The Contest Host will be responsible for organizing and operating the contest and will be the final judge of rules compliance. If you have any questions please feel free to email us: amv at animefestivalorlando dot com with a subject similar to “AFO AMV Contest” - email is the most efficient method to reach us.

BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO TO THE CONTEST, YOU ARE AGREEING TO THE ENTIRETY OF THIS DOCUMENT.

PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY AND ASK QUESTIONS AS NEEDED.

Content Restrictions, Release of Use, and Indemnifications
1. Video entries should consist of video footage at least 75% of animation, preferably in the Japanese style, a.k.a. “Anime” and an audio track of 6 minutes or less. Western animation and video game footage in Japanese Style is acceptable although not preferred. Live Action videos will generally not be shown.
2. Pre/Post Bumpers (titles, credits, studio logos) are highly discouraged, but not banned. The total length of any bumper, before and/or after the video cannot be in excess of 10 seconds. Bumper length will be added to the video length in considering the 6 minute time limit restriction. CONTEST STAFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT OUT BUMPERS since if time permits we will be adding our own title cards for EACH video.
3. PLEASE do not use corporate trademarks, movie studio logos, or “Movie Rating” images, or any other protected material that would imply that your video was created or approved by a real company with real lawyers.
4. The AFO AMV Contest and AFO Staff can not be held responsible for any Copyright or other infringement of law that your contest entries may contain. Please ensure that all submissions fall under Fair Use provisions. Remember folks, we're doing this for fun, not profit. AFO shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of, or in connection with, the AMV Contest or your submissions.
5. Videos must be viewable by a general audience to be eligible for a judged award; that means a PG-13 rating at most. Anything that is questionably near a PG-13 rating WILL NOT be shown. Please especially avoid scenes of sex, violence, excessive gore, drugs, gratuitous nudity, or alcohol use among characters that appear to be underage. This rule frequently necessitates disqualification of many popular Anime titles such as Attack on Titan, Berserk, Demon Slayer, Elfen Lied, etc. so if you plan to use these sources, please choose the cinematography content carefully. For more clarification on the PG-13 rating please see http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means – and again, but due to our agreements with the convention and venue, anything that is questionable in this regard will likely be disqualified due to upholding family-friendly restrictions in the main convention hall.
6. DO NOT USE SUBTITLED OR WATERMARKED FOOTAGE. It is distracting and you will most likely not be allowed in the judged contest.
7. You agree to allow your video submissions, and shortened clips thereof, to be shown in any forum or format without further permission, including, but not limited to, marketing materials such as postings on social media, panel presentations, broadcasts on TV, etc that are released by the AFO Convention and their agents, in perpetuity. Attribution will be of course given where possible, but cannot be guaranteed, depending on the format of the medium.
Keep it Fresh (and remember, up to PG-13 only please!)
1. AMV Contest submissions must be your own work. Only the original author of the work should be submitting. This has been a problem in the past, so please be aware we will be looking for it. Anyone found submitting plagiarized videos will be disqualified, even if it is discovered after results have been decided.
2. Generative AI is generally prohibited. While we do not allow the use of AI-generated content (AI vocals or video footage), we do allow select modification of human-created content with AI tools. This is meant to allow for AI upscaling of sources, vocal removals from music, or assisted masking of footage. Any modification of the original sources using AI must be disclosed and detailed in the entry form - failing to do so will result in disqualification.
3. Bring us your latest and greatest! We'd love to include fresh entries for our audience, although previous exhibitions/awards do not disqualify entries. We also encourage editors who are still learning the craft, and love to showcase local talent. Show us what you've got!
4. Videos should be no older than, or completed longer than, 18 months prior to the contest. If it has been submitted to the AFO AMV contest before, it is also ineligible for re-submission.
Awards and Finalists Incentive
1. Judged awards will be given for each category (including but not limited to): Best Drama/Romance, Best Comedy/Parody, Best Action, and Best of Show. Additional award categories such as Honorable Mentions are TBD at the discretion of the Judges after reviewing the submissions. There may also be cake.
2. These awards are for virtual bragging rights only; there are no guaranteed monetary or tangible prizes unless we are granted prizes by our benevolent convention sponsors.
3. We will once again do our Fan Favorite Award, subject to live voting at the Contest, via mobile web. The interpretation of the voting and determination of the winner will be carried out by the AMV Contest Host. In the event of a tie, we will hold a run-off between the top two for five minutes. If a winner can not be determined within time constraints, or the results are inconclusive, the winner will be decided later based on a thorough review of the votes and announced after the contest.
4. To incentivize global attendance at the Convention, and encourage local entries to the contest, convention finalists (only those that are notified they are eligible; not for all entries) will be given a 3-day pass to Anime Festival Orlando that can be picked up on-site. These are promotional badges issued to contest finalists only, and are not transferrable. They have no cash value and this is not a monetary award. Other attendance costs such as transportation and lodging at the convention is at the attendee's own expense. Convention staff may revoke this promotion at their sole discretion for any reason.
Eligibility
1. Submissions from out of the area ARE always accepted. Attendees will be given a seat in the front row. Make sure you RSVP with us on your entry form or via email after submitting so we know to expect your attendance at the convention.
2. Any videos submitted by staff of AFO or the AMV Judges are not eligible for a judged award. General volunteers are not considered staff in this case.
3. Videos that are found to not qualify for the main contest for any reason will not void clause 1.7 and can still be presented in other formats (such as in separate exhibition hall events to fill time). Disqualified videos may not be eligible to receive an award from the judges.
Number of Submissions
1. We will accept up to 3 entries from each contestant. In order to encourage more entries, one entry for Comedy or Shorts will not count against the total of 3.
2. Additional entries may be submitted for exhibition hall events (but they will not be judged). If you submit more than one video, please rank the videos so we can prioritize which videos you would like to be shown/judged based on your preference.
Final Judgment
1. The Host of the AFO AMV contest and the Management of AFO reserve the right to reject any video for any reason, including, but not limited to: content, video quality, video content, sound quality, Force majeure, and time constraints. The decisions of the Host, Judges, and/or Convention Directors are final.
Submission Requirements
1. Please read the following carefully as it has changed from previous years. We will not be taking submissions via physical medium, we have moved to an online-only submission format. It is important for all parties to get the best possible presentation of your video for both judging and viewing by the other AFO attendees.
2. All Contestants must register on the AMV Contest Website to be considered, and provide their entry information via the contest web page: https://afo.amvawards.org
3. All digital submissions should be in one of the following formats:

