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Frequently Asked Questions
Deadline September 15, 2006
Question: What is the SHOOT IT INDEPENDENT! PRODUCTION FUND?
Answer: In short…it’s a movement inspired by writers, directors, producers, and cinematographers of color in the entertainment industry. Our goal is to guide and assist the independent filmmaker in making their dream a reality. Bringing forth a story from script to screen by providing a grant and the essential materials needed to produce the project. Awards given by the production fund provide training, guidance, industry consultation and preparation to become a stronger filmmaker.
The Basics
Q. What do I need to enter the competition?
A. An original, short film screenplay, an application packet and a US $35 entry fee.
Q. When are the application forms available?
A. Between May and late July of each year.
Q. When is the entry deadline?
A. September 15, 2006
Q. How can I get an application form?
A. 1) Print or download a form from the website www.shootitindie.net or 2) request that one be mailed to you by contacting Shoot It Independent! Production Fund via e-mail info@shootitindie.net or regular mail at:
Shoot It Independent! Production Fund, 3500 Overland Ave. 110 PMB# 141, Los Angeles, Ca. 90034-5696
Q. Can I enter more than one script into the Shoot It Independent competition?
A. Yes. Each entry requires a separate application form, packet, and a separate entry fee.
Q. The rules state that entries must be mailed. May I submit via Federal Express, UPS or another delivery service?
A. Yes, you may. Make sure the package is properly postmarked/dated by the delivery service, any standard means of delivery is acceptable.
Q. As a foreign citizen, I have difficulty finding United States dollars. May I use a check in my own currency to pay the entry fee?
A. Entry fees must be in US dollars. Find a nearby bank or financial institution that can write a money order payable in US dollars. Do not simply write US dollars on your personal check. More often than not, our bank will not recognize foreign personal checks with handwritten notations indicating US dollars.
Q. I understand that adaptations are not eligible for the competition, but can I adapt my own novel or play?
A. Yes, adaptations of the author's own work are allowed.
Q. Where does the entry fee money go?
A. The entrance fee goes into the pool of contest costs. This includes administration, mailings, printing, advertising and the reading costs.
Q. What are the prizes?
A. $5,000 awarded to new screenwriters each year including an EP Budgeting and Scheduling Industry software package to the Grand Prize Winner. Second Place Winner will receive a choice between two training courses from the writer’s boot camp. 1). A five week online course valued at $695. or 2). A Six- week New York or Los Angeles training course valued at $995.00 and a Final Draft software package. The third place winner will receive Final Draft Screenwriting software package.
Q. Who is eligible for the competition?
- Writers who work in English and who have not earned more than $5,000 writing for film or television. That includes work for hire, sales, or options.
- The applicant must be one of the key creative personnel, i.e., writer, director, producer, or director of photography.
- The applicant is required to submit his/her original screenplay or that of another from whom the applicant has received written permission to submit the work.
- Only narrative works with a running time of 20 minutes or less are eligible.
- The winner is encouraged to finish to film within one (1) year.
- This is a production fund, not a completion grant. Therefore, principal photography on the project must not begin prior to the award being granted.
- The winning project must be completed within one year. The deadline for delivery of the finished piece on video (Digibeta, Beta SP, HD, or DVD) or film (35mm) is July 2007.
- The applicant may submit more than one proposal. Each proposal requires a separate entry fee and a completed application.
- Shoot It Independent! board members or advisory board members are not eligible to apply.
Q. Why are adaptations not eligible?
A. The purpose of the production fund is to shine light on emerging screenwriters. One of the problems in looking at adaptations is that it's difficult to identify the screenwriter's contribution. We seek originality and the ability to effectively convey that from script to screen.
Q. What about an adaptation of the bible or of a fairy tale or of a work that is in the public domain?
A. Being in the public domain does not make a difference. Adaptations of any work (other than your own) are not eligible.
Q. Are historical screenplays or scripts based on true stories eligible?
A. Yes, so long as the script is 20 pages or less and not based on a single source—a book, an article, a diary, etc.
Q. Why are adaptations of a writer's own work treated differently?
A. Because those scripts are solely the work of the author. The characters, the dialogue, the action, the story -- all have been created by the writer and have simply been translated into a different form.
Q. Are citizens of countries other than the United States eligible?
A. Yes. Any writer in English who meets other eligibility requirements is eligible.
Please be advised that translated scripts are not eligible. Entry scripts must have been written originally in English.
Q. Could a member of the Writers Guild of America be eligible for the Shoot It Independent! Production Fund?
A. Any WGA member who had earned over $5,000 writing for fictional TV shows or theatrical motion pictures would not be eligible.
Q. What is the script format standard to the United States motion picture industry?
A. There is no single, precise format common to all scripts written by professional screenwriters working within the American film industry. Producers, agents, executives and others who read scripts recognize scripts written by professionals as falling within an acceptable range of formatting, which will encompass slight variations in detail. Formatting description can be found in a number of screenwriting resource books.
