Frequently Asked Questions
What the hell is this thing? A nationwide search to find the funniest stand up comedian and short filmmaker among 32 colleges and universities. 1st round of the stand up competition will be held at the school's location. 2nd round of the stand up competition will be held at premier comedy clubs where each contestant will be filmed and profiled on RooftopComedy.com. 3rd and final round will be held in Aspen, CO on May 30 - 31. All short film contestants will submit their film online via RooftopComedy.com. RooftopComedy will also be bringing a headlining comedian to each school. It's only like the coolest competition ever.
Is there a grand prize? Yup. A cash prize of $1,500 and don't forget the free VIP trip to Aspen. Only one winner from each category will win a cash prize of $1,500. Each final four winner from each category will win a free VIP trip to Aspen.
Is my school signed up?Click on www.RooftopComedy/events/college for a full listing of the participating schools.
What comedian is coming to my school? My mom. Just kidding, she is pretty funny though. Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on your school. All day of event information is there (or will be soon).
I'm pretty funny, can I participate? If your school is signed up and you are a legal U.S. resident who has reached the age of majority in your State of residence at the time of entry and are a student matriculated in an Associates, Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral degree-granting program, at a US-based college, university or junior/community college. We're not sure what this means either. If you're taking a class at one of the 32 participating schools, you can participate.
Can I compete in the Stand Up and the Short Film competitions? Yes, we'd be honored.
When can I sign up? Now. Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on Enter. Or you can email Jenn Stokes at jenn@rooftopcomedy.com. She's pretty cool and is happy to help answer any questions. Contest entry period begins now and ends the day of your school's event. For school event information, Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on your school.
I want to sign up for the Stand Up Competition, what do I have to know?
All performances will be limited to 3 minutes per student.
All performances must be in English.
Let's keep it clean folks...
- No nudity
- No slander
- No hate speech
How do I enter the Stand Up Competition again?
There are two ways to enter:
Online Entry: Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on sign up. Complete the Stand Up entry form and click on submit. See Official Rules for complete contest details.
On-Campus Event Day: RooftopComedy will be on campus during the day of your school's competition, you can sign up with a RooftopComedy representative then as well. For location information, Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on your school. All day of event information is there. Contestants are required to attend the host college and meet all eligibility requirements set forth in the Official Rules to participate in the RooftopComedy National College Comedy Competition.
What do I need to know about the Stand Up Competition?
Ok, pay attention! There are three rounds of the competition, as follows:
Round One
We will hold a first-round competition at each of the 32 participating schools. Any student enrolled in at least one class at the participating college is eligible to compete and can sign up at www.rooftopcomedy.com/events/college or by arriving to the event early to register in person. Each contestant will be competing for a slot on their College Comedy Team. The audience will vote for their favorite three contestants and the 8 students with the most audience votes will advance to the next round as part of their College Comedy Team. Competitors are encouraged to tell their friends to come watch and vote for them in these first round events!
Round Two
Each College Comedy Team will advance to the Regionals — where they will compete head to head with their rivalry College Comedy Team (Ex: Harvard v. Boston College) at premier comedy clubs throughout the US. Free transportation will be provided for locations that are not accessible via public transportation. All 16 participants will be filmed and profiled on Rooftopcomedy.com. From these Regionals, ONE Semi-Finalist (the student with the most votes) will emerge. Each Semi-Finalist will be selected by a panel of judges whose votes will consist of approximately 50% of the total count. The audience votes will make up approximately 50% of the remaining votes. Online voting to determine which of the Semi-Finalists will advance to round three (the Finals) will be held from April 21 to April 30. In addition to these 16 Semi-Finalists, each Runner Up from the Regional events (the student who received the second highest total votes) will be eligible for a second chance into this online voting window to qualify for the Finals. Runners up performances will be open for voting to select a "Fan Favorite" from April 15 to April 20. Semi-Finalists and Runners Up are encouraged to get their friends and family members to vote for their clip to help secure them a slot in the Final Four.
