20th Century Fox & Tongal Announce Alien Short Film Contest!

Started by Corporal Hicks, Jun 27, 2018, 05:55:56 PM

Author
20th Century Fox & Tongal Announce Alien Short Film Contest! (Read 77,380 times)

Griffith

Hello? With Neill Blomkamp please?

Thank you.





Perfect-Organism

Another solution is to work with Americans in the incorporation process.  If there are foreign nationals (um... aliens) who would like to make an American film outside America, get some friends or partners to register a corporation in the US.  US members of this community could do that if they wanted to participate and help out a foreign friend.  The US corporation would submit the film for review.  The logic here is fairly clear as it would be an American entity making the submission, however if anyone is thinking of doing this, they would be wise to ask the organizers if that is acceptable.  The key question being, are corporations allowed to participate or is the competition limited to individuals?

Wysps

Quote from: Perfect-Organism on Jun 29, 2018, 07:10:41 PM
Another solution is to work with Americans in the incorporation process.  If there are foreign nationals (um... aliens) who would like to make an American film outside America, get some friends or partners to register a corporation in the US.  US members of this community could do that if they wanted to participate and help out a foreign friend.  The US corporation would submit the film for review.  The logic here is fairly clear as it would be an American entity making the submission, however if anyone is thinking of doing this, they would be wise to ask the organizers if that is acceptable.  The key question being, are corporations allowed to participate or is the competition limited to individuals?

Yeah, if the product belongs to that new "company" and the product is associated with that respective company's EIN number, then why not?  On paper, it's very much keeping things on American soil if that's what they're going for - even down to the tax part.  Seems like a legitimate, round-about way of doing it to me. 

Clemems2781

This... THIS is how you treat fan films... are  you listening Paramount?

TC

TC

#35
Quote from: Perfect-Organism on Jun 29, 2018, 07:10:41 PM
...
  The key question being, are corporations allowed to participate ?
...

Yes. Absolutely. In fact, I would go so far as to say they would prefer it because it implies that the applicant has professional backing. But a corp. that's only there to provide an American front? That's something different and requires checking out. (They would definitely be reluctant to encourage anything that has a whiff of a sham structure because that has the potential of embarrassing them in front of their client, Fox. There's no way they will hook Fox up with someone they think could be unreliable).

You see, they call this a "competition" but it's really no different from their normal means of trade. i.e. a client comes to them wanting a film/video/animation/whatever. Tongal says yes, we can manage that for you. Tongal calls for tenders to pitch for the job. Tongal filters the applicants and presnts the good ones to the client. The client picks the successful tender (based on best creative, professionalism, and budget - though this doesnt count in this case). Then Tongal hires the filmmaker/production company. Everything else about the contract management is exactly what you'd expect to find in a professional commission: the client oversight, milestone targets, part payments etc. All the while, Tongal is mediating between client and production co.

The only difference is that Tongal runs, from its website, a means for the individual filmmaker workers (cameramen, CG artists and animators, scriptwriters, directors) to get together. But they need to get together and tender for jobs under the umbrella of a producer. Tongal is not going to put your production team together for you, all they provide is a networking board for individuals to find each other.

That would be another option if you are a non-American with a story: Leave a message on their board requesting an American producer to team up with. It's just that I didn't see much of that activity going on.

TC

Perfect-Organism

Anyway, I'm really glad to see an Aliens topic appearing in the news section.  This site has rather been becoming the Predator Galaxy in recent months with all the hoopla surrounding the new film.  It's naturally to be expected, but still, I'm just not much of a Predator fan since those AVP films...

TC

There  are a few more posts (they seem to be writers) from non-Americans looking for US Producers to partner with:

https://tongal.com/forum/crew-finder

There have been some questions to Tongal about the reasons for the US restriction. It looks like Tongal is well used to hiring international contractors, so it must have been a Fox stipulation. I speculate that it has to do with the high-value Alien IP. International copyright enforcement is already like the wild west, and since this competition is open to amateurs I can imagine that Fox feels they will have a greater level of control if they contract someone in US territory.

Don't give up Perfect-Organism!

TC

Mike’s Monsters

If I had the time, I'd be all over this. I've been playing with the idea of doing some filmmaking instead of being a photographer. One day, maybe.

Perfect-Organism

I dabbled before in script writing, but I do not plan to actually participate in this contest.  I'm just trying to help others who may not be from the US, but may be better to get a chance to participate.

This really isn't about the money.  It's a chance to get some terrific exposure I think, and if anyone here is thinking of a career in film, this is a great way to get a start...

TC

Quote from: Perfect-Organism on Jun 30, 2018, 11:33:48 PM
...
This really isn't about the money.  It's a chance to get some terrific exposure I think, and if anyone here is thinking of a career in film, this is a great way to get a start...

I think it's safe to say no one will be making money out of ths. Judging from the evaluation criteria, they are expecting a professional skill level from the winners, even if they are technically "amateurs". $30,000 is a generous budget for a real amateur production, but for pro's it's chicken feed. EspecIally for a sci-fi film that's likely to need  stuff like creature effects, specialty props, custom wardrobe (e.g. spacesuits), sets, VFX like spaceships, CG animation, etc.

Also, I agree; if you're a first time writer or newish, this could be a great opportunity to break into the industry. But you'll definitely need that experienced (and American) producer to carry you throught the qualification phases.

TC

Corporal Hicks

So I think today is the deadline for the pitches. Has anyone here entered?

Olde

Olde

#42
I think this is a horrible scam. If you read the text highlighted in red, you'll understand.

Quote4. BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL AND FOX.  FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT AND LEGAL ACTION TAKEN AGAINST YOU.

Besides that, the payoff (for winners only) is a mere $5000. The $246,000 at the top is horribly misleading and it looks as if they're hoping people aren't going to read everything. $5000 isn't nearly enough to justify the time, energy, and work put into the writing, equipment, music, actors, etc. On top of that, the winners can't even keep the movie as their property and Tongal and Fox can do with it whatever they want. The winners may get a tiny bit of exposure but if they aren't even able to show the video publicly, what chance do they have? This would end up costing the entrants much more than they would gain back.

f**k that.

CainsSon

CainsSon

#43

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 03, 2018, 07:20:21 AM
So I think today is the deadline for the pitches. Has anyone here entered?

Dammit! I missed this deadline by like 35 min! I saw the post today said 5 hours left at 12pm today, spent all this time writing, then at 4:30, I went to it with all my materials, and the site says they had already moved on! I think with my film exp, crew and story idea I had a real chance and Im very bummed!

I swear to god it said I had until 5pm earlier and then at 4:30 it said they were already in stage 2!

:(

Maybe I can submit my story to Dark Horse or something. Wah.

TC

Quote from: Olde on Jul 03, 2018, 12:52:58 PM
I think this is a horrible scam.
...

f**k that.

Not a scam, a commission.

The way the winners will be contracted, in terms of studio oversight and financing, is a simplified version of a typical Hollywood production... oh wait, you're right. It's a scam  ;D

TC

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