Q. How should my script be bound?
A. It should be photo-copied on 3-hole paper and then secured with individual metal fasteners called brads.
Scripts submitted using college paper folders or heavy-duty brand folders or other bindings such as paper clips, string, thread or nuts-and-bolts won’t be considered. Do not submit your script loose in a box or in an envelope.
Q. What is a brad?
A. Brads are metal fasteners commonly used by the American film industry to bind scripts together.
Q. Can I bind my script in any other manner?
A. Brads are the industry standard, you probably should not consider any other means of securing your script. Another method will not appear professional.
Q. Should a script have a cover?
A. It is recommended that you place card stock covers on your script to protect it. Stationery stores carry this heavier paper. Find a solid yet flexible weight for your script cover.
Q. Living in Europe, I only have access to paper that is longer than standard American paper. Is it acceptable to submit a script on European (A4) paper?
A. Yes, it is. Try to leave a longer bottom margin (2 inches/5 centimeters instead of 1 inch/2.5 centimeters) .
Q. What happens to scripts that aren't formatted correctly?
A. These scripts are read. However, we want future filmmakers to be professional and require professional looking material entered.
Competition Process and Timetable
Q. Could you offer a timetable as to when things happen in the Shoot It Independent! Production Fund competition?
A. The Time table is as follows roughly:
- May - late July -- application forms released and received to anyone who has requested one, entries are accepted.
- September - DEADLINE - entries must be postmarked by September 15th.
- After an entry is received -- we send a letter to each entrant acknowledging their entry. Don’t forget to include your SASE
- July– early September -- first-round judging.
- September -- all entrants are notified as to their status in the competition. Quarterfinalists are notified.
- Late September -- Semifinalists are notified.
- Mid October -- Finalists are notified.
- Late October – Production Fund Winners are notified and announced.
Q. What happens to the thousands of entries? How does the competition unfold?
A. The first round of the competition begins with the receipt of the initial entries in May, continues over the next three months and concludes by mid September. As they are received, scripts are handed out to readers. The script is judged by a point method and the score is tallied up and returned to the main office. The score sheets are all sorted and the top scorers move to the next round.
Q. Who’s judging?
A. Motion picture professionals. Volunteer judges, readers, actors, producers, and directors covering all aspects of the creative and production process.
Q. How many finalists are there?
A. Ten
Q. Once finalists have been identified, how are winners determined?
A. The scripts are forwarded to the Production Fund Committee. After reading the scripts and the supporting materials, the committee members discuss the feasibility of the project being shot with the production fund and the merits of each in finalist and then vote to select the production fund recipient.
Q. If I were to reach the Quarterfinals, could I submit a new version of my script?
A. No, you couldn't. This is due to the timetable, scripts are sent forward to judges prior to writers being notified of their status.
Q. Shoot It Independent! hires and pays readers to judge the scripts?
A. The first and quarterfinal round readers and judges are paid. Not all that much, unfortunately, but enough to eat away the bulk of the entrance fee.
Q. Who are the first round readers?
A. Judges are all involved in the industry. A variety of titles, more writers than anything else, many of whom also read to pay their bills; producers; several of the readers work in development or in production. The readers must have experience in reading and or judging scripts.
Q. What are these readers looking for in scripts?
A. We seek creative screenwriters with fresh creative and crafty stories. Our readers must identify writers who tell a good story and tell it well. We want the best of the best. Scripts are submitted to the judges blind to be as objective as possible.
Q. Why is that necessary?
A. To eliminate any possibility of positive or negative feelings influencing a judge's score. We want the script to be considered and nothing else.
Q. In the competition, do good scripts get passed over?
A. Not intentionally, but there's no way around it. The whole reading enterprise is very subjective.
Q. What are the genres of the scripts entered ?
- Action/adventure
- Caper/thriller/crime
- Comedy
- Romantic comedy
- Comedy drama
- Romantic drama
- Drama
- Horror
- Western
Q. What do the winners win?
A. The winners receive $5,000, 1 EP budgeting and scheduling software package to the grand prize winner and second prize winners receive a choice between two training packages from the writer’s boot camp and a final draft software package and a final draft software package for the third place winner.
Q. Does Shoot It Independent! get requests from production companies for scripts?
A. This is a production fund competition to produce a short film. The purpose is to get the script funded and produced. All finalists will be posted on the contest website. However if a company were to request a script, Shoot It Independent! would contact the writer and further negotiations would be handled between the writer and the production company.
Q. Do you provide the judges' notes to entrants?
A. No, we do not. While we recognize that such notes might prove to be valuable to entrants, we simply have found that it is physically and fiscally impossible for us to provide notes to thousands of entrants. |
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