Not all screenplay contests are good.
We’ve done our best here at No Film School to alert you to the screenwriting contests, classes, and forums we think are worth your time and money. We did a breakdown of coverage services and whether or not they were worth the money, for instance.
This week, the internet exploded over one of the most potentially exploitative contests we’ve ever seen. The worst part about it? It’s from MTV—a company big enough to know better.
The story goes like this.
MTV Entertainment Studios was looking for a way to reinvent A Christmas Carol as an original movie. That idea is in the public domain, so anyone could work on it and write a spec about it. MTV decided that the best way to develop this idea, instead of hiring established writers, was to create a contest for first-time screenwriters, the First Time Screenwriters Contest.
The contest rules state you cannot be part of the Writer’s Guild. You also have to forfeit IP rights and royalties whether or not you win or lose, and can only win $10,000 to $60,000.
Author: Jason Hellerman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
