Act One Guidelines

Act One Film Society has adhered to the same general process since its beginning.  Below you will find a description of the procedures utilized each month for nominations by group members, the official selection of films, and the ultimate rating of works discussed by Act One.

Nominations and Selection – Two films are selected for future discussion each month.  Official selections are determined from group nominations in the month prior to the month in which the films will be discussed.  On the 15th of each month, the moderator will post a call for nominations on the group Facebook page.  Each group member may submit one nomination through this post.  The nomination window will close at approximately 10:00 PM, and after this the moderator will list all nominations submitted in a spreadsheet, numbered in the order in which the nominations were received.  A random number generator (courtesy of random.org) will then be utilized to select two films from the pool of nominations.  One selected film will be scheduled for discussion during the period of the 1st through the 15th day of the following month, with the other selected film scheduled for discussion during the period of the 16th day of the month through its end.  All nominations which were not selected will be catalogued in the group archive.

Group members should remain open to discussing films from a variety of genres.  The primary focus of the group will be discussion of classic or influential films, or movies with a cult following; however, while members should generally nominate films which meet these criteria in some manner, there are very few restrictions of the works which may be nominated, as follows:

• Only the first film of a series may be nominated, so as not to place a burden on group members to view multiple additional works in order to have a full experience.  This restriction does not apply to movies which are part of a series in which each entry stands entirely on its own merits;
• While limited exceptions may be possible, all nominations should be films which have had a theatrical release rather than made-for-television or direct-to-video productions; and
• As a general guideline rather than a rule, films which are nominated should be readily available through either streaming, rental, or library services to allow members to experience the film without purchasing a copy at full price.

Rating – The group rates each film using a five point scale, with half point intervals.  On the last day of a discussion period (either the 15th or the final day of a given month), the moderator will post a call for final ratings from each member on the group Facebook page.  Members may then submit a rating for the film until approximately 10:00 PM, at which time an average of all ratings submitted will be calculated in order to determine the final rating for each film.  Members may also submit ratings earlier, throughout the discussion period, once they have watched the film.