New York New Stories Screenplay Contest

OFFICIAL RULES
BY PARTICIPATING IN THE NEW YORK NEW STORIES SCREENPLAY CONTEST,
YOU AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING:

RULES AND TERMS

OFFICIAL RULES FOR FEATURE FILM, SHORT FILM AND TV/WEB PILOT SUBMISSIONS

NEW YORK NEW VOICES SCREENPLAY CONTEST IS OPEN TO ANYONE 18 YEARS OLD OR OLDER. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED.

PLEASE READ THESE COMMON RULES/GUIDELINES AND COMPETITION OFFICIAL RULES (“OFFICIAL RULES”) CAREFULLY, AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING SUBMISSION PROCESS, PROCEDURES, AWARDS/PRIZES AND COMPETITION LOGISTICS.

These Official Rules state that the process for any dispute between you (Participant) and Sponsors (defined below) regarding the Contest must be resolved in binding arbitration on an individual basis, and in any event may not proceed on a class basis or otherwise seek class-wide relief.

1. “Competition Overview”

A. “Sponsor”: Keep or Destroy is the sponsor of this competition and will be referred to as “Sponsor” in these official rules, where appropriate.

B. “Competition”: New York New Voices Screenplay Contest is searching to discover talented screenwriters around the world and will be referred to as “Competition” in these official rules, where appropriate. To enter this skill-based screenplay contest, complete the application, attach your Film/TV script, pay the submission fee, agree to these Official Rules and submit your application and original Film/TV script by choosing the genre categories presented.

C. “Prizes”:

Feature Length- Grand Prize Award Winner (1) will receive: a cash prize of $750, detailed coverage, a feedback and development meeting with Keep or Destroy and select industry professionals, and a pitch deck and line budget consultation.

Short Project- Grand Prize Award Winner (1) will receive: $500 (awarded via cash or in-kind donation from sponsor), Live table read of screenplay workshopped by professional actors, development meeting with industry professionals, an opportunity to have your script produced by Keep or Destroy

Short Project- RUNNER UP (1) will receive: Live table read of screenplay workshopped by professional actors, detailed feedback and a development meeting with Keep or Destroy.
Open to TV/Web Pilots and Short Films.

*NOTE* For Feature Scripts with Coverage/Feedback: Every submitted project will receive feedback along within 30 days of their submission. Feedback will include: numerical scores for: Premise, Plot, Character, Dialogue, Setting, and Overall. Each script will also receive a written evaluation on the strengths, weaknesses and prospects of the screenplay. This detailed coverage is invaluable to any writer looking to take their scrip to the next level.

2. “Submission Period”

A. The entry period for the competition begins at 3PM Eastern Standard Time on January 4th, 2023 and ends at 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time on October 1st, 2023.

B. Winner Announcements as Follows:

SEMI-FINALISTS: On or by November 1, 2023

1st RUNNERS UP AND GRAND PRIZE WINNERS: On or by December 1, 2023

3. “Payment”

The entry fee must be paid via credit card or debit card only. Waivers or discounts will be granted on a case-by-case basis and only upon request via email.

4. “Eligibility Requirements”

A. Open to everyone worldwide 18 years old and older. Except where prohibited.

B. Competition open to all non-union members with an original script who enter by submitting a fee.

C. No limit on earned income as a writer.

5. “Content Requirement”

A. “Submission”: To enter the competition, each participant must submit/and or acknowledge the following materials at the site during the submission period for Feature Film, Short Film and TV/Web Pilot Categories:

1. Acknowledgement and acceptance of these Official Rules; and

2. Acknowledgement and declaration that the screenplay submitted is your original work.

3. You are submitting the Script voluntarily on a non-confidential basis.

4. You are at least eighteen (18) years of age. If 16 or 17 years old, must submit a parental consent form.

5. You have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this agreement, and you agree to abide and be bound the terms and conditions herein.

6. Include entry fee.

B. “Allowed Submissions”

1. Limitless entries to how many submissions a participant can submit. Each script submission must be accompanied with a submission fee. The more submissions you enter, the more chances to win the grand prize.

