I've never been a fan of Amazon Studios, mostly because they were asking for an 18-month option without paying writers a cent. Tying up someone's script for a year and a half without compensation of any kind (and honestly, with very little chance anything will come of the submission) is predatory in my book.
But they've recently changed their terms and they're now MUCH more favorable for writers. You can now submit scripts publicly or privately, and the initial unpaid option term is only 45 days, rather than 18 months. If they decide to option your script beyond the initial 45-day period, they'll pay you $10,000. But either way, your script is only tied up for a month and a half before you either get paid or can do something else with it.
I've got two scripts that just need a little cleaning up that I plan to submit. They're not anything I'll be working on in the next couple of years anyway, so why not give it a shot? Potentially, I could make some money with them. And even if I don't, they'd be doing nothing but sit on my hard drive for the next 18-24+ months, so I've really got nothing to lose by submitting them privately...
Also, I think I read somewhere that any scripts submitted under the old terms will automatically be converted to the new, more favorable terms, though now I can't find the link where I read that...so if anyone knows where that was said, please post it!
But they've recently changed their terms and they're now MUCH more favorable for writers. You can now submit scripts publicly or privately, and the initial unpaid option term is only 45 days, rather than 18 months. If they decide to option your script beyond the initial 45-day period, they'll pay you $10,000. But either way, your script is only tied up for a month and a half before you either get paid or can do something else with it.
I've got two scripts that just need a little cleaning up that I plan to submit. They're not anything I'll be working on in the next couple of years anyway, so why not give it a shot? Potentially, I could make some money with them. And even if I don't, they'd be doing nothing but sit on my hard drive for the next 18-24+ months, so I've really got nothing to lose by submitting them privately...
Also, I think I read somewhere that any scripts submitted under the old terms will automatically be converted to the new, more favorable terms, though now I can't find the link where I read that...so if anyone knows where that was said, please post it!
