
Submit a movie script to Amazon studios - perpetualcrayon
https://studios.amazon.com/submit/film
======
jdiez17
From the submission agreement ([https://studios.amazon.com/help/submission-
agreement](https://studios.amazon.com/help/submission-agreement)):

> You will have no right to compensation in connection with the exploitation
> of rights you grant under this Agreement.

So, why would anyone participate in this program, if the best possible outcome
is that Amazon uses your idea, makes millions, and does not pay you a cent?

~~~
DamnInteresting
Contracts in this domain are notoriously one-sided in favor of the established
producers and studios. I have some writings that occasionally draw the
attention of movie/television producers, and on a few occasions these talks
have gone far enough that I am presented with a contract. To paraphrase some
of the common conditions (where "we/us/our" refers to the producers and "you"
refers to the author):

> We do not guarantee you will earn any money on this deal.

> We may cancel or sell our rights to this contract at any time, you may not.

> We can use your name and likeness in any way we deem appropriate.

> You may not make any public statement about us without our prior consent.

> If you decide to sue us for any reason, we can veto your attorney
> selections.

> Even if we pull some serious shenanigans we are immune from consequence.

And so on. In each case I declined to sign; life's too short to agree to such
hostile, one-sided terms. Perhaps one day I'll be approached by some
aspirational, non-greedy producers. I'd be happy to sign a fair contract.

~~~
toomanybeersies
Is that even a contract at this point? I thought to legally be a contract,
both sides had to gain something?

~~~
DamnInteresting
Hypothetically, what I gained was a toehold into the film industry, with the
possibility of future payment. But considering the perils of Hollywood
accounting [1] I wasn't hopeful about ever seeing a penny. I wasn't desperate
and their offer wasn't compelling, so I walked away.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting)

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vortico
I'm a indie filmmaker and would love to receive movie scripts from people. Why
submit to Amazon when you can submit to me or other indie filmmakers? Very
small companies do not have the disadvantages regarding your rights that large
studios have, and there is a greater chance of your script being turned into a
film. Our budgets are often larger than you would guess, and it is common for
angel investors to provide a sufficient budget for passionate filmmakers.

~~~
L_226
Sounds like a good idea for a startup!

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eftychis
The Similar Content clause is a gold mine. Good luck suing Amazon and proving
there is "substantial similarity".

"Given the open nature of Amazon Studios, Amazon Studios participants may
develop and submit scripts, movies, shows, and videos that are similar to each
other. In order to prevent legal claims that could be disruptive to Amazon
Studios participants and impede the ability of Amazon scripts, movies, shows
and videos to be developed and released, you agree to irrevocably and forever
waive any legal claim you may have under any theory of law in any territory,
including, without limitation, copyright infringement or breach of implied in
fact contract (idea submission), that your rights were infringed due to any
similarity between your Content and any other content that is or may become
available on Amazon, unless there is substantial similarity of protectable
expression under United States copyright law between your Content and the
other content and the other content includes a verbatim copy of a material
portion of your script or other written material, if your Content is a script
or other written material, or a re-use of a material portion of footage from
your movie, show or other video if your Content is a movie, show, or other
video. Note that the Account Agreement includes additional waivers of claims
related to Content that apply to the Amazon Parties, as defined in Section
11.4 below."

Practically the contract is atrocious for the submission party. I am not
familiar with the field so maybe this is standard. If it is, I highly suggest
people people stay away. TL;DR: This is not legal advice and I am not licensed
to practice law, but if I am reading this right, accepting this agreement is
not beneficial to you to submit.

Maybe Amazon is going to play nice and offer you enough money to make it worth
it. However, you have little rights or leverage once you submit anything.

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WaltPurvis
Why was this submitted today? This program at Amazon is 7+ years old, and
nothing about it has changed recently as far as I can tell.

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gf263
The idea of having my script tied to my buying history is funny

~~~
veb
that might make an interesting movie script ;)

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bob_theslob646
All these people here keep on saying how well Amazon protects itself legally.

What I don't see anyone saying is that the fact that if Amazon were to rip
someone off, their reputation would be tarnished.

I think what they're doing is actually in genius but I don't think they're
going to rip anyone off because bye being able to crowdsource ideas for
scripts will help them get the best of both worlds:innovation and relevancy.

They got to stay ahead of their competition and get inspired by writers.

Do not get me wrong they may screw people over but like Bank of America was
warned about its debit card scandal, the other side of the sword can be bad
and the last thing Amazon needs is thousands of riders complaining to the
Department of Justice or any organization that involves fraud.

~~~
objclxt
> What I don't see anyone saying is that the fact that if Amazon were to rip
> someone off, their reputation would be tarnished.

Studios screw over writers all the time. There's a reason that screenwriting
is _strongly_ unionized. Studios don't care about their reputation with
writers, because a) there's always more writers, and b) the films aren't going
to get made without the studios.

Studios _especially_ don't care about tarnishing their reputation with un-
represented writers (i.e, writers without an agent), because all the good
writers already have representation.

~~~
fapjacks
Right. They even call it "Hollywood Accounting".

