in conjunction with the work's performance activity, to determine the final nominees. The APRA board has final endorsement.
10. The International Achievement Award is made to an individual or group considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the Film and Television industry over a number of years, including, but not limited to producers/directors, philanthropists, music supervisors and event producers that provide promotion or opportunities internationally for Australian composers.

F. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Once nominations are announced, all nominees will be required to provide the musical director with the following items within 7 days:

a) An MP3 or CD recording of the main theme (s)

b) A standard MIDI file of the main theme (s)

c) A lead sheet in PDF format

d) The score on Sibelius (if possible)

Please note our arrangers and orchestrators will adapt your music scores to suit our orchestral line up.