● MP4 file with an X.264 or similar high-quality video codec. No 10-bit video please.

● OR AVI XviD/DivX

● OR an MPEG-2 file with a standards-compliant audio stream.

● Formats like WMV or MOV should be avoided.

● Audio should be uncompressed (FLAC), or lossless AAC, or mp3 audio codec, CBR.

1. Don’t stress about this too much. Popular contest conversion/export profiles and/or using amvtool to standardize it should be fine.

● But… if it cannot be played with a player like VLC, it likely will not work for us.

1. All videos should be encoded at a minimum resolution of 640 x 480 with at least 23.98 frames per second. Widescreen DVD or 1080p HD resolution @ 16:9 AR is highly recommended. The aspect ratio and resolution it will be displayed at cannot be guaranteed, as it will be adjusted by our editing software and the player it is displayed in for the show.
2. Videos must be submitted by giving us a download URL to pull it. Please utilize a legitimate content distribution network service such as DropBox, Google Drive, Vimeo, or similar cloud storage site. You must ensure that the source is able to be downloaded by anyone with the link.
3. If you do not receive a final confirmation email from a human before the deadline, please contact the Contest Host.
4. Your personal information is being collected for identity verification purposes only, and will not be willingly shared or sold.
FINAL WARNINGS REGARDING SUBMISSION & DEADLINE
1. All videos will be captured/converted by our editing software for display to the judges and presentation during the AFO AMV contest. Submitting your video in a common format is your best control over how your video will look, please consider it wisely.
2. Entries must be uploaded and confirmed by the beginning of the day (12:00 AM Midnight GMT-4) April 12, 2026 (or the end of the day Saturday April 11). Obviously we would like to get entries in well before then so that we have time to compile the show, but this is the absolute latest that we will be looking for new entries unless we grant an extension or you have spoken with us ahead of time. We have an early deadline to allow staff time to process entries and produce the show.
3. Lack of sufficient entries may result in a poor contest. So submit early, and submit often!
CONFIRMATION OF SUBMISSIONS
1. You will receive an email confirming that your video has been received. If you have not received an email by 3 business days from the deadline, please contact the contest administrator. The host will make every reasonable effort to allow you to participate in the contest, but we also need time to review and compile the entries.
AMENDMENTS
1. These rules are subject to change without notice as the Contest Host and AFO see fit.
2. Please see the latest rules on the website afo.amvawards.org.
FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS WELCOME
1. Feel free to contact us at afo at animefestivalorlando.com to discuss this year's contest with your feedback and suggestions. After all, we do this for the AMV Creators and their Fans. Without you, the people, this event has no meaning.

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