the villa project

competition guidelines

1. Eligibility:

a. The competition is open to writers of all ages and nationalities.

b. The competition is open to writers of all levels of experience.

c. Submissions must be original ideas and should not have been previously published or produced.

2. Submission Guidelines:

a. There is no limit to how many treatments a writer can submit.

b. Submissions must be sent in PDF format to thevillaprojectfilm@gmail.com with a subject title of “VILLA PROJECT - your name” by no later than midnight on the 31st January 2024. Any proposals received after this deadline, cannot be considered.

c. The participants will need to submit one pdf file of a 1 to 3 pages script treatment. The document will need to include:

• Name and contact information of the writer

• A working title

• Logline

• Key characters 

• Summary of the story

• Additional information about the themes and tone of the projects

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3. Theme and Genre:

a. The story will need to represent a medley of Italian culture and English culture having therefore characters from both backgrounds.

b. The majority of the storyline will need to develop in a Villa in the northern Italy. The Villa has vast grounds and is circled in the north by the Italian Alps. It has a small greenhouse, a pond, a swing, a pool, a gazebo. It has a long driveway and it’s very private, except for the groundkeepers’ house next to it. It allows filming in the interiors and exteriors. 

d. participants are free to explore any genre of their choice. (please bear in mind that the budget for production is still undetermined, so treatments including period dramas, monsters or massive VFX projects may be discarded due to feasibility)
 

4. Competition Outline:

a. Participants will need to submit their complete treatments in a combined PDF document by midnight on the 31st January 2023, to thevillaprojectfilm@gmail.com with subject “VILLA PROJECT - your name”

b. The participants will be notified by the 12th of February whether their treatment has been shortlisted. A maximum of 10 treatments will be shortlisted.
c. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a mandatory meeting, either online or in person (Central London) between the 13th of February and the 25th of February.

d. The winners will then be notified via email on the 29th of February 2024.

5. Prizes:

a. First Place: £150 cash prize.
The winning treatment will be also optioned and the writer commissioned to write the full script between 15 and 25 pages for a negotiable contracted fee.

b. Second Place: £75 cash prize. 

c. Third place: £25 cash prize.

d. Cash prizes will be received by the end of March 2024.

6. Judging Process:

a. Screenplays will be judged based on creativity, originality, structure, characters, and adherence to submission guidelines.

b. The judging panel will consist of industry professionals working on the production of this film. The director, producer, DOP, gaffer, script editor and editor will all be looking at the submissions and making a decision together. 

7. Other notes:

a. Participants transfer the rights to their treatments and ideas to the production team for this project until 31st December 2026. If after this date the treatment sent has not been developed and produced, all rights to the story will be transferred back to the writer to carry the project forward without limitation.

b. By entering the competition, participants grant the Villa project production team the right to use their names and excerpts from their screenplays for promotional purposes.

c. For any further inquiries regarding the Villa Project Writing Competition, please contact Tina Zucco at thevillaprojectfilm@gmail.com

d. The organiser reserves the right to modify the rules and conditions of the competition if necessary. Any changes will be communicated to participants in a timely manner.

e. By submitting to this competition writers agree to all terms and conditions outlined in this document.