“Why even have a contest if you’re going to disregard the votes?” Founded four years ago, Decentralized Pictures is a nonprofit organization that gives awards to filmmakers through its platform based, in part, on the scores they receive from the platform’s users. The company—whose mission is “democratizing the film industry”—has some big supporters. In addition to filmmaker Roman Coppola and his family’s American Zoetrope studio, which helped found DCP, their board includes veteran indie agent Bart Walker and director Sofia Coppola. While some filmmakers who have participated in Decentralized’s contests have been enthusiastic about the company and the funds they’ve received, the Sidewinder Films Award revealed some deeper issues at the company.