So I'm interested in pitching for this contest by Project Greenlight and Issa Rae. I was looking through the contest rules and came across #6, which is "license to sponsor." The way it is written isn't totally clear. Anyone familiar with what it means? http://bit.ly/1KVz7HZ
Screenwriting : License to Sponsor clause - what is it??? by Kamala Lane
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Disclaimer - I'm not a lawyer. To me it reads as though they reserve the right to broadcast the film that you make should you win the competition.
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It means while you're not technically giving them the copyright to your submission, they can do whatever the heck they want with it, forever. So don't submit anything you have any intention of using elsewhere.
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At the same time, though, you might want to check out what the Creative Services Agreement entails beforehand. I'd imagine that the semi-finalists and winners (who will have signed that additional agreement) are probably signing over the rights to anything that they end up developing for the Sponsor. Which is fair, in my opinion. If I were running the contest, and developing that content, I'd expect that, too. So I would check out the Creative Services Agreement to verify that, and to see if there are any additional compensations besides the prize monies. I wouldn't expect any additional compensations, even if I'm working full-time for 90 days. I'd also expect that anything I develop for them during that period would be fully owned by the Sponsor. That is a pretty nice opportunity for the winners. And, of course, you have to have the ability to work 90 days for the Sponsor in developing the show, and live in L.A. Those are the biggest conditions, in my opinion: can I work for 90 days for potentially no additional compensation, and can I afford to move to L.A. for that time frame? You're already there, so at least you don't have to worry about that. Also remember, what you're creating for them (a half-dozen shorts that are less than 10 minutes in length) is new; is based on their premise ("Trophy"); is an anthology series; and has a maximum of five characters. So it's not like I would be using that potential content in any other works I might be working on in the present or future. I'd be all over that contest if I wanted to attempt to break into television/web series development and could meet those contest conditions. Good luck, Kamala.
Thanks for breaking it down for me, fellas! Yeah I'm definitely going to go for it.