1. CONTEST ADMINISTRATOR

The Contest is administered and hosted by Pipeline Media Group, LLC, dba Film Pipeline, a California limited liability company, at: 11231 U.S. HWY 1 #407, North Palm Beach, FL  33408 (“Pipeline,” “we,” or “us”).

2. ELIGIBILITY

The 2025 Contests (the “Contest”) are open to writers worldwide who are eighteen (18) years or older at the time of entry. Employees of Pipeline Media Group, LLC or any of its respective affiliates, subsidiaries, or any other company or individual involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Contest and their immediate family (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, and children and step-children) of each such employee are not eligible.

Also ineligible for the 2024 season:

• Winners, Runners-up, and Finalists of the Film Pipeline Short Script or Short Film Contest from 2022 to 2024.

Any entrants deemed ineligible will be refunded their full entry fee prior to the announcement of Finalists in December 2025. It is the responsibility of the entrant to determine their eligibility prior to registering.

The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules (the “Rules”) and Pipeline Media Group, LLC’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest.

3. TIMING

The Contest begins on January 1st, 2025 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) and ends on October 24th, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. PST (the “Contest Period”).

4. HOW TO ENTER / ENTRY FEE

Remittance of the Entry Fee, the amount stated on the Contest website, to Pipeline during the Contest Period, together with your completed Registration and at least one (1) original short screenplay (the “Script”) or one (1) scripted short film (the “Film”) entitles you to participate in the Contest and shall constitute your entry (“Entry”). Pipeline is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, or misdirected registrations or entries, which will be disqualified.

5. MATERIAL

As part of each Entry, you may submit at least one (1) Script or Film for evaluation and consideration by Pipeline. The Entry must be your original creative work, and you hereby warrant and represent that you are the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title, and interest in and to the Entry and/or have obtained prior written authorization or license to submit the Entry from any and all third party rights holders therein.

Script submissions must be:

• unproduced at the time of entry. If produced later, the script will not be disqualified.
• considered a “short.” Feature screenplays (~60 pages or longer) are not accepted.

Film submissions must be:

• completed (rough cuts are allowed) and available for online viewing by the time the contest period ends.
• a scripted short film. Feature films (60 minutes total runtime or longer), documentaries or “unscripted” content, and reels or trailers (i.e. clips shown in a montage form that do not tell a singular, complete story) are not accepted.

Adaptations and true stories must be in the public domain, or the Entrant must have written consent to adapt the source material.

6. WINNERS SELECTION

Pipeline will select up to five (5) Scripts for Short Script and up to five (5) for Short Film as finalists (the “Finalists”). From the Finalists, Pipeline will select (1) Winner for Short Script and one (1) Winner for Short Film for the Prizes described in Section 8.

The Winners will be contacted using the email addresses and/or telephone numbers provided on the corresponding Entry Forms and may be awarded the Prizes (subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with the terms of these Rules). Pipeline’s decisions as to the administration and operation of the Contest and the selection of potential winners are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winners will be notified, at most, approximately seven (7) days after the announcement. Failure to respond to the initial verification notification within fourteen (14) days may result in disqualification.

Selections are based upon the level of originality, creative sensibilities, the project’s appeal to Pipeline’s industry network, and other factors pertaining to the Entry, as determined in the sole discretion of Pipeline.

7. VERIFICATION OF POTENTIAL WINNERS

Potential Winners must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. In the event that a potential Winner is disqualified for any reason, Pipeline may award the applicable prize to an alternate Winner from among all remaining eligible Entries.

8. PRIZES

For all Prizes: see website contest pages for current prize details.

Prizes are non-transferable and no substitution will be made except as provided herein at the Pipeline’s sole discretion. Pipeline reserves the right to substitute any listed Prize for one of equal or greater value for any reason. Within ten (10) days after of receiving each Winner’s affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release, Sponsor will mail the winner’s prize(s) via to the address provided therein, or follow up via email if prize constitutes a service. Winners are responsible for all taxes and fees associated with Prize receipt and/or use.

9. ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE 

By entering, each participant agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Rules and the decisions of Pipeline, which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Contest; (b) release and hold harmless Pipeline, its parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, Prize suppliers, and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising, or promoting the Contest, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, members, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, including but not limited to invasion of privacy (under appropriation, intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light in the public eye or other legal theory), defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights arising out of or relating to a participant’s Entry, participation in the Contest and/or acceptance or use or misuse of Prize; provided however, that such release will not apply to any commercial exploitation of the Entry by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless Pipeline from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or entrant’s acceptance, use, or misuse of Prize.

10. PUBLICITY

Except where prohibited by law, participation in the Contest constitutes each Winner’s consent to Pipeline’s use of Winners’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All use of a Winners’ information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

11. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

You hereby warrant and represent the following:

• You are the exclusive owner of the Entry, such that the Entry is your original creative work and your submission thereof will not infringe, misappropriate or violate the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party; and/or you have obtained prior written authorization to act on behalf of any co-creators of the Entry;
• Neither your execution of this agreement nor your participation of in the Contest, including your submission of the Entry, will conflict with or violate any term or condition of any other agreement to which you are a party, including but not limited to any union or guild regulation;
• There are no threatened, pending or current claims, actions or lawsuits in connection with the Entry and you agree to notify Pipeline immediate upon your notification of any such claims, actions or suits;
• You are submitting the Entry voluntarily on a non-confidential basis;
• You are at least eighteen (18) years of age; and
• You have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this agreement, and you agree to abide and be bound the terms and conditions herein.

12. CHOICE OF LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This agreement shall be deemed to have been entered into and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of California as applied to contracts made and to be performed entirely within California, without giving effect to the state’s conflicts of law statute. Any controversy, dispute or claim arising out of or related to the agreement or your participation in the Contest shall be settled by an arbitrator, within in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, subject to the rules and regulations of the American Arbitration Association then in effect, except that such arbitration shall be handled by a single arbitrator selected in accordance with such rules and regulations. The arbitrator shall be well acquainted with the entertainment business in the County of Los Angeles, and the arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding. Each party to any arbitration shall bear its own costs, including attorney’s fees. Failure to appear at any arbitration hearing entitles the arbitrator to proceed ex parte.

13. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

By accepting your Entry, including your submission of the Script or Film, we in no way grant you any additional rights therein or otherwise expand the scope of your rights under applicable copyright laws. You are solely responsible for protecting your rights in the Entry, including without limitation, for filing or registering the Script with the United States Copyright Office. You retain all rights to the Entry itself and any other creative materials submitted to the Contest.

14. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

The relationship between you and Pipeline is one of independent contractors. Neither party will represent that it has any authority to assume or create any obligation, express or implied, on behalf of the other party, or to represent the other party as agent, employee, or in any other capacity, except as specifically provided herein

15. GENERAL CONDITIONS

Pipeline reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Pipeline’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Pipeline in its sole discretion. Pipeline reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Pipeline reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Pipeline’s failure to enforce any term of these Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

16. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of Entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

17. ENTRANT’S PERSONAL INFORMATION

Information collected from entrants is subject to the Pipeline’s Privacy Policy which is available here.

18. CONTEST RESULTS

For Contest results, visit the website on or after the announcement date, or email the contest directly. Contest results are posted publicly on the respective contest website page. Winners may also be made public and permanently posted to the Film Pipeline website and other sites under Pipeline Media Group, LLC.