Rules

1.  Entrants must submit the following items by the deadline of May 1, 2015:

  • a. Title and genre of proposed TV series
  • b. Logline (2-3 sentence “elevator pitch” summary). See examples here.
  • c. Synopsis of pilot episode (one paragraph)
  • d. Name and brief description of female protagonist(s)
  • e. One-liners on future episodes
  • f.  Contact information

2.  Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age at time of entry. Qualified entrants must not have sold or optioned any film screenplay to any entity or individual for an amount greater than $50,000.

3.  All proposed ideas must meet these requirements:

  • a. Must be a good story, well told. Entertainment is the highest priority. As Walt Disney famously said: “I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.”
  • b. Show must feature an engineer or engineers as the main protagonist OR engineering as a central element to the show (MacGyver, for example, was a spy who used engineering in every episode).
  • c. Show must be compelling to a middle or high school audience (from which we will get the next generation of engineers).

4.  Each entrant may submit a maximum of three ideas. Only one idea per individual entrant will qualify among top 12 finalists. TV ideas only.

5.  Top 12 entrants will be notified by June 1. Each will be asked to prepare the following items for our capstone event pitch competition:

  • a. Three-minute verbal pitch to judges.
  • b. 10-15 page “mini show bible,” chronicling arc of season one, main characters and sense of tone.

6.  The competition’s top 12 finalists will compete at our capstone event in summer (date and location TBD). Up to $1,500 in hotel and airfare reimbursement will be provided to the top 12 finalists.

7.  Teams are allowed. However, each team must nominate a designated representative for on-line submissions. Prize funds will be distributed to an individual winner or to the designated representative of the winning team or to an organization designated by the team representative. Any federal, state, and local taxes, and all similar fees and assessments, are the sole responsibility of the prize recipient.  

8.  Five winners will be selected from final judging round. Each winner will receive a $5,000 award and be paired with two mentors: an experienced Hollywood producer and a distinguished engineer (specific to the topic area of submission).

9.  All expenses associated with participants’ development of their ideas is at their own expense.

8.  Five winners’ expected deliverables include:

  • a. Meeting with assigned industry mentors to break story, develop outline
  • b. Produce a first draft (due September 14)
  • c. Produce a final, polished draft, inclusive of mentor notes (due November 13)