2. New drafts, substitutions or corrected pages will not be accepted after initial script submission. Competition or Sponsor are not responsible for submissions that are incomplete, lost, unintelligible, or misdirected.

3. Any improvement to an already submitted script will not be accepted and no refund will be issued. Once the script is submitted, that is final.

C. “Genre”

1. FEATURE FILM category: original screenplay can be in any of the following genres, including but not limited to: Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

2. SHORT FILM category: original screenplay can be in any of the following genres, including but not limited to: Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

3. TV / WEB PILOT Category: original script can be in any genre: approximately 10-30 minute original pilot for Web or TV

D. “Script Rights / Original Work”

1. Scripts must not have been previously produced as a theatrical motion picture, television or online program.

2. Participant will inform competition if his or her script is a winner in another competition. Competition reserves the right to disqualify the screenplay.

3. If any of the above occurs, competition reserves the right to remove the screenplay from advancing to the next level and no refunds issued.

E. Participant acknowledges that Sponsor and Competition Entities may have motion pictures, television programs, and other creative materials in development or production that include ideas, concepts, plots, characters, settings, and themes similar to participant’s screenplay and the participant will not be entitled to any compensation or right to negotiate with sponsor because of any such similarities. Nothing in these Official Rules or related materials shall create an implied or express contract to compensate participants for their screenplays or to invest in producing screenplays, except as specifically described in these official rules.

F. “Script Registration”

Competition and Sponsor(s) recommend that Participants register their Screenplays with the U.S. Copyright Office or the Writers Guild of America. If you live outside of USA, Register with the appropriate office within your state or country.

G. “Transfer of Script Rights”

Participants must retain all rights to their Screenplay throughout the Competition, so that if the Participant wins the grand prize, Participant can assign rights in and to the Screenplay to sponsor/producer to produce the winning Screenplay, free of any limitations, restrictions or third party obligations, should the Sponsor choose to produce the screenplay.

6. “Technical Requirements”:

A. Length:

FEATURE FILM Category: Submissions for Feature Length should not exceed approximately 180 pages in length. There is no minimum length.

SHORT FILM Category: Submissions should not exceed approximately 30 pages in length. There is no minimum length.

TV / Web Pilot Category: Submissions should be written with an estimated expected runtime of approximately 10-60 minutes.

B. All scripts must be either written in English or with subtitles available in English.

7. “Competition Structure”:

A. Initial submissions that do not conform to technical requirements in these official rules will be automatically disqualified with no refunds.

B. Each initial submission that satisfies all the requirements in these rules will be reviewed by an experienced industry script reader and ranked based on the following criteria on a scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (outstanding), with each professional script reader assigning a score for each of the listed criteria that will be added together to arrive at a total score for the submission (with a minimum score of 10 and a maximum score of 100):

STORY/CONCEPT

ORIGINALITY

PLOT STRUCTURE

STYLE/TONE

PACING

CHARACTERS

DIALOGUE

THEME

PRODUCIBILITY

COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL

C. After selecting and notifying a pool of semi-finalists, Final Decision to choose the Grand Prize winners will be at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. Final decision cannot be challenged, as the final decision set forth by Sponsor will be the final irreversible decision.

D. Once the Participants reach the pool of Semi-Finalists they may be asked to participate in an interview with Sponsor to speak about their work.

E. Scores may be available to participants upon request on a case-by-case basis.

8. “Prize/Winner’s Obligations”

The Prize will be awarded subject to the condition that the winner is and remains in compliance with the official rules. The prize cannot be substituted, shared, assigned, transferred, or exchanged. If the winner is found to be ineligible or in violation of the representations and warranties in these official rules, winner will forfeit his or her entitlement to the prize.

9. “Consent to use Name and Likeness”

Except where legally prohibited, each participant grants permission to producer, sponsor(s), competition to use participants name, address, photograph, voice, likeness, and prize information for advertising, promotional, or other purposes in all forms of media, now know or developed later, worldwide, without further compensation, notice or permission.

