Festival Bylaws
Without rules, there is chaos
- Award categories allow for one week of debate before they must be finalized.
- All votes must be tallied within five (5) business days of the voting period closing.
- Voting must be completed within forty-eight (48) hours of the voting period opening.
- Members may not vote for their own film selection.
- Festival members are required to vote. Refusal to vote constitutes a flagrant violation of Festival bylaws and will be added to the agenda for the next committee meeting to determine if punitive action is warranted.
- Late voting may be permitted in extenuating circumstances, including but not limited to: substantial cooking and meal preparation provided for the committee's sustenance, scheduling conflicts with organized sports leagues, or other circumstances deemed acceptable by the Festival chairman.
- All film selections must not have been previously seen by other Festival members. If a member has seen the selection, they must have forgotten it. If they remember it, they must lie about having seen it. Exception: if the selection is Fast Five and only one specific member has seen it, this rule may be waived.
- In the event of a tie for any award, the "most specific" candidate wins.
The Festival bylaws do not allow for ties. (See Article 8 for tie-breaking procedures.)- The Festival chairman may be removed from office by committee vote. Provisions for such removal are included in these bylaws, and members are encouraged to exercise this right if the chairman's performance is deemed inadequate.
- The logo incorrectly refers to the Sonoma Film Festival. This was purely accidental and will not be corrected.