BIG FINISH COMEDY PLAYHOUSE (IN ASSOCIATION WITH WRITE ON COMEDY) SCRIPT WRITING COMPETITION

TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Introduction

1.1 The following terms and conditions apply to the Big Finish Comedy Playhouse Competition (“the Competition”) promoted by the Promoter in any media including without limitation online and/or on mobile. Please see below for details of the Promoter.

1.2 It is your responsibility to ensure you review these terms and conditions before entering the Competition.

1.3 By taking part in the Competition, prize draw, vote or poll (as applicable), you accept and agree to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree with any of these terms and conditions, you should not take part in the Competition.

1.4 We recommend that you print and store or save a copy of these terms and conditions for future reference during the Competition.

2. The Promoter

The promoter is: Big Finish Productions Limited of c/o Craufurd Hale Group, Ground Floor, Arena Court, Crown Lane, Maidenhead, United Kingdom, SL6 8QZ (Big Finish).

3. The Competition

3.1 The title of the competition is Big Finish Comedy Playhouse Script Writing Competition.

3.2 You are invited to submit Scripts (as defined below) of no more than 30 pages with a font size of at least 11 to the promoter before the Deadline.

3.3 “Scripts” must meet the following criteria:

(a) Must be suitable for a pilot episode for audio production;
(b) Must be no more than 30 pages long with a font size of at least 11;
(c) Must be humourous;
(d) Must have no more than 6 characters; and
(e) Must be accompanied a synopsis of the writer’s plans for a full series of no more than 500 words

3.4 Scripts may be rejected by the adjudicators if, in their opinion, they:

(a) Contain potentially offensive material or content that could reflect negatively on the goodwill or reputation of Big Finish, Write On Comedy or any brand partner thereof;
(b) Contain material that could be perceived as an infringement of the intellectual property rights of a third party;
(c) Contain material that could be considered defamatory or misrepresentative of a third party or its interests.

4. How to enter

4.1 The competition will run from 9.00am on 16th January 2023 (the "Opening Date") to 5.00pm on 1st April 2023 (the "Closing Date") inclusive.

4.2 All competition entries must be received by the Promoter at comedy@bigfinish.com no later than 5.00pm on the Closing Date. All competition entries received after the Closing Date are automatically disqualified.

4.3 To enter the competition, please see www.bigfinish.com and send the completed Script together with your full name(s), recent photograph(s), postal addresses, brief biographies and email addresses by email to the Promoter at comedy@bigfinish.com by the Closing Date. Entry details can also be found at www.writeoncomedy.co.uk.

4.4 The Promoter will not accept:

(a) responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any postal failure, equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind; or
(b) proof of posting or transmission as proof of receipt of entry to the competition; or
(c) entries which are incomplete or do not include the requested information about the entrant(s).

4.5 By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions and warrant that:

(a) you are the writer(s) of the Script submitted to the competition;
(b) the Script is original and not copied from any third party’s work;
(c) the Script has not previously been and will not be submitted as an entry to another competition;
(d) the Script has not been and will not be offered/submitted to another production company; and
(e) the Script has not been and will not be licensed or assigned to a third party.

4.6 You agree to indemnify the Promoter in respect of any losses, damages, costs (including legal costs) in the event that you breach any of the warranties in clause 4.5 or they are found to have been false at the date of entry.

4.7 For help with entries, please contact the Promoter at comedy@bigfinish.com.

4.8 Please see www.bigfinish.com for a copy of these competition terms and conditions (this page).

4.9 The shortlisted competition entries will be judged in conjunction with a panel of judges based on the quality of writing, content, originality, humour and suitability for recording. The decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final.

4.10 The Scripts will be judged in two stages as set out in paragraphs 7.1 and 7.2 below.

5. Eligibility

5.1 The competition is only open to all residents in the UK aged 18 years or over, except:

(a) employees of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies;
(b) employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies, who are professionally connected with the competition or its administration; or
(c) members of the immediate families or households of (a) and (b) above;
(d) anyone who has received payment from the Promoter for a script in the 12 months preceding the Opening Date.

5.2 In entering the competition, you confirm and warrant that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prize you may win. The Promoter may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.

5.3 The Promoter will not accept competition entries that are:

(a) completed by third parties;
(b) illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with; or
(c) incomplete.

5.4 There is a limit of one entry to the competition per person. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted. Jointly written Scripts are allowed provided the entry contains the name of all writers.

5.5 You must provide your name as it appears on your passport or driving licence. Entries using pseudonyms, alternatives or variations of your name(s) may face disqualification. The Promoter reserves the right to ask for identification from winners before the prizes are awarded. Entries that are selected for production may be released under a nom de plume if requested.

5.6 The Promoter reserves all rights to disqualify you if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the prize competition.

5.7 Competition entries cannot be returned.

5.8 No feedback will be given on entries.

6. The Prize

6.1 The writer or writers of the Script judged to be the best of the final six will:

(a) receive £500; and
(b) be awarded with the Galton & Simpson Godfathers of Comedy Award.

6.2 The five runners-up will each receive a prize of £350.

6.3 If a Script referred to in clauses 6.1 and 6.2 above is jointly written, the prize for that Script will be split equally between the writers of that Script.

6.4 Subject to compliance with these terms and conditions, the Scripts of the six Finalists may be produced into a pilot episode for release via the Big Finish website (bigfinish.com) and its approved distributors.

6.5 The prizes are not negotiable or transferable.

7. Winners

7.1 Stage One: All valid entries received up to the Closing Date will be read by a producer from Write On Comedy, a producer from the Promoter and an independent expert to create a shortlist of no more than 12 Scripts by 30th June 2023. The Promoter will notify you by email to confirm whether or not your script has been shortlisted, by 31st August 2023.

7.2 Stage 2: Between 1st July 2023 and 30 September 2023, the shortlisted Scripts will be considered by Robert Ross of Write On Comedy, a representative of the Promoter and an independent panel of judges to determine the final six Scripts from which one will be chosen as the winner. The writers of the final six Scripts shall be known as the Finalists. The Promoter will notify the winner and the other five Finalists by email, post or telephone Shortly before the Announcement Date. Finalists must not disclose to any third party that they have been notified until after the Announcement Date. Disclosure before the Announcement Date may lead to disqualification.

7.3 The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.

7.4 The Promoter will either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To comply with this obligation the Promoter will publish the surname and county of major prize winners and, if applicable, their winning entries on the Big Finish website (www.bigfinish.com) (the Website) on or before 30th November 2023 (Announcement Date).

7.5 If you object to any or all of your surname, county and winning entry being published or made available, please contact the Promoter comedy@bigfinish.com. In such circumstances, the Promoter must still provide the information and winning entry to the Advertising Standards Authority on request.

8. Claiming the Prize

8.1 Please allow 30 days for delivery of the prize.

8.2 The prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf.

8.3 The Promoter will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winners. If a winner cannot be contacted or is not available or has not claimed their prize within 30 days of the Announcement Date, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the correct entries that were received before the Closing Date.
8.4 The Promoter does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize.

9. Limitation of Liability

Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected.

10. Ownership of competition entries and intellectual property rights

10.1 All competition entries and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt and will not be returned.

10.2 By submitting your Script and any accompanying material for the Competition, you agree that, if selected as one of the Finalists, for your Script to be produced and released, you will enter into a co-production agreement with the Promoter in order to:

(a) Assign, with full title guarantee, 50% of all intellectual property rights in the Script, its characters, story and format to the Promoter; and
(b) waive all moral rights which you may now or at any time in the future be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world.

10.3 You agree that the Promoter may, but is not required to, make your entry available on the Website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the competition. You agree to grant the Promoter a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in the competition entry and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the competition entry and any accompanying materials for such purposes.

11. Data protection and publicity

11.1 The Promoter will only process your personal information as set out in the Big Finish Privacy Policy. See also clause 7.4 and clause 7.5, with regard to the announcement of winners.

12. General

12.1 If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition.

12.2 The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the prize competition where it becomes necessary to do so.

12.3 These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.