Runners Up Voting Window: April 15 - April 20 (One from this group will be added to the Semi-Finalist Voting Group.)
Semi-Finalist Voting Window: April 21 - April 30 (Four from this group will be named the Final Four and will advance to the Finals in Aspen.)
Round Three
The Final Four students who receive the most votes on their clips will be notified by May 12th, 2008. Finals will be held in Aspen, CO on May 30 - 31.
If I advance to the Regionals, do I have to use the same material as I did in the 1st round? No, not at all. However, you can if you want to.
And the Short Film Competition, how do I enter that?
Online Entry: If you are a student, undergrad and grad, at one of the 32 participating schools, you can enter. Go to www.RooftopComedy/events/college and click on sign up. Complete the Short Film entry form and click on submit. All short film submissions must be received via RooftopComedy.com by April 7, 2008. See Official Rules for complete contest details.
I like making short films, what do I have to do?
All short film submissions must be received by April 7, 2008.
Films can be anywhere from 15 seconds to 5 minutes in length.
Let's keep it clean folks...
- No nudity
- No slander
- No hate speech
All content in the film must be solely original material created by the contestant. No logos, trademarks (including sports team shirts), tradedress, images, photographs or music may be used in submission.
Entries may not infringe upon the intellectual property including, without limitation, copyright or trademark, privacy or publicity rights of any third party.
*RooftopComedy reserves the right to disqualify any film submission that does not meet acceptable language and subject matter programming as set forth in the Official Rules.
What do I need to know about the Short Film Competition?
All submissions will be viewed by the RooftopComedy editorial staff and panel of judges.
16 films will advance as the semi-finalists as decided by the RooftopComedy editorial staff and panel of judges. (All remaining films will be stored in an archive for viewing).
The 16 semi-finalists will be eligible for a slot in the Final Four and showcased for viewing and voting.
Final four contestants will be decided by the public through online voting and mobile voting. Voting window will be April 21, 2008 - April 30, 2008. See official rules for details.
Final four contestants will be notified of advancing to the finals in Aspen, CO by May 12, 2008.
Can I enter more than one film in the Short Film Competition? Yes. As many as you like.
Do you require a specific format for my film? We accept a wide variety of video formats including Windows Media, Apple QuickTime, Flash Video, and raw MPEG files. If your file is of type ASF, AVI, DV, FLV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, QT, WMV, send it in.
Remember that people don't want to watch crappy video, so make sure you send the best quality file you can make. If you've taped or transferred your performance on a standard DV camera, and transferred it to your computer and it looks and sounds good at full size you're probably OK. A good rule of thumb is that the video file size should be at least 2MB for every minute of video (a five minute performance should be at least 10MB). Of course, your mileage may vary. Here are some details for the video geeks:
- Video should be encoded at a minimum of 300Kbps (512K preferred)
- Video frames size should be a minimum of 320x240 pixels (4:3), 360x240 (16:9), 352x288 (CIF), or 448x252 (16:9). Larger frame sizes are preferable, but will be scaled to fit in a 448x252 pixel viewer.
- Videos should be deinterlaced and encoded at 30fps.
- The lighting and sound should be very clear.
- RooftopComedy judges will view each film and showcase the 16 funniest on RooftopComedy.com. Those 16 will be eligible for voting. See Official Rules for details.
What's this, I can win a trip to Aspen without having to compete? Yes, that's right. RooftopComedy will be selecting one lucky winner out of all 32 participating schools to be flown to Aspen and receive VIP treatment for him or her plus a guest to watch the Finals. Winner will be notified by May 12, 2008.
Thanks for the help, what if I think of a different question? No problem. Feel free to email any additional questions to Jenn Stokes at jenn@rooftopcomedy.com along with your name, school name, email address and daytime phone number where she can reach you.