10. “Representations and Warranties”

By entering the Competition, participant represents and warrants that: (a) except for elements that are in the public domain, all elements of the script are wholly original and are not a copy of imitation of other material; (b) Participant has the right to grant all rights granted to sponsor in these official rules and sponsor may exercise such rights without obligation or liability to any third party; (c) the script will not defame nor infringe the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, copyright, privacy rights, false light; (d) the script is not the subject of any threatened litigation or dispute that could give rise to a litigation.; (e) Participant has not previously sold or transferred rights to the Script to any third party; (f) Participant has satisfied all eligibility requirements in these rules at the time of entry into the competition and will notify competition and or sponsor if circumstances change which would make participant ineligible.

11. “No obligation to use”

The Sponsor reserves the right not to produce, release, or otherwise exhibit, distribute or exploit the grand prize winning script for any reason. No agreement for compensation or financial investment, other than the cash prize listed, has been implied.

12. “Privacy”

By entering the competition, participant consents to the use of any information submitted in connection with the competition as described in these official rules.

13. “Indemnification”

Participant will indemnify and hold harmless the released parties (competition and sponsor) from any third party claims arising from participants failure to comply with the eligibility requirements and/or breach of the representations, warranties, and covenants in these official rules.

14. “Compliance with Rules”

All determinations by competition and sponsor shall be in their sole and absolute discretion and shall be final and binding on all participants. By entering the competition, each participant agrees to be bound by these rules and accept all decisions regarding the competition as binding, final and not subject to challenge, review or appeal.

BY ENTERING IN THIS COMPETITION, PARTICIPANT AGREES THAT COMPETITION, SPONSORS, COMPETITION ENTITIES AND THEIR PARENT COMPANY, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, REPRESENTATIVES, CONSULTANTS, CONTRACTORS, LEGAL COUNSEL, ADVERTISING, PUBLIC RELATIONS, PROMOTIONAL, FULFILLMENT AND MARKETING, WEBSITE PROVIDERS, WEB MASTERS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, AND AGENTS (THE “RELEASED PARTIES”) WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR, AND SHALL BE HELD HARMLESS BY PARTICIPANTS AGAINST, ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY INJURIES, LOSSES OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND TO PERSONS, INCLUDING PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH, OR PROPERTY RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS COMPETITION OR ANY COMPETITION RELATED ACTIVITY, OR ANY CLAIMS BASED ON PUBLICITY RIGHTS, DEFAMATION OR INVASION OF PRIVACY. THE RELEASED PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE IF ANY PRIZE CANNOT BE AWARDED DUE TO CANCELLATIONS, DELAYS, OR INTERRUPTIONS DUE TO ACTS OF GOD, ACTS OF WAR, NATURAL DISASTERS, WEATHER, OR TERRORISM. BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS COMPETITION, PARTICIPANT AGREES THAT THE RELEASED PARTIES WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY INJURIES, DAMAGES, OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES TO PERSONS, INCLUDING DEATH, OR TO PROPERTY ARISING OUT OF ACCESS TO AND USE OF ANY WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPETITION OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM SUCH SITE.

15. “No Rescission or Injunctive Relief”

All rights granted to sponsor under these Official rules are irrevocably vested at the time of submission. To the maximum extent permitted by law, no breach by sponsor of these official rules will entitle participants to equitable relief, whether injunctive or otherwise; and participants explicitly waives the right to seek or obtain any form of equitable relief, including the right to enjoin the development, production, exploitation or marketing of the script/project. Participants’ sole remedy for any breach of these official rules or any other dispute related to this competition and sponsor shall be an action at law for solely for compensatory damages. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Participant expressly waives all rights to seek incidental, consequential, special, punitive damages, or lost profits.

16. “Waiver”

Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these official rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

17. “Suspension / Termination”

Sponsors have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Competition, if an event beyond Sponsors’ control prevents Competition and or Sponsors from continuing with the Competition (e.g., fire, flood, labor dispute, war, terrorist threat) (each, a “force majeure event”).

Additionally, Sponsors reserve the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsors’ reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion.