March 5, 2023
Rules for WGAW Paul Selvin Award Submissions
The Board of Directors has established the Paul Selvin Award to be given “to that member whose script best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere and to whose defense Paul Selvin committed his professional life.”
Entries are now being accepted and must be received no later than 5:30 p.m. PST on Friday, November 18, 2022.
TELEVISION/NEW MEDIA
To be eligible for entry, scripts must have been produced under WGA jurisdiction and broadcast or exhibited as follows: TV & new media motion pictures, episodic, animation, children’s, short form new media, comedy/variety, quiz and audience participation, daytime drama, and on-air promotion categories first broadcast or exhibited between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Scripts in the news, documentary, radio/audio and digital news categories must have been produced under WGA jurisdiction and first broadcast or exhibited between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022.
Programs written under the Writers Guild of Canada agreement pursuant to Working Rule #8 waivers or Sideletter Agreements are not eligible.
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
To be eligible, entries must have been exhibited theatrically in LA for at least one week during the extended period of January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022 and must have been written under the WGA MBA or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers’ Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, the Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec) or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany) (collectively, “affiliate guilds”). Submissions for films written under the jurisdiction of an affiliate guild must include a letter from the affiliate guild verifying awards eligibility. Please note that an affiliate guild may impose additional requirements for a writer to be considered covered by its collective bargaining agreement.
Films that have or had simultaneous theatrical and new media exhibitions shall also be eligible.
ALL SCRIPTS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENTRY FORM WHICH INCLUDES A ONE-PARAGRAPH STATEMENT ON HOW THE SCRIPT EMBODIES THE PRINCIPLES OF THE PAUL SELVIN AWARD.
Previous winners of the Paul Selvin Award comprise the Paul Selvin Award Committee. The credited writers of eligible scripts and members of the Committee may nominate scripts for the award. The Committee may recommend one winner from among the television and theatrical motion picture scripts submitted or declare a tie. The Board of Directors will approve or reject the recommendation in whole or in part. (If no script is recommended, or if the Board rejects the Committee’s recommendation, no award will be given.)
WRITER REPRESENTATIVES' SUBMISSIONS
Writer representatives (e.g., agents, managers and publicists) may submit scripts on behalf of their clients. Representatives' submissions must include a copy of the script (no watermarks, please), a completed entry form and the writer's written permission for the entry.
ONLINE SUBMISSIONS
Scripts may be submitted online to be judged for the WGAW Paul Selvin Award. Go to www.wga.org and click on the awards link in the spotlight section. Then click on the Paul Selvin link, complete the entry form including the one-paragraph statement on how the script embodies the principles of the Paul Selvin Award, and then upload the Word or PDF script where indicated. A receipt will be sent automatically to the preferred email address confirming the submission.