Producer FAQ
Filmmakers considering submitting their films to Engio.com should review these frequently asked questions.
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Q. First things first, is it free to post my movie on Engio.com?
A. It is absolutely free to post your movie on Engio.com. You have the option of paying special fees to have your movie show up more often, but that feature is completely optional. See the section on the "Priority" rating for more information. Otherwise, the site is both 100% free for both viewers and publishers.
Q. How do I post my movie on Engio.com?
A. To post links to your movie on Engio.com, start by clicking on the "Submit a Film" link in the top-right corner of the browser window. This will take you to our information form. Make sure you read through the guidelines below before filling out the form, because we won't be able to add your film if a crucial piece of information is missing.
Q. What kinds of movies can I post on Engio.com?
A. We try to make sure that all of the movies on our site are cool, interesting films that have something to offer to our viewers. The movies can be any length, any genre, any style, but they should all demonstrate an effort to produce a quality film in terms of both content and form.
Q. What kinds of films are not allowed on Engio.com?
A. Because we expect legal films of some quality, we do not accept unedited footage of your family reunion, hilarious SNL skits copied from your TiVo, videos of your best friend rolling around on an exercise ball for three hours, that awesome ten-second cellphone clip of you waking up with messy hair, webcam video blogs, or the like. We try to review all of the films submitted to us before we publish links to them, and we reserve the editorial right not to publish any links that we feel are not appropriate for our site. Films must be in good taste and legal. We will not provide links to any pornographic, offensive, harmful, questionable, or illegal content.
Q. Will Engio.com host my video files for me?
A. Unfortunately, we do not yet have the resources to host video files. Instead, we encourage filmmakers to host their files elsewhere online and then give us the URL addresses to those files. Think of it like a fancy search engine.
Q. Where can I host my video files?
A. This is still a tricky question but we'll try to help as best we can. Video files take up a lot of space and, if they are downloaded frequently, they also use up a lot of bandwidth. It can be hard to find places willing to host these files for free, or even for a cheap rate. Here are some things you could try:
Google Video™ hosts video files of any size for free, and you can even set up an access fee for users (though we encourage you to provide at least one free, complete version of the film, possibly at a lower quality). Originally, Google would only stream the video that users posted, but it may now be possible to allow users to download the original files to their hard drives.
Our Media hosts video files in any format that are smaller than 10-20mb for free and provides a static download URL. You may be able to post short films or low-quality versions of longer films on this site. We highly recommend that you post your preview file on a site like this.
YouTube allows you to upload video files that are smaller than 100mb for free.
YouAreTv hosts independent films and videos for streaming and download, apparently of any size and any format, although "m4v" files are preferred.
Underground Film also hosts independent films, although they may have a more careful review process than some other sites.
Open Media Network is an alternative to standard file hosting websites. The Open Media Network allows you to share media files of any size for free on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. One nice feature is that they will cache your files on their server after you have uploaded them, and then you can find a static URL address for those files by e-mailing it to yourself. Unfortunately, the beta version requires that the files must first be temporarily hosted somewhere else online. Once the drag-and-drop upload version is released, the program will become much easier for publishers to use.
Download.com allows for files of any size for free, but right now the movie has to be at least temporarily hosted somewhere else online first; that is, there's no way to directly upload the file from your computer.
FreeVideoBlog.com claims to host files under 100mb for free, but it only allows streams.
Whoomp hosts video clips, but it is not clear from the website what restrictions apply.
RapidShare allows fast sharing of files up to 100mb, but users can only download one file per set time period unless they subscribe, making it potentially inconvenient for viewers to see your movies.
MPEG Nation is a pay service that will host files under 1gb for a one-time fee.
Q. Does it matter whether my video file is available for direct download or whether it is a stream embedded in another site?
A. No, Engio.com links to both video files that can be downloaded directly and streams that are embedded in other web pages. If you submit a link to a streaming video, be sure to select "Stream" as the "File type" in the Submit Form.
Q. How long does it take for my information to appear on Engio.com after I have submitted it?
A. Since we review every film submitted to us, it may take a couple of days or even a week before your movie appears in the database, depending on how many submissions we receive. We'll let you know by e-mail as soon as your movie is posted, along with a direct link to the entry.
Q. My movie has been posted on Engio.com, but it never seems to show up on the front page, or else I have scroll through a bunch of entries to find it. How can I make sure my movie shows up first?
A. The whole database of movies is randomly sorted each time you visit Engio.com, allowing different films to show up on the front page each time the site is loaded. However, we also allow publishers to purchase priority for their movies. Priority multiplies the likelihood of your film appearing at the top of the randomly sorted list.
