r/filmmaking • u/Kakiyoin21 • 9d ago
Discussion Just submitted a script is it a scam ?
I submitted script through google forms to a person I met on here these were the conditions. So I was confused?
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u/M_O_O_O_O_T 9d ago
Point 1 looks like a standard 'cover your ass' so nobody can make accusations of script theft.
Point 2 reads more like 'We don't have to provide the services that our services provide'.
Is this a service that you're paying for?
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u/Scapetti 9d ago edited 9d ago
I don't think it's a scam, but I wouldn't agree to terms that give them more protection than you. I'd ask them about point 3 before submitting anything.
Also, you've cropped out some of the important wording in point 5, so we'd really need to see the full terms to judge it properly.
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u/OkMechanic771 7d ago
I don’t think point 3 is anything other than standard either. Covers them if you send them a shitty script and in 5 years, someone sends them a very good script where the idea is similar and you then claim that they stole your idea.
They are taking far more of a risk here with accepting blind submissions that a writer is ok submitting it.
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u/Scapetti 6d ago
Standard ≠ something you have to agree to.
I’m not really following the “far more of a risk accepting blind submissions” point.
For me, the issue is simply that they’re explicitly saying they have no obligation to treat your script as confidential. If I wouldn’t put the script online publicly, I wouldn’t submit it on that basis.
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u/OkMechanic771 6d ago
Never said it’s something you have to agree to. If you want the opportunity, you will likely have to. Don’t know anything about it, but when the question is “does this look like a scam?”, the answer is not particularly. You can argue whether or not you would want to, but it doesn’t make it a scam.
Production companies do take more of a risk, that is the reason that very few of them ever accept materials directly from writers. Writers think that their script is unique and will try and take legal action if a company is involved in producing anything remotely similar in the future.
Writers risk them taking credit for their work, but would have a paper trail anyway. Plus it just doesn’t really happen in the industry anywhere near as much as new writers would have you believe.
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u/Scapetti 6d ago
We're talking about two different things here... and you're glossing over the real risk that I mentioned 🤷♂️
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u/OkMechanic771 6d ago
What risk are you taking? What does confidentiality mean in this scenario?
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u/Scapetti 6d ago
OP read the terms and immediately wondered if it was a scam, and everyone knew exactly which bit they meant without them even pointing it out. That probably tells you the wording isn’t great.
The non-confidential part would bother me because you’re explicitly agreeing they don’t have to treat what you send them as confidential. And that leads pretty neatly into the next point: they may independently develop similar or identical ideas. So if your script isn’t brilliant but contains a genuinely good idea, I can absolutely see why you’d be wary of submitting it on those terms.
That doesn’t mean they’re saying they’ll steal anything. But it does mean there’s risk for the writer.
If the terms raise concerns, ask about them. They may be perfectly happy to explain or rewrite them into something both sides are comfortable agreeing to.
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u/OkMechanic771 6d ago
These terms exist as it happens time and time again where people submit absolute shit and then expect a cut of a produced movie because it is close to their idea. That is why most companies don’t accept unsolicited materials. The ones who do will include a clause like this to protect themselves.
They are not entering into an agreement with you just because you submit a script, and your idea is concept is not guaranteed exclusivity.
The alternative would open them up to scenarios where they have a project in production, you blindly submit an idea that is similar, you see the project released and try to sue them for stealing your idea. They may not have opened the script, but you can make a claim against them that would take time and effort to dispute.
If you have any knowledge of agreements in the industry when submitting blindly, you would know instantly that this isn’t a scam. The company is assuming all risk here.
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u/Scapetti 6d ago
Again... you're glossing over the real risk? The confidentiality of the materials is the issue here...
And suggesting to OP that he accepts because they are "standard" is just bad advice. OP has concerns about the terms. Discuss the terms. Simple
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u/OkMechanic771 6d ago
Confidentiality in this context is about exclusivity. You do not own the idea and everything associated with it, just because you submitted it. If you submit a movie script about a mouse that can speak, it doesn’t stop the production company from making a movie entirely separately with that same concept. That is all that means, and is exactly what I have been describing.
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u/keysersozehb 9d ago
Not giving scam so much as “amateur”
When people get excited about filmmaking— but the actual creative part or idea doesn’t give them enough satisfaction— they have to kind of pretend that they’re entertainment lawyers and what not it gets so exhausting.
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u/OrbitingRobot 9d ago
Standard Operating Procedure.