2022 Stab Edit Of The Year: Submit A Clip, Win A Bitcoin

The Video Part is the hallmark of our culture. 

The chemistry of high-octane surfing combined with slick editing and a moving soundtrack has a unique capacity to embed itself into surfing’s collective consciousness and inspire us all to surf more — or perhaps even better. When it’s done well, a Video Part’s impact can be as seismic as a contest win or even a World Title. It is, however, an endangered species. 

With the number of platforms out there today, as well as the different formats and incentives attached to each, reasons to invest time and effort into a proper Video Part are becoming increasingly rare. We want to change that. We want all the best filmers, editors and surfers in our world to put their hearts into the modern Video Part — the Surf Edit — and get them all in one place for our audience to enjoy. 

We think that surfing will be better off that way. And we think it should be rewarded accordingly. 

On December 01, 2021, we are launching the 2022 Stab Edit of the Year. The best edit will win one Bitcoin, which is currently valued at approximately $43k USD. 

The Stab Edit of the Year will be judged not by social media, but by surfing’s most critical and inspired thinkers. The year will be broken into quarters and, four times a year, Stab Premium members will vote for their favourite edits. 

The top three winning edits from each quarter will qualify for the final, which will bring us to 12. Stab will then grant three wildcard spots to edits of our choice, meaning the total number of edits shortlisted for the final will be 15.  The year will start in December to give surfers a full twelve months to enter and will be divided as follows. 

Quarter #1: December 01, 2021 → February 28, 2022. 
Quarter #2: March 01, 2022 → May 30, 2022. 
Quarter #3: June 01, 2022 → August 31, 2022.
Quarter #4: September 01 → November 30, 2022. 

In December of 2022, voting will take place during the Stab Surfer of the Year poll, whereby we hear from the 50 of the most influential voices in surfing. They will pick from the 15 Stab Edit of the Year finalists to choose the best one. 

Final voting period: December 01, 2022 → Dec 20, 2022

At 6 pm PST, January 12, 2023, we’ll announce the winner of the Stab Edit of the Year.  

Rules: 
-The action must be 80% one surfer.
-The edit must feature at least 80% action. We’re not going to start counting waves, but we want to make it clear that the emphasis should be on the surfing. 
-Must be 95% new footage. No rehashing stuff from old edits, Vlogs, Instagram clips, etc.     
-The length of the edit must be a minimum of 5:00 minutes and a maximum of 15:00 minutes. 
-The Stab staff chooses which edits are worthy of inclusion and which aren’t. We reserve the right to deny any edit. 
-The featured surfer owns the edit. However, by entering Stab Edit of the Year, you are giving permission to Stab to distribute and license your content, whereby you (the surfer) are taking all licensing responsibility regarding footage and music used. Everything must be licensed and cleared prior to submitting. If any clips or music are uncleared, you take full responsibility and release Stab of any harm. 
-Any splitting of proceeds between the surfer and the filmer/s is the responsibility of those who produced the edit. Our recommendation is to have this conversation with your team prior to entry. 
-After a window of exclusivity on Stab Premium, we retain the right to place the the edits on Stab’s YouTube. Stab will also allow you to publish a 90-second highlight reel of your submitted edit, however, it must be approved by Stab first.
-We retain the right to continue playing the edits on Stab’s YouTube and Stab Premium platforms in perpetuity.  
-The winner will need to create a Bitcoin wallet and we’ll transfer the Bitcoin from Stab to you. 

The voting: 
-Voting is open exclusively to Stab Premium members. 
-At the end of each quarter, we will share a survey allowing Stab Premium members to vote on that quarter’s candidates. You can find it on our site, but we’ll also email it to Stab Premium members and make noise about on social. 
-The three highest voted edits are guaranteed a spot in the final. 
-The survey will include a prompt to enter the email address for your Stab Premium account, which we can reference on our backend to ensure nobody cheats the system. 
-The quarterly winners do not win anything other than inclusion in the final. Our year ends in November, as far as this is concerned. Three wildcard entries will be made by Stab, totalling 15 entries for voting.
-And then, as we said, the final winner will be chosen by the most influential voices in surfing during the Stab Surfer of the Year poll. 
-In case of a draw, the Stab will add a 51st voice to the voting panel until we deem an overall winner. 

More information for surfers 

How do I enter? 
To start the process, email [email protected]. Include: 

-Filming locations and details 
-Edit length
-Your ideal launch date
-Any footage we can review (edited or unedited) 

How can I find out when other surfers are posting? 
We’ll have a running calendar and will work with you to avoid double-ups. The earlier you start the process by emailing us the information above, the easier this will be. 

Will you have a maximum number of entries for the year? 
Yes, we will have a maximum of 52 entries. Obviously, it will be easier to get your edit in earlier rather than later in the year. 

Can I enter more than once per year? 
No. The Stab Edit Of The Year should be your Edit Of The Year. Give it everything you’ve got. 

How far in advance do I have to submit my final video? 
It’s up to our schedule. 

How do I know this isn’t just a popularity contest? 
Voting is open exclusively to Stab Premium members. They care about surfing content more than any group on earth, proven by their willingness to fund it. They do a remarkable job of scoring Surf100 and we assume brilliance here as well. 

Won’t Stab just slot their edits into the three wildcard spots so they hold onto their Bitcoin?
C’mon. Of course, no Stab projects will qualify.   

Do play counts on Stab or Youtube or Instagram contribute to who wins?  
Nope. Only votes from Stab Premium members will count. However, the more energy around the edit, the more chance the Stab premium members will be influenced to vote for it.  

How do I get my footage and music licensed? 
You have to get written permission from the filmers and the owners of the music. In many cases, the musicians will want to get paid for their work. We can help put you onto a library of cheap, easy-to-license music if it helps. Again, all music must be cleared for global usage across Stab platforms (Stabmag.com, Stab Premium App, Stab’s YouTube, and Stab’s Instagram).

What if I’d prefer to post on my own channels and Stab just post it? 
There are no guarantees we will post it, but what we can guarantee is it definitely won’t make the shortlist to be voted in by our Premium members. It could qualify as a wildcard, however.  

I have sponsors, it’s not really fair if I post this edit on my sponsor’s channels it doesn’t make the Stab selection criteria.
Yeah maybe…. but our Bitcoin, our rules. That thing cost us $AUD68k and there’s a chance your clip could still be a wildcard, but our sense is that those wildcards might need to be available for those videos that drop later in the year.   

Can I include my sponsor’s logo in the edit? 
This event isn’t aligned with any brand and we’d prefer to keep it that way. Logos will be considered on a case-by-case scenario based on your sponsor’s relationship with Stab but we are funding this prize ourselves and would prefer no branding. 

You guys are pieces of shit. You turned down my edit. 
Sorry, same as above. Our Bitcoin, our rules. 

Why would you buy Bitcoin? Why didn’t you just gift cash?
It’s fun. Could be $5k by the time someone wins, could be $100k. 

What if nobody submits in a specific quarter? 
There will always be three edits per quarter and those earlier edits in the year will likely find an easier path to qualification for the final. 

What happens if I don’t win my quarter? 
You’re not out just yet. Hope for that Stab wildcard at the end of the year.

If Bitcoin is worth $300k, will another one be the prize for 2023? 
Ah, unlikely. We do think $USD50k is a pretty good number. Interestingly, this Bitcoin cost us $USD49,850. 

If the Bitcoin is worth $500k, can I still win? 
Absolutely.