SCAD recently implemented a new rule regarding DCPs for the 2026 SCAD Senior Showcase in the coming Winter and Spring quarters. The rule requires that all students submitting to the SCAD Student Showcase must submit through SimpleDCP in partnership with the Trustees Theater. This SimpleDCP partnership forces students to pay a minimum $50 set-up fee plus $7.50 per minute of the film in 2k resolution. This means the minimum cost to create the DCP is $117 and can range up to $350 for an export in 4k resolution.

SCAD implements crowdfunding practices into the curriculum early on in the film and television degree path. This ensures that students have the resources and ability to fundraise their own thesis projects without SCAD's financial assistance. A large part of this curriculum is focused on pre-production, budgeting, and fundraising, with enough time before the start of production. Because this policy was announced after most thesis budgets were finalized, students were denied a fair opportunity to plan or fundraise for the added cost.

Due to the fast turnaround that most SCAD thesis productions undergo in Senior 2 and 3, many productions at the conclusion of the 18 weeks are still in the process of wrapping up post-production. This would inherently mean that many students would be submitting a work in progress or otherwise unfinished cut of the film that could not be reused for a future festival run outside of SCAD. With that in mind, most finished films showing will utilize that screening as a test for audience reactions and peer feedback that could improve smaller aspects of the film.

For many of us, the showcase is not only an opportunity to share our work but also a crucial opportunity for exposure and professional development, something that should feel inclusive and institutionally supported. Davinci Studio offers a free DCP exporting process that many students have utilized in the past for festival submissions and is offered for free to students in Adler Hall.

Rather than putting a price tag on a key process of film distribution, we have the ability to implement the DCP process as a part of the editors' curriculum, which allows for further job opportunities post-graduation.

This environment of peer and administrative support has been a motivator for students to collaborate and to have the privilege of showcasing our work in SCAD's theaters. This has become a concern to the student body, as this has now become a matter of financial status rather than a showcase of students' hard work and dedication over the past four years.

Many of us students, unable to pay the fee, will have to respectfully decline showing our films in SCAD’s venue and have begun the process of booking an alternative venue to screen our final projects.

Thank you for your consideration,

SCAD